Worming, squirming, fidgeting, tapping, bouncing… could these various symptoms of hyperactivity in children with ADHD actually be a way of helping them focus better? That's what the authors of a recent study suggest, and their findings match up with those of a similar study published in April which proposed that "sitting still" and "concentrating" don't really go together for those with ADHD.

The newest study is small, with 26 preteens and teens diagnosed with ADHD and 18 without the condition. All of the participants, ages 10 to 17, wore a device on their ankles to measure their activity levels while they took a test that assesses their ability to pay close attention to a visual task.

The kids with ADHD who moved the most also showed the greatest accuracy in the test. Those without ADHD did not show any different patterns in accuracy based on their movements. The authors of the study, published in the journal Child Neuropsychology, suggested that the movement might have contributed to the arousal levels of the preteens and teens with ADHD, thereby helping them concentrate better.

The other study, published in April in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, was similarly small with slightly younger children. Among the 52 children between 8 and 12 years old in the study, 29 had been diagnosed with ADHD while the others had shown normal development.