Neurofeedback for ADHD: a review of current evidence
Martin Holtmann1, Edmund Sonuga-Barke2, Samuele Cortese3
1LWL-University Hospital for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ruhr University Bochum, Heithofer Allee 64, D 59071 Hamm, Germany.
Abstract:
Considerable scientific effort has been directed at developing effective treatments for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Among alternative treatment approaches, neurofeedback has gained some promising empirical support in recent years from controlled studies as a treatment of core ADHD symptoms. However, a recent stringent meta-analysis of 8 randomized controlled trials published in 2013 found that the effects were stronger for unblinded measures and 3 recent subsequently published well-controlled trials found no effects for the most blinded ADHD outcome. Firmer conclusions must await upcoming evidence from larger controlled studies and future meta-analyses contrasting different forms of neurofeedback and different outcome measures.


