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realadamhunt.bsky.social
Adam Hunt
@realadamhunt.bsky.social
450 followers 840 following 120 posts
Researcher at Cambridge. PhD in evolutionary psychiatry. Explaining neurodiversity, improving methods & stigma. 'Evolving Psychiatry' podcast host.
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realadamhunt.bsky.social
Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · Mar 14
New paper🎉 just published🎉 in Biological Reviews 🎉

We propose a new gold standard to avoid “just-so” storytelling in evolutionary inference & apply it to autism. It’s been 9 years (!!) in the making.
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realadamhunt.bsky.social
Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 2d
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realadamhunt.bsky.social
Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 2d
A large new survey finds misconceptions of ADHD and autism among corporate employees, even when awareness is high. Interesting to wonder how much hinges on simplistic 'broken brain' explanatory models
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realadamhunt.bsky.social
Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 4d
Why is everyone so 'Anxious?' One potential answer, hugely overlooked, is simply that our brains evolved to be hypersensitive to tiny social threats—slight status shifts, non-verbal signals. In today’s large but flattened hierarchies, many social feedback loops feel ambiguous!
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Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 6d
Link: buff.ly/uk4z6c2
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Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 6d
A call came out for a “biology‑informed” framework for mental disorders that weaves in genetics, behaviour, and systems.

Biology has informed psychiatry for decades!

Whats missing is reference to the evolutionary theory that helps us understand biology!!
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realadamhunt.bsky.social
Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 8d
www.frontiersin.org/articles/10....
Frontiers | ADHD and autism in Neurocognitive Mismatch Theory: distinct neurodevelopmental incompatibilities with the market-based system
ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) represent distinct neurodevelopmental conditions with unique profiles, yet they share susceptibility to environmental...
www.frontiersin.org
realadamhunt.bsky.social
Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 8d
A recent Frontiers In Psychology article introduces what they term "Neurocognitive Mismatch Theory," suggesting that environments low in movement, sensory variety, or natural stimuli amplify functional impairment in ADHD and autism. The findings point toward designing settings that diminish mismatch
Frontiers | ADHD and autism in Neurocognitive Mismatch Theory: distinct neurodevelopmental incompatibilities with the market-based system
ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) represent distinct neurodevelopmental conditions with unique profiles, yet they share susceptibility to environmental...
www.frontiersin.org
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realadamhunt.bsky.social
Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 10d
Link: www.frontiersin.org/articles/10....
www.frontiersin.org
realadamhunt.bsky.social
Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 10d
Interesting new article in Frontiers - exploring affective versus predatory violence in terms of evolutionary adaptation (24 Sep 2025). They claim that this distinction matters not only in forensic settings but in organisational threat assessment and structured conflict resolution.
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Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 12d
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realadamhunt.bsky.social
Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 12d
Recent arXiv study: “Portable Silent Room” prototypes for neurodivergent women and non‑binary people show that VR environments tailored to sensory regulation can reduce anxiety and emotional dysregulation. Designing for intersectional needs matters more than many suspect! arxiv.org/abs/2508.18591
Portable Silent Room: Exploring VR Design for Anxiety and Emotion Regulation for Neurodivergent Women and Non-Binary Individuals
Neurodivergent individuals, particularly those with Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), frequently experience anxiety, panic attacks, meltdowns, and emotional dysregulation…
arxiv.org
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realadamhunt.bsky.social
Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 14d
EY’s Global Neuroinclusion at Work Study 2025 reveals only ~25% of neurodivergent professionals feel “truly included” in their workplace, even as many report proficiency in high-growth skills when inclusion is present. Suggests inclusion is a strong performance lever.

www.ey.com/content/dam/...
www.ey.com
realadamhunt.bsky.social
Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 15d
Children with ADHD differ not just in how often they check the time but how strategically they monitor time in everyday‑tasks (aged 9‑13) when using a naturalistic VR task. Possible that training strategic monitoring will improve school performance.

Link: buff.ly/KsoBoF1
A naturalistic virtual reality task reveals difficulties in time-based prospective memory and strategic time-monitoring in children with ADHD - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - A naturalistic virtual reality task reveals difficulties in time-based prospective memory and strategic time-monitoring in children with ADHD
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Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 17d
A new preprint finds that “body doubling” (human or AI) in virtual reality helps adults with ADHD finish construction tasks faster and maintain attention (15 Sep 2025). Suggests social scaffolding could reduce mismatch in high‑demand jobs. Intriguing Stuff. Link: buff.ly/i3j4rRc
You Are Not Alone: Designing Body Doubling for ADHD in Virtual Reality
Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) experience challenges sustaining attention in the workplace. Body doubling, the concept of working alongside another person, has been…
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Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 19d
A study published this month surveys autistic doctors internationally: language preferences (‘identity‑first’ vs ‘person‑first’) correlate with views of autism as disorder vs difference, which in turn correlate with experience of distress.
Link: buff.ly/zSPnDsK
Supporting neurodivergent doctors to thrive at work | BJPsych Advances | Cambridge Core
Supporting neurodivergent doctors to thrive at work
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realadamhunt.bsky.social
Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 22d
Research finds that many young children suspected of autism are later diagnosed with ADHD as they grow older; ADHD traits may have been present but under‑detected early. This suggests early screening with flexible observation, and avoiding fixed labelling too early.
Link: buff.ly/CvXM5rg
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Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 24d
Link: buff.ly/NtWhwfK
realadamhunt.bsky.social
Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 24d
Quick research‑update: a study published 2 weeks ago introduces Tether, an LLM‑powered desktop assistant to help software engineers with ADHD manage task initiation, self‑regulation and attention in real‑time. Could these tools reduce mismatch in job design?
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Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 27d
The full pre-print is available here: osf.io/preprints/ps...

And a podcast episode with Tom and I discussing some of the methods and results has just been released here (and on podcast players!): youtu.be/rf6x7IyXf74
OSF
osf.io
realadamhunt.bsky.social
Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 27d
Thanks to all the psychiatrists involved in the study, particularly the educators – and most of all, my co-first author, Tom Carpenter, who was the man on the ground organising sessions in the UK whilst I was in Switzerland!
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Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 27d
This provokes serious consideration: the curriculum should be designed to best serve both clinicians and the patients they care for!

For many years, advocates of evolutionary psychiatry have lauded the impact of an evolutionary reframing. Our study justifies those claims.
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Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 27d
Our research demonstrates that evolutionary explanations of anxiety are rated highly positively by clinicians in comparison to genetics education – yet genetics is a core part of clinical curriculums, and evolutionary perspectives are absent.
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Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 27d
Wrapping up: it's long been recognised that how mental disorders are explained shapes public and professional attitudes.

Preferred explanatory frameworks for mental disorder are often a matter of taste and trend, with many alternative framings being scientifically compatible.
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Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 27d
These effects derived from more mixed pre-post dynamics – although the evolutionary arm was repeatedly stronger than genetics (an aside: the unchangeability measure was -more- unchangeable, so perhaps aligning with the negative pre-post impact on psychosocial intervention)
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Adam Hunt @realadamhunt.bsky.social · 27d
We asked other questions which we didn’t pre-register as primary hypotheses – about expected effectiveness of combined medication and psychotherapy, individual’s role to control anxiety, unchangeability of symptoms and depth of understanding anxiety disorder.
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