The Relative Efficacy of Connectivity Guided and Symptom Based EEG Biofeedback for Autistic Disorders

Abstract

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in communication, social interaction, and a limited range of interests with repetitive stereotypical behavior. Various abnormalities have been documented in the brains of individuals with autism, both anatomically and functionally. The connectivity theory of autism is a recently developed theory of the neurobiological cause of autisic symptoms. Different patterns of hyper- and hypo-connectivity have been identified with the use of quantitative electroencephalogray (QEEG), which may be amenable to neurofeedback. In this study, we compared the results of two published controlled studies examining the efficacy of neurofeedback in the treatment of autism. Specifically, we examined whether a symptom based approach or an assessment/connectivity guided based approach was more effective. Although both methods demonstrated significant improvement in symptoms of autism, connectivity guided neurofeedback demonstrated greater reduction on various subscales of the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC). Furthermore, when individuals were matched for severity of symptoms, the amount of change per session was significantly higher in the Coben and Padolsky (J Neurother 11:5-23, 2007) study for all five measures of the ATEC. Our findings suggest that an approach guided by QEEG based connectivity assessment may be more efficacious in the treatment of autism. This permits the targeting and amelioration of abnormal connectivity patterns in the brains of people who are autistic.

The Effects of Humorous Literature on Emotion: A Pilot Project Comparing Children with Asperger's Syndrome Before and After Neurofeedback Training and Controls

“…Positive gains have also been documented for individuals with AS (Coben & Myers, 2010;Knezevic et al, 2010;Kouijzer et al, 2010;Thompson et al, 2010). More specifically, Thompson et al (2010) reported significantly marked improvements in attention (both auditory and visual) and impulsivity.…”

“…More specifically, Thompson et al (2010) reported significantly marked improvements in attention (both auditory and visual) and impulsivity. Coben and Myers (2010) reported significant improvements with social interaction and communication. With documented improvements across all areas of difficulty, there is increased potential for longterm management of the disorder.…”

“…However, Thompson and Thompson (2007) argued that outcome data are lacking and treatments using medications are often not favorable and can actually worsen or induce certain symptoms such as anxiety (i.e., an iatrogenic effect). More recently, favorable outcomes have been reported using neurofeedback (NFB) as a treatment for AS (Coben, 2007;Coben & Myers, 2010;Knezenic et al, 2010;Kouijzer, van Schie, de Moor, Gerrits, & Buitelaar, 2010;Thompson et al, 2010).…”

Impact of Coherence Neurofeedback on Reading Delays in Learning Disabled Children: A Randomized Controlled Study

“…The reliability and validity of quantitative EEG (qEEG) have been sufficiently assessed and confirmed (Thatcher, 2010). We have previously shown qEEG data to be useful in impacting outcome of NF intervention for children on the autistic spectrum (Coben & Myers, 2010;Coben & Padolsky, 2007). All EEG data was subjected to manual artifacting procedures conducted by a professional with more than 30 years' experience.…”

A Review of qEEG-Guided Neurofeedback

“…The primary premise of this approach is that localized cortical dysfunctions, or dysfunctional connectivity between localized cortical areas, correspond with a variety of mental disorders and presenting symptoms (Coben & Myers, 2010;Collura, 2010;Walker, 2010). When the EEG record of an individual is then compared to a normative database representing a sample of healthy individuals, the resulting outlier data (deviations of zscores from the mean) help link clinical symptoms to brain dysregulation (Thatcher, 2013).…”