Event:

Objectives: Psychiatric disorders like ADHD are currently mainly treated with pharmacotherapeutic and, to a lesser extent, with psychotherapeutic methods. The success measured as improvement of symptoms under is surprisingly good with high effect sizes (>0.8) in randomized controlled trials, in particular for pharmacological treatment with stimulants. However, there is still room and need for improvement.
Methods: Neurofeedback methods based on EEG and fMRI methods are increasingly applied as an alternative or add-on therapeutic approach. The rationale behind these therapies is to show the subjects an immediate feedback of their brain activity. So they can learn how to regulate their brain activity and transfer this ability to real life situations.
Results: We established a neurofeedback protocol for regions of the prefrontal cortex based on measurements of brain activity with Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS). This NIRS-neurofeedback was applied in children and adults with ADHD with promising results.
Conclusion: Due to its high ecological validity, NIRS-neurofeedback might develop to an alternative or add-on therapy also for ADHD patients in future.