The Effect of Mobile Neurofeedback Training in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Seo Young Kwon1, Gyujin Seo2, Mirae Jang2, Hanbyul Shin2, Wooseok Choi1, You Bin Lim1, Min-Sup Shin1, Bung-Nyun Kim1
1Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea
2Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Correspondence to: Min-Sup Shin
Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Korea
E-mail: shinms@snu.ac.kr
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9840-6997

Bung-Nyun Kim
Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Korea
E-mail: kbn1@snu.ac.kr
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2403-3291
Received: January 11, 2023; Revised: March 24, 2023; Accepted: March 25, 2023; Published online: July 31, 2023.
© The Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology. All rights reserved.

This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Objective: To examine the effect of mobile neurofeedback training on the clinical symptoms, attention abilities, and execution functions of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Methods: The participants were 74 children with ADHD aged 8−15 years who visited the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Seoul National University Children’s Hospital. The participants were randomly assigned to the mobile neurofeedback (n = 35) or control (sham; n = 39) group. Neurofeedback training was administered using a mobile app (equipped with a headset with a 2-channel electroencephalogram [EEG] sensor) for 30 min/day, 3 days/week, for 3 months. Children with ADHD were individually administered various neuropsychological tests, including the continuous performance test, Children’s Color Trails Test-1 and 2, and Stroop Color and Word Tests. The effects of mobile neurofeedback were evaluated at baseline and at 3 and 6 months after treatment initiation.
Results: Following treatment, both mobile neurofeedback-only and sham-only groups showed significant improvements in attention and response inhibition. In the visual continuous performance test, omission errors decreased to the normal range in the mobile neurofeedback-only group after training, suggesting that mobile neurofeedback effectively reduced inattention in children with ADHD. In the advanced test of attention, auditory response times decreased in the mobile neurofeedback + medication group after training, but increased in the sham+medication group. Overall, there were no significant between-group differences in other performance outcomes.
Conclusion: Mobile neurofeedback may have potential as an additional therapeutic option alongside medication for children with ADHD.
Keywords: Neurofeedback; ADHD; Executive function; Children

This Article

e-submission

Archives