Neurofeedback for ADHD: a review of current evidence

Martin Holtmann; Edmund Sonuga-Barke; Samuele Cortese; Daniel Brandeis

doi:10.1016/j.chc.2014.05.006

Neurofeedback for ADHD: a review of current evidence

Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2014 Oct;23(4):789-806. doi: 10.1016/j.chc.2014.05.006. Epub 2014 Aug 10.

Authors

Martin Holtmann¹, Edmund Sonuga-Barke², Samuele Cortese³, Daniel Brandeis⁴

Affiliations

¹ LWL-University Hospital for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ruhr University Bochum, Heithofer Allee 64, D 59071 Hamm, Germany. Electronic address: martin.holtmann@wkp-lwl.org.
² Developmental Brain-Behaviour Laboratory, Psychology, Institute for Disorders of Impulse & Attention, University of Southampton, University Road SO17 1BJ, Southampton, UK; Department of Experimental Clinical & Health Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2. B-9000, Ghent, Belgium.
³ Department of Child Psychiatry, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Hills Road, Cambridge PE29 2BQ, UK; Division of Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham, Triumph Road, NG7 2TU Nottingham, UK.
⁴ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Zürich, Neumünsterallee 9/Fach, CH-8032 Zürich, Switzerland; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, J5, D-68159 Mannheim, Germany.

PMID: 25220087
DOI: 10.1016/j.chc.2014.05.006

Abstract

Considerable scientific effort has been directed at developing effective treatments for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Among alternative treatment approaches, neurofeedback has gained some promising empirical support in recent years from controlled studies as a treatment of core ADHD symptoms. However, a recent stringent meta-analysis of 8 randomized controlled trials published in 2013 found that the effects were stronger for unblinded measures and 3 recent subsequently published well-controlled trials found no effects for the most blinded ADHD outcome. Firmer conclusions must await upcoming evidence from larger controlled studies and future meta-analyses contrasting different forms of neurofeedback and different outcome measures.

Keywords: ADHD; Frequency bands; Neurofeedback; Reward; Slow cortical potentials; Treatment.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / physiopathology
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / therapy*
Brain Waves / physiology*
Humans
Neurofeedback / methods*