Therapeutic Effect of Infra-Low-Frequency Neurofeedback Training on Children and Adolescents with ADHD

Abstract

In this observational study the outcomes of an EEG-based infra-low-frequency (ILF) neurofeedback intervention on patients with attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder (ADHD) are presented. The question is addressed whether this computer-aided treatment, which uses a brain-computer-interface to alleviate the clinical symptoms of mental disorders, is an effective non-pharmaceutical therapy for ADHD in childhood and adolescence. In a period of about 15 weeks 196 ADHD patients were treated with about 30 sessions of ILF neurofeedback in an ambulant setting. Besides regular evaluation of the severity of clinical symptoms, a continuous performance test (CPT) for parameters of attention and impulse control was conducted before and after the neurofeedback treatment. During and after the therapy, the patients did not only experience a substantial reduction in the severity of their ADHD-typical clinical symptoms, but also their performance in a continuous test procedure was significantly improved for all examined parameters of attention and impulse control, like response time, variability of reaction time, omission errors and commission errors. In a post neurofeedback intervention assessment 97% of patients reported improvement in symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity or impulsivity. Only 3% of the patients claimed no noticeable alleviation of ADHD-related symptoms. These results suggest that ILF neurofeedback is a clinically effective method that can be considered as a treatment option for ADHD and might help reducing or even avoiding psychotropic medication.

Infra-Low Frequency Neurofeedback: A Systematic Mixed Studies Review

“…Schneider et al ( 2021 ) analyzed the results of ILF-Neurofeedback training used on 196 children (average age 12.1 years) with a diagnosis of ADHD, at 5 therapy centers in Germany. According to the Othmer ADHD treatment protocol (Othmer, 2015a ), initial electrode positioning was at T3-T4 or T4-P4; training frequency was individually determined.…”

Effectivity of ILF Neurofeedback on Autism Spectrum Disorder—A Case Study

“…But is has to be mentioned that protocols distinctly different from ILF neurofeedback were used in these studies. However, a study of the effect of ILF neurofeedback in children and adolescents with ADHD shows significant improvements in ADHD-specific symptoms (Schneider et al, 2021 ), which demonstrates that this neurofeedback method in principle can affect symptoms of hyperactivity and impulse control. In addition, the results presented must be considered in light of the limitations of this study, as it represents only a single case description and the variability of results is particularly high in autism, in our experience.…”