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Neural Feedback Training as Therapy for ADHD?

Posted by Cliff on from the trendy-but-does-it-work dept.

jamesh asks: "I asked Slashdot (anonymously) a while back about my daughter, who has been diagnosed with ADHD. The Ritalin has made a lot of difference but things are still not quite right, and she has developed various vocal tics (grunting, odd little noises, words and so forth... think Tourette's Syndrome, only not nearly as bad), which is one of the side effects of stimulant medication. She's now a lot less of an outcast and appears able to better interact with other kids, but we're still looking at alternate treatments. It may be the trendy new thing, but we've now started down the road of neural feedback therapy. Does anyone out there have any experience in this treatment? First hand 'I've tried it once and it changed/ruined my life' anecdotes would be great, but if you have a child, friend or acquaintance who has been through this treatment, it would be really useful to hear about their experiences." We also discussed ADHD treatments in another related Ask Slashdot but I don't see any mention of such a therapy in that discussion. Has anyone heard of studies or reports on patients of Neural Feedback Therapy?

"If you haven't heard of it, the idea is that by attaching sensors to the head, brainwaves can be measured, and by providing visual feedback, you can actually train your brain to regulate its activity. An ADHD person supposedly has a brain which isn't very good at keeping itself in 'concentration' mode. In a child, the feedback takes the form of a game or in the case of an infant, a pleasing pattern on the screen (an infant would probably be treated for sleep disorders, not ADHD, in case you were wondering). When the brainwaves are in the 'right' state, the game proceeds or the patterns get prettier. When the brainwaves are erratic, it all slows down.

Because it is a trendy new thing, it's been put forward as a possible treatment for many other things including sleeplessness, epilepsy and other disorders, but one of the better successes has been in the treatment of ADHD.

The whole thing sounds quite plausible, but it is also quite expensive. All of the stuff I've read has been either from the suppliers of the treatment, or from people trying to discredit it."

10 of 864 comments (clear)

  1. Goatse.cx Dead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
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    Important Stuff: Please try to keep posts on topic. Try to reply to other people's comments instead of starting new threads. Read other people's messages before posting your own to avoid simply duplicating what has already been said. Use a clear subject that describes what your message is about. Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated. (You can read everything, even moderated posts, by adjusting your threshold on the User Preferences Page) Problems regarding accounts or comment posting should be sent to CowboyNeal.

    1. Re:Goatse.cx Dead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      Oh no's, no more goatse! What will I jack off to?

    2. Re:Goatse.cx Dead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      There's still this site.

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    3. Re:Goatse.cx Dead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      Wont work unless you DNS server has the old goatse.cx entry

  2. Neutral Feedback Therapy by potpie · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Is this why nobody replies to my /. posts?

    --
    Esoteric reference.
  3. When I starts a fiddlin' by iminplaya · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I just takes me Ritalin...

    --
    What?
  4. In all seriousness... by ath0mic · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    ask an MD, not /., that's what they are there for.

  5. Dave by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Dave, You seem to be upset. Perhaps you should take a stress pill. HAL2000,

  6. Re:Not a disease by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    You wacky vegan types always seem to forget that we were built for eating meat. Our digestive system bears no resemblance to that of a herbivore, and in fact, we can't even properly digest cellulose, and so we are unable to take full advantage of any vegetable's nutritional potential.

  7. STILL NO WMD in Iraq. whatta surprise!!!!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    so, all you people that screamed at us liberals and Saddam lovers, here's the latest scoop:
    them shells contained NOTHING!!

    http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?sec ti on=Breaking&storyId=813911&tw=wn_wire_stor y

    COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - The Danish Army said on Wednesday initial tests showed a cache of mortar rounds found buried in Iraq on January 9 did not contain any chemical substances as originally suspected.

    "The expert group from the Iraq Survey Group have investigated five ... and none of them have showed any trace of chemical substances," the Danish Army Operational Command said in a statement.

    Samples would be sent to the United States for further tests and the results were expected within three to five days, the command said.

    Denmark said its troops found the 36 mortar shells buried in southern Iraq and that early examination had suggested they could contain blister gas.

    The shells had been buried for at least 10 years, it said.

    Blister gas, an illegal weapon which Saddam Hussein said he had destroyed, was used extensively against the Iranians during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

    President Bush ordered U.S.-led forces to invade Iraq after accusing Saddam of possessing weapons of mass destruction. No such arms have been found so far.

    but then again, Shrug JR is there to liberate Iraq, right? RIGHT!