The effectiveness of neurofeedback-based treatment on the brain networks of primary school children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of neurofeedback-based treatments on the brain networks of primary school children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The purpose of this research is a quasi-experimental study with a comparison group with random assignment, pre-test-post-test. The purpose of quasi-experimental research is to find possible causes of a behavior pattern. The pre-test and post-test design with control group is one of the experimental designs in which subjects are randomly selected and replaced in different groups using the same method. In this research, neurofeedback-based treatment is considered as an independent variable, and its effectiveness on the brain networks of primary school children suffering from attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder is considered as a dependent variable. The statistical population includes all primary school children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder who refer to related centers in Shiraz city. The sample size is 160 people. The sampling method is targeted in such a way that 30 patients were selected from the relevant medical centers that had active treatment cases in the spring and summer season and amounted to 160 cases. The participants were identified and evaluated based on the Connors questionnaire (parent form) as well as clinical interviews with parents and children suffering from attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The results obtained from the present study indicate that the neurofeedback intervention has shown the greatest effect in the temporal region on the right side in theta and alpha waves and the theta wave on the opposite side. In the results obtained from the Coherence Quantitative Assessment Scale, it showed the most changes in the Fp1/Fp2 area in delta, alpha and beta waves, as well as F3/F4 in delta, theta and alpha waves to a greater extent, and also in T3/T4 on the delta wave. Also, O1/O2 on theta wave, F7/F8 on beta wave, F7/T5 on alpha wave and C3/C4 were seen to a lesser extent.

The studies showed that neurofeedback along with cognitive tasks was able to reduce the symptoms of attention deficit disorder and hence it is an effective method to reduce the symptoms of this disorder. The results showed the effectiveness of neurofeedback in treating the symptoms of attention deficit disorder and this study found the effect size reported a significant effect for the treatment of attention deficit and impulsivity and a moderate effect size for the treatment of hyperactivity. In many other researches,