Attention Deficit

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD) affects about 5% of the population by conservative estimates and burdens adults as well as children. Various brain-scanning techniques including PET and SPECT scans indicate reduced metabolic activity in the frontal lobes. QEEG brainmaps also find a reduction in EEG activity in the frontal area of the brain. This excessive slow wave activity reduces the individual's ability to control and inhibit the brain and related nervous system activity. Impulsivity in motor and attentional centers of the brain results in impulsive behaviors and inappropriate responses to situations due to lost information during communications and general information gathering processes. Individuals are always trying to piece together what is going on after events and communications take place because they often lose key pieces of information. Consequently their performance suffers greatly in most contexts. They experience the world as overwhelming and over-critical of their actions. Children with ADD usually suffer from low self-esteem, anxiety, and often depression.

Picture Case Study: Ron was 14 years old and on 10mgs of Ritalin three times a day. Other medications had proven ineffective. He was acting out in class, oppositional with parents and teachers, forgetting books and assignments, having difficulty staying on task when reading, and suffering from comprehension and memory problems. He was also hanging around the kids who were in trouble at school all the time and his parents were concerned he would get into more trouble and become involved with drugs. Ron received 26 sessions of neurofeedback while his parents received training in parenting skills at the same time. His sessions included 8 sessions of alpha training to reduce his anxiety and oppositional nature followed by 18 sessions of beta training to increase the amount of activity and speed of processing in the frontal lobes. He was conditioned to increase beta while reading a textbook. By the fifth session Ron reported that his friends didn't like him anymore because he was different; too calm and unresponsive to their fooling around. He started hanging out with a nicer crowd of kids. His parents noticed changes in his behavior at home around the same time. By session 15 he was on 5mgs of Ritalin and his classroom behavior and schoolwork were improving. His anger and oppositional behavior had diminished to the point where it was no longer a problem. By session 24 he was off the Ritalin and a one year follow up found that he was still doing well and not on Ritalin.

Research: The research on ADHD is plentiful and well designed. Many group studies have been done and several clinics doing neurofeedback have large client databases to support their claims. The research indicates that neurofeedback is effective in 60-70% of cases. The milder the symptoms, the more effective it seems to be. Most cases require about 30 sessions of neurofeedback but difficult cases can require twice as many sessions. Few MDs, psychologists, and professional health people are aware of the existing studies or the clinical outcome studies of this intervention.