Therapeutic Effects of EEG-Based Infra-Low-Frequency (ILF-) Neurofeedback Training on Children and Adolescents with Attention Deficit (Hyperkinetic) Disorder

According to actual estimates, approximately 5% of children suffer from attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder (AD(H)S) [1]. We addressed the question of whether EEG-based infra-low frequency (ILF) Neurofeedback is an effective therapy for such patients in this multi-center observational study.Method Each AD(H)D patient received ILF neurofeedback treatment about twice a week for at least 15 weeks according to a protocol developed by Othmer [2]. To assess Neurofeedback-induced changes of clinically relevant parameters of attention, such as response time and its variability, and impulse control, such as omission and commission errors, were measured in a 21-minute GO/NOGO continuous performance test (CPT) that was completed by each patient before and after the Neurofeedback intervention period.To track treatment-induced changes of AD(H)D-relevant indicators, the patients were regularly asked to assess kind and severity of their most pronounced symptoms.Results Data from 196 AD(H)D patients could be included in this study. After the period of about 30 sessions of ILF-Neurofeedback, the averaged response time of the patients improved significantly by 21ms (from 457ms (SD= 88ms) to 436ms (SD= 85ms)). In parallel, the variability of response time improved too by 18ms (from 122ms (SD= 30ms) to 104ms (SD= 30ms). Omission errors improved from an average of 9.6 (SD= 15.1) to 5.0 (SD= 9.3) and commission errors improved from an average of 19.1 (SD= 17.3) to 9.0 (SD= 9.0). After the NFB intervention 97% of the patients had an improvement in symptoms, like inattention, hyperactivity or impulsivity that once were perceived as stressful. Only 3% of the patients claimed no noticeable improvement of the symptoms.Conclusions Therapeutic outcome of the ILF-Neurofeedback therapy is excellent and this application can be seen as an effective method to treat AD(H)D. This study also demonstrates, that ILF-Neurofeedback can very well be integrated in an operating psychiatric practice.