Effects of Neurofeedback in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder : A Preliminary Study / 신경정신의학

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The slow cortical potential (SCP) training is one of the methods of neurofeedback which is considered as an adjunctive treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the SCP training in children with ADHD. METHODS: Subjects were consisted of 12 children aged between 7 and 13 years and all of the subjects have completed neuropsychological tests to assess their cognitive and executive functioning, before and after their neurofeedback training. Their parents have completed the Korean-ADHD Rating Scale (ARS). Each subject was given 30 sessions of SCP training. RESULTS: The inattention scores and total ARS scores of the subjects have decreased (Z=-2.54, p<0.05, Z=-2.26, p<0.05, respectively) after training, but the hyperactivity/impulsivity scores did not show significant improvement. The commission error scores for both the visual and auditory ADHD diagnostic system (ADS) showed a trend toward improvement after training (p=0.053, p=0.092, respectively). The larger improvement of positive task of feedback trial, which is one of the methods of SCP training, was associated with the larger reduction of ARS total scores (p<0.05) and the larger improvement of negative task of transfer trial was associated with a larger reduction of omission error scores of auditory ADS (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the SCP neurofeedback program may improve ADHD symptoms and assumes that SCP training is a viable treatment option for ADHD treatment.