NEUROTHERAPY AND ADD -- HISTORY AND TREATMENT
The Neurotherapy Center of Washington offers several interventions for people of all ages with Attention Deficit symptoms. These are
the standard EEG neurofeedback treatment, traditional neurotherapy (brainwave training), and various kinds of Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
biofeedback for learning control strategies to reduce stress levels. The Neurotherapy Center of Washington has licensed and certified therapists
experienced in all of these treatment modalities. The synergistic effect of combining these treatments shortens treatment length and gives our
clients life-long tools that help improve functioning in many areas of daily life.
The first research using a new form of Neurofeedback, EEG neurofeedback therapy, for ADD was one result of an NIH-funded study of audio-visual
neurofeedback treatment of ADD children. Carter and Russell conducted this study in Texas around 1990. (Carter JL, Russell HL. A pilot investigation
of auditory and visual entrainment of brain wave activity in learning disabled boys. Texas Researcher. 1993;4:65-72.) Len Ochs, Ph.D., had
developed equipment for the study, and later began to use the equipment in his clinical practice, finding that people with a variety of
difficult-to-treat problems responded to this therapy.
The story of the development and growth of this treatment is described in The Healing Power of Neurofeedback : The Revolutionary LENS Technique
for Restoring Optimal Brain Function, by Stephen Larsen. (2006, Pub. Healing Arts Press) The first formal research using the current EEG
neurofeedback technology (known at that time as Flexyx Neurotherapy System) was the NIH-funded study at the Neurotherapy Center of Washington
exploring the effect of EEG neurofeedback treatment on mild-moderate traumatic brain injury (MTBI). It was published in 2001. (See link in articles
to ADHD.) Results showed significant improvement in mental fatigue, and cognitive measures. Especially important is that the data confirmed
patient reports that they continued to improve even after treatment ended, so that gains were maintained and people were able to continue
functioning at higher levels. In my opinion these data support the concept that once the brain is again flexible it can take in new information
and keep learning. It is not longer stuck in an idling pattern.
WHAT DOES TBI HAVE TO DO WITH ADD? ISN’T ADD OF GENETIC ORIGIN?
There is substantial overlap in the symptoms that are diagnostic for both MTBI and ADD. These commonly include some or all of the following:
trouble with attention and concentration, short-term memory, organizing/prioritizing, impulsiveness, multi-tasking, and occasionally poor social
skills and mood swings. These observations are supported by hard quantitative data from brain imaging studies with children and adults diagnosed
with ADHD. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) scan studies show decreased metabolism in
many areas of the brain that are involved in various cognitive processes including attentional, inhibitory, and decision making behaviors.
Research funding received at the NCW has resulted in extensive experience with persons with TBI, many who had been diagnosed as ADD. It is this
background that supports the observation that a history of TBI is a major factor in producing the symptoms of ADD. Dr. Daniel Amen, a neurologist,
writes about functional brain problems revealed by SPECT scans in his book Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, (1998). “ADD occurs as a result
of neurological dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex (pfc) . . . . . when people with ADD try to concentrate, pfc activity decreases rather than
increasing as it does in the normal brains of control group subjects. (p 116)
A controlled study comparing long-lasting effects of Ritalin with EEG biofeedback showed that only those students who received EEG
biofeedback were improved when no longer taking Ritalin. For more detail about that study and the relationship of TBI to AD(H)D please click on
the link to a more detailed article by Dr. Mary Lee Esty on this subject – Neurotherapy and AD(H)D.
