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Controlled evaluation of a neurofeedback training of slow cortical potentials in children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

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Behavioural and Brain Functions                                                                    BioMedCentral Research  

                                                                                                                   Open Access

 

Controlled evaluation of a neurofeedback training of slow cortical potentials in children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder  (ADHD)

 

 

Renate Drechsler*, Marc Straub, Mirko Doehnert, Hartmut Heinrich, Hans-Christoph Steinhausen  and Daniel Brandeis.

 

Address:

1 Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Switzerland

2 Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany

3 Heckscher Klinik, München, Germany

4 Center of Integrative Human Physiology University of Zurich,Switzerland

 

Email: Renate Drechsler* - renate.drechsler@kjpd.uzh.ch; Marc Straub - marc-straub@swissonline.ch;

Mirko Doehnert - doehnert@kjpd.unizh.ch; Hartmut Heinrich - hheinri@arcor.de; Hans-Christoph Steinhausen - steinh@kjpd.unizh.ch; Daniel Brandeis - daniel.brandeis@kjpd.uzh.ch

 

* Corresponding author

 

Published: 26 July 2007                                                   Received: 2 April 2007

                                                                           Accepted: 26 July 2007

Behavioural and Brain Functions 2007, 3:35 doi:10.1186/1744-9081-3-35

 

This article is available from: http://www.behavioralandbrainfunctions.com/content/3/1/35

 

© 2007 Drechsler et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

 

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

 

Abstract

 

 Background:

 

Although several promising studies on neurofeedback training in Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have been performed in recent years, the specificity of positive treatment effects continues to be challenged.

 

  Methods:

 

To evaluate the specificity of a neurofeedback training of slow cortical potentials, a two fold strategy was pursued:

 

First, the efficacy of neurofeedback training was compared to a group training program for children with ADHD.

 

Secondly, the extent of improvements observed in the neurofeedback group in relation to successful regulation of cortical activation was examined.

                 

Parents and teachers   rated   children's  behaviour and executive functions before and after treatment. In addition, children underwent neuropsychological testing before and after training.

 

 Results:

 

According to parents' and teachers' ratings, children of the neurofeedback training group improved more than children who had participated in a group therapy program, particularly in attention and cognition related domains.

 

On neuropsychological measures children of both groups showed similar improvements. However, only about half of the neurofeedback group learned to regulate   cortical   activation   during   a   transfer   condition   without   direct   feedback.   

 

Behavioural improvements of this subgroup were moderately related to neurofeedback training performance,                 whereas   effective   parental   support   accounted better   for   some   advantages   of   neurofeedback                 training compared to group therapy according to parents' and teachers' ratings.

 

  Conclusion:

 

There is a specific training effect of neurofeedback of slow cortical potentials due to enhanced cortical control.   However,   non-specific   factors,   such  as   parental   support,   may   also contribute to the positive behavioural effects induced by the neurofeedback training.