Should Your Child Try Neurofeedback for ADHD?
You may have heard of "brain training" to boost intelligence or memory. If your child has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), there's a type of brain training some researchers think may improve focus and help other ADHD symptoms too. It's called neurofeedback or EEG biofeedback.
Electroencephalograph (EEG) sensors are placed on the scalp, often using headgear that looks like a bike helmet. The EEG sensors monitor brain waves. It's painless, and the sensors don't go into the scalp or head.
Most children who are diagnosed with ADHD still have it as teens. Symptoms of ADHD in teens are similar to those of ADHD in children. They include: Distractibility Irritability Poor concentration Hyperactivity Impulsivity During teen years, especially as the hormonal changes of adolescence are going on, ADHD symptoms may get worse.
While your child wears the sensors, he'll play a computer game that he controls using only his brain. For example, he may make a fish move through the sea while other ocean creatures go by. When the EEG sensors pick up brain waves that show your child is concentrating, they trigger a "reward" signal or sound. For example, a bell may sound, or the fish your child is controlling may dive deep into the water.
The idea is that as your child does this, he learns how it feels when he's concentrating. This might give him more control to "create" brainwaves that can reduce ADHD symptoms.
Does It Work?
Several studies, including a review of five different ones that involved a total of more than 250 children, show that neurofeedback can help with ADHD symptoms. But other research doesn't back that up, instead suggesting that it won't lead to big gains for kids with ADHD. So it seems more research is needed.
Naomi Steiner, MD, a developmental and behavioral pediatrician at Boston Medical Center, studies neurofeedback in children with ADHD and uses it in her pediatric practice. "Those circuits improve your child's ability to 'switch on' her brain, and focus for longer periods of time," she says.
"[During training], your child is forming new neuronal connections -- that is, new circuits in the brain."
However, Mayra Mendez, PhD, a psychologist and program coordinator at Providence Saint John's Child and Family Development Center in Santa Monica, California, treats people with ADHD and doesn't use it.
"Biofeedback [which includes neurofeedback] has been around a very long time and has evidence-based backing for conditions such as anxiety and depression," says Mendez. "But [there's not enough evidence] to use neurofeedback for ADHD yet."
But Steiner says neurofeedback may be an option for children with ADHD who don't respond to medication, or who may have strong side effects with medication. "Neurofeedback has no negative side effects," she says.
from WebMD Health http://ift.tt/28ZiATi
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