Return to Main List
Return to ADHD / ADD

EEG Biofeedback for Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder

Siegfried Othmer, Ph.D., and Susan F. Othmer, B.A.
October, 1992

Page 1 of 4
Next

Attention Deficit Disorder and Specific Learning Disabilities
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, (ADHD) is characterized by impulsivity, hyperactivity, and distractibility. These symptoms may be present in varying degrees. For example, hyperactivity may not necessarily be obtrusive in order to diagnose the condition. ADHD is not a disease. There is no single diagnostic test. It is diagnosed by assessment of its severity with rating scales. ADHD is generally an inherited disorder which can be exacerbated by minor traumatic brain injury, including birth injury, and also by emotional trauma, dietary factors, and sleep deprivation.

Specific learning disabilities (LD) are correlated with ADHD, but are distinguishable from it. They are discernible deficits in sensory perception, in certain mental processing tasks, and in output functions such as speech. Whereas medical management of ADHD is now standard, and very helpful, such intervention has not been shown to help specific learning disabilities or academic skills disorders.

EEG Biofeedback Training for Symptoms of Disorder
EEG (electroencephalogram, or brain wave) biofeedback has been shown to be helpful with both ADHD and with specific learning disabilities. Often the same training protocol is appropriate for both conditions. The training may, therefore, address an element which is common to all of the above conditions. One common element in all of them is disorder. When we look at the affected population collectively, we see an immense variety in symptoms and in behavior. That is, the condition is intrinsically disorderly! For example, ADHD children frequently have sleep problems. They may be late bed-wetters. They may have sleep onset anxiety, so that they are unable to fall asleep in their own rooms. They may have night terrors. They may be sleep walkers or sleep talkers. Or they may grind their teeth loudly at night.

Additionally, they may have problems with frequent headaches. Also, they may have immune system problems: many have frequent childhood illnesses, and continual ear infections, indicating an immature immune system. Others have numerous allergies, indicating an immune response which has become inappropriately sensitized. There may be also be associated mood disorders such as anxiety or depression, or more severe behavioral disorders such as oppositional-defiant disorder or conduct disorder. Also, these children may exhibit obsessive-compulsive behaviors, or motor and vocal tics. They may have unusual dietary sensitivities. When they get older, they are more likely than others to be attracted to illicit drugs, and to fall afoul of the criminal justice system, or to commit suicide. Finally, as already stated, ADHD children are more likely than others to have specific learning disabilities as well. If looked at in this overarching way, the predominant characteristic is of disorder!

There are other disorderly aspects: The symptoms may vary from day to day, and month to month and year to year. School work that children are able to handle on one occasion bowls them over on another. School performance may be maddeningly inconsistent, and behavior highly variable. Performance can fluctuate significantly even over the course of a 22-minute continuous performance test! Our success in dealing with many of the above symptoms with EEG training compels us to see the issues as interrelated. If one training protocol can be helpful to conditions as distinct as sleep disorders, headaches, attention problems, reading difficulties, and temper tantrums in a particular child, then perhaps these problems have something in common. We believe that the EEG in these children points to the answer.