These scientists think Leonardo Da Vinci may have had ADHD

It's exactly 500 years since Leonardo da Vinci pbaded away, and even after all this time, we are still trying to discover new things about the famous Italian polymath.

Two scientists studied the historical narrative of da Vinci's life and his coming. to the conclusion that he had a behavioral condition – attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD.

Leonardo da Vinci is widely known for his paintings – especially the iconic Mona Lisa and The Last Supper . But he is also known for his inventive spirit: Da Vinci's journals and notes are full of ideas, including sketches of early versions of a parachute, a helicopter and even a tank.

"The story of Da Vinci is paradoxical – a great mind that has embraced the wonders of anatomy, natural philosophy and art, but has also failed to carry through many projects, "write neurophysiologist Marco Catani and medical historian Paolo Mazzarello in a new article.

Ideas planning and lack of perseverance seem to have been particularly damaging to carry out tasks that had initially attracted his enthusiasm. "

Catani – specialist in autism and ADHD – and his colleague claim that the litter of commissioned works that were dropped, Da Vinci's lack of discipline, his strange hours of work and his lack of sleep could all be symptomatic of ADHD

"He was left-handed and aged 65, he suffered a serious stroke in the left hemisphere. His language skills are intact. These clinical observations strongly indicate a reverse dominance of the right hemisphere for language in Leonardo's brain, which is found in less than 5% of the general population, "explains the couple in the study.

"Mirroring and spelling errors considered to be suggestive of dyslexia. Atypical hemispheric dominance, awkwardness and dyslexia are more common in children with neurodevelopmental disorders, including ADHD. "

But this could be a fun exercise for the 500 ^[ death of a universal side In Genius, it highlights an argument on which scientists and historians have been discussing for decades: the diagnoses Retrospective.

Retrodiagnostics are exactly what they look like: an attempt to medical diagnosis of historical figures long after death.

In a 2014 article, medical ethicist, Osamu Muramoto, explained that although the Doctors and scientists use these retrodiagnostics as a kind of interesting puzzle, social scientists say that health professionals do not have the skills to investigate historical sources in their context.

Historians "Amateurs" do not follow the methodological disciplines of historiography, literary criticism and other d relevant sections of the humanities and social sciences. For example, they often literally interpret documents in translation without critically badyzing the main source in the original language, "writes Muramoto in his 2014 article.

" But above all, these retrospective diagnoses become more and more sophisticated on the medical plan. With the advance of knowledge, these critics are increasingly skeptical about the authenticity of these highly speculative and speculative diagnoses. "

This is not to say that this article on da Vinci necessarily falls into the same trap, but it shows that it is important to take these types of arguments with a grain of salt.

ADHD is a diagnosis that has been defined only relatively recently, is difficult to identify and is even more difficult to detect in adults than in adults.

Without a time machine, we will not discover if Da Vinci's lack of discipline and his abandoned projects were symptoms of ADHD, but it shows that even Five centuries later, we're still trying to understand the incredible spirit of Da Vinci.

The document was published in Brain .