[ effect of neurofeedback training and neurofeedback with occupational therapy based on cognitive rehabilitation on executive functions in autistic children]

Many key problems in autistic children are related to executive dysfunction. This dysfunction is usually occurred due to structural and functional dissociation between brain regions. So neurofeedback can be used as a new treatment procedure in improving children's executive function through modifying brain waves but behavioral changes are usually reflection of long-term changes in the brain level. Therefore the purpose of this study is to investigate the overall effect of neurofeedback training and behavioral effects caused by adding occupational therapy based on cognitive rehabilitation. Single system [A-B-A-B+C-A] design was used in this study. Participants were 2 children with autism spectrum disorder who completed 41 sessions during the study. They received neurofeedback intervention alone [B] during 20 sessions and in the following 12 sessions neurofeedback with occupational therapy [B+C]. In this study, Wisconsin card sorting and tower of london tests were used for collecting information on children,s executive functions. According to the obtained results, the effect size of neurofeedback training on executive function was high for both participants. The rate of shifting attention was improved as one of the executive function items after adding occupational therapy and also the increasing effect of neurofeedback in planning was maintained. The results of this study showed that neurofeedback can improve executive function in autistic children and the effect of neurofeedback can be more obvious if occupational therapy will be added. But gaining more significant behavioral changes after receiving occupational therapy needs more sessions

[Effects of occupational therapy and neurofeedback on recovery of the motor function in stroke patients [a single-system design]]

Motor impairments, such as hemiparesis, incoordination and spasticity, are the most common deficits after stroke. Most patients show recovery in some of their lost motor function over time. Motor rehabilitation are included mixed of combined movement therapy techniques in many occupational clinics, cerebral waves such as Theta wave can influence on patients function. There fore, the purpose of this study is to understand the influence of combined of occupational therapy and neurofeedback on motor recovery of stroke patients. This study used a single-system [A-B] design. During the baseline phase patient's function of upper and lowe limb were measured by Fugl-Meyer and Berg Test on three day intervals during 4 week and have occupational therapy every day. After this time, their treatment program began. In this phase they received combined of neurofeedback and occupational therapy for 4 week. Then results of evaluations of two phases were analysed. Both cases show significant recovery at upper limbs [case1 81.1%, case2 68.1%] and lower limbs [case1 73.1%, case2 75.4%] in Fugel-Mayer test and Berg test [case1 51.6%, case2 68.1%]. Regarding the significant recovery of upper and lower limb function of patients, adding neurofeedback to routine occupational therapy can be considered as a practical method in rehabilitation of stroke patients. However further research is needed

Development, validation and reliability of child abuse self report scale [CASRS] in Iranian students

Diagnosing and assessing child abuse is a critical and difficult process in clinical psychology, because this phenomenon has several negative behavioral and psychological consequences on victims. The aim of this research is to create a scale for assessing child abuse and neglect. Through a multiclustral sampling, 3042 secondary school students [boys and girls] were selected to fill [1] a list of 54 items [Child Abuse and Self Report Scale, CASRS] which assess four categories of child abuse and neglect, after approving through content validity and [2] Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children [TSCC-A] in order to assign construct validity and comorbid psychopathology. Then, we did a clinical interview with a sample group who were diagnosed as abused children according to CASRS and TSCC-A. In addition, these scales were completed by a group of abused children as criterion group, for assigning criterion validity. In order to assign the reliability of CASRS and TSCC-A, after 3 weeks test-retest was done. Through a factor analysis, the best items were assigned. The results showed that CASRS and TSCC-A have excellent reliability and validity. Also, its stability was at an appropriate level. In addition, factor analysis showed that 38 items were the best questions for assessing child abuse. We believe that CASRS is an instrument which measures child abuse during the current life. It is brief [6 to 8 minutes for the core scales] and practical for epidemiological researches on child abuse, maltreatment and clinical screening. Methodological issues inherent in child self-report measures of abuse are discussed