The Treatment Effect of Neurofeedback Training on Executive Function in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been shown to display more inhibitory deficits and executive function deficits. This study investigated the treatment effects of neurofeedback (NF) training on executive function by comparing the results of neuropsychological tests of the trained children at pre- and post-training. METHODS: Fifteen children with ADHD, aged 6 to 14 years, participated in the study. The NF treatment consisted of slow cortical potential (SCP) training and these sessions took place once a week. The ADHD children performed 20 sessions of NF training within 6 months. Pre-training and post-training assessments encompassed Continuous Performance Test (CPT), Stroop Test, Children's Color Trails Test I&II (CCTT) and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). RESULTS: Patients receiving NF training showed significant improvement in visual commission error and standard deviation of auditory response time on CPT ; and total errors on WCST. But there was no significant improvement in the Stroop test and CCTT. CONCLUSION: SCP training using NF improves the self-regulatory capacities and impulsivity in ADHD patient, especially impulsivity in visual stimulation tasks. This study showed evidence of clinical efficacy of NF on executive function in ADHD.