Neurofeedback Training Offers New Paths for Treating Children With ADHD
Ontario, Canada (PRWEB) July 11, 2013 -- Biofeedback – When a child is diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), parents may be reluctant to treat with medication. Neurofeedback training, where a person learns to control aspects of brain wave activity, offers another option. In its 2012 review, the American Academy of Pediatrics gave biofeedback Level 1 efficacy— the same level given to medications.
A case study presented in the journal Biofeedback illustrates how children with ADHD can be assessed and successfully trained using neurofeedback. An initial assessment of the child allows providers to set individualized training parameters. Neurofeedback is combined with learning strategies to apply self-regulation skills to everyday life situations.
The case subject, a 10-year-old girl who met the criteria for a diagnosis of ADHD, completed initial training in the first part of her fifth-grade year. She displayed symptoms of distractibility, difficulty finishing tasks, and difficulty concentrating on her schoolwork. Her assessment showed that she had a classic pattern of excess slow brain wave activity. She responded well to a practice training session designed to let the patient and parents know what to expect during the twice-weekly training sessions.
In the hour-long sessions, electrodes are applied, creating a brain-computer interface. Short, repetitive activities of 2–3 minutes teach the child to maintain focus by giving feedback about her success at maintaining concentration. The learning involves a game-like display (bowling game, dart moving towards a target, something moving through a maze) that activates when the brainwave pattern indicates calm focus and stops when the child tunes out. The child thus learns what it feels like to pay attention as they have to get focused to get the game moving again. The time length and the difficulty of the tasks are increased over time. For children, motivation and positive interaction with the trainer are created by giving praise and offering tokens that the child may use to gain a prize.
The girl had a primary trainer, but she also worked with several other trainers in different rooms over the course of the sessions. This approach ensured that training effects came from the neurofeedback and learning strategies, not the trainer-subject relationship. Over the course of 60 training sessions, this girl gradually learned to reduce her slower brain wave activity (3–7Hz) and increase her fast wave activity in the sensorimotor rhythm range (12–15 Hz), while inhibiting a range that reflects the effect of muscle tension (52–58 Hz).
This case study shares techniques used in neurofeedback training for children with ADHD with the goal of helping clinicians to conduct appropriate training. With practitioners performing quality work with good results, the field of biofeedback can continue to advance, as it already has in the treatment of ADHD and epilepsy.
Full text of the article, “Training for Success in a Child with ADHD,” Biofeedback, Vol. 41, No. 2, 2013, is available at http://www.aapb-biofeedback.com/doi/full/10.5298/1081-5937-41.2.07
###
About Biofeedback
Biofeedback is published four times per year and distributed by the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback. AAPB’s mission is to advance the development, dissemination, and utilization of knowledge about applied psychophysiology and biofeedback to improve health and the quality of life through research, education, and practice. For more information about the association, see http://www.aapb.org.
Bridget Lamb, Allen Press, Inc., http://www.allenpress.com, 785.865.9410 248, [email protected]
Share this article