The Effects of Neurofeedback in the Default Mode Network: Pilot Study Results of Medicated Children with ADHD

Autori

  • Lori Russell-Chapin
  • Thomas Kemmerly
  • Wen-Ching Liu
  • Michael T. Zagardo
  • Theodore Chapin
  • Douglas Dailey
  • Dzung Dinh

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1080/10874208.2013.759017

Abstract

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulty activating the Default Mode Network (DMN) in a resting or quiet state. The DMN function assists in processing and understanding a person’s internal, reflective world and the world of self and others.
Neurofeedback (NFB), a type of EEG operant conditioning, trains self-regulation skills using a brain–computer interface. The hardware and software have audio/video capabilities to correct irregular brainwave patterns and regional cerebral blood flow associated with mental health
and cognitive concerns. Individual treatment sessions usually last approximately 20 min; to gain the largest overall treatment effect, NFB users need to experience about 30 to 40 sessions. This study randomly assigned 12 children diagnosed with ADHD and currently on a stimulant medication to a treatment or control group. Subjects in the treatment group completed 40 NFB sessions. Pre- and posttest fMRIs were administered on the treatment and control groups. Evidence showed that the forty 20-min sessions of Sensory Motor Rhythm NFB consolidated the DMN allowing for appropriate activation in the posterior cingulate, precuneus, the temporoparietal junction and the cerebellar tonsils. In addition to regulating and increasing SMR at 12–15 Hz, our research results showed activation of the DMN in a resting state after 40 NFB sessions. Assisting children with ADHD to appropriately activate the DMN
may help them be more adaptive and reflective and to better understand their own internal world and the world of others.

##submission.downloads##

Pubblicato

2016-08-23

Fascicolo

V. 17 N. 1 (2013)

Sezione

SCIENTIFIC FEATURES

Licenza

© International Society for Neurofeedback and Research (ISNR), all rights reserved. This article (the “Article”) may be accessed online from ISNR at no charge. The Article may be viewed online, stored in electronic or physical form, or archived for research, teaching, and private study purposes. The Article may be archived in public libraries or university libraries at the direction of said public library or university library. Any other reproduction of the Article for redistribution, sale, resale, loan, sublicensing, systematic supply, or other distribution, including both physical and electronic reproduction for such purposes, is expressly forbidden. Preparing or reproducing derivative works of this article is expressly forbidden. ISNR makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any content in the Article.  From 1995 to 2013 the Journal of Neurotherapy was the official publication of ISNR (www. Isnr.org); on April 27, 2016 ISNR acquired the journal from Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. In 2014, ISNR established its official open-access journal NeuroRegulation (ISSN: 2373-0587; www.neuroregulation.org).