David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
No Evidence to Support Neurofeedback Over CBT for ADHD
by Deborah Brauser, Medscape
September 5, 2017
There is no evidence to support the use of neurofeedback over cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which is commonly used to treat adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), new research suggests.
A triple-blind study of 118 patients in Germany showed that patients who underwent electroencephalographic (EEG) neurofeedback training experienced similar reductions in symptoms as those who underwent sham neurofeedback or group CBT.
"This first randomized, sham-controlled trial did not show any specific effects of neurofeedback on ADHD symptoms in adults," Michael Sch?neberg, PhD, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at the University of T?bingen, Germany, and colleagues write.
Before any treatments for this indication can be recommended, they "must first demonstrate they are superior to standard, CBT methods," Dr Sch?neberg added in a press release.
He pointed out that CBT required fewer sessions and allowed for group vs individual work. In addition, there were no additional costs associated with creating and maintaining technical equipment, unlike neurofeedback.
Asked for comment, Julian Keith, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, told Medscape Medical News that the take-away message isn't so much that neurofeedback didn't beat CBT ― it's that all three conditions worked equally well.
"The good news was that people benefited pretty substantially from cognitive and neurofeedback therapy, but the bad news was it didn't matter whether it was real or sham neurofeedback," said Dr Keith.
"The inclusion of the sham controls shows that the thing we thought was producing benefit, the therapy itself, may not be the active ingredient. Instead, it may be something it shares in common with the sham condition," he added.
The findings are published in the September issue of Lancet Psychiatry.
For details of the sudyy, read more...
by Deborah Brauser, Medscape
September 5, 2017
There is no evidence to support the use of neurofeedback over cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which is commonly used to treat adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), new research suggests.
A triple-blind study of 118 patients in Germany showed that patients who underwent electroencephalographic (EEG) neurofeedback training experienced similar reductions in symptoms as those who underwent sham neurofeedback or group CBT.
"This first randomized, sham-controlled trial did not show any specific effects of neurofeedback on ADHD symptoms in adults," Michael Sch?neberg, PhD, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at the University of T?bingen, Germany, and colleagues write.
Before any treatments for this indication can be recommended, they "must first demonstrate they are superior to standard, CBT methods," Dr Sch?neberg added in a press release.
He pointed out that CBT required fewer sessions and allowed for group vs individual work. In addition, there were no additional costs associated with creating and maintaining technical equipment, unlike neurofeedback.
Asked for comment, Julian Keith, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, told Medscape Medical News that the take-away message isn't so much that neurofeedback didn't beat CBT ― it's that all three conditions worked equally well.
"The good news was that people benefited pretty substantially from cognitive and neurofeedback therapy, but the bad news was it didn't matter whether it was real or sham neurofeedback," said Dr Keith.
"The inclusion of the sham controls shows that the thing we thought was producing benefit, the therapy itself, may not be the active ingredient. Instead, it may be something it shares in common with the sham condition," he added.
The findings are published in the September issue of Lancet Psychiatry.
For details of the sudyy, read more...
