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 3 of 4
Back : Next

Symptomatic Change with EEG Training
Among the symptoms responding to the training, it is easiest to document progress with tests of cognitive function and of intelligence. The results of testing with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale-Revised are shown in Figure 1 for a group of fifteen children who underwent the training. Testing was done by an independent clinical psychologist. The lowest-scoring categories in the pre-test are those having to do with attention and with sequential processing: Arithmetic, Coding, Information, and Digit Span. All of these categories show major gains. The equivalent increase in measured IQ is 23 points. We assume that we are not making children smarter. We are simply making their intrinsic mental capability more accessible and useable to them.

Figure 1

Figure 1.
Results of intelligence tests with the Wechsler (WISC-R) for 15 children who underwent EEG training in a clinical study. The testing was done independently. Average results are shown. The pre-training IQ score was 114; the post-training average was 137.

With regard to specific learning disabilities, we have shown improvement in visual retention by means of the Benton Visual Retention Test. The results are shown in Figure 2. Only fourteen of the group were tested. Of these, six who started out testing average or below scored in the superior range after EEG training. Six others showed significant improvement. Two others were rated superior both before and after the training. So twelve out of twelve children for whom visual retention was a problem made progress with the training. The fact that auditory retention also improves was demonstrated by the Digit Span subtest of the WISC-R. The training also seems to have broken bottlenecks in reading and arithmetic ability for a number of children, some of whom jumped several grade levels in reading and arithmetic, as determined with the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT).

Figure 2. Results of Benton Visual Retention Test before and after EEG training.
Striking improvement is shown in 9 of the 12 children.

We have also demonstrated improvement in fine motor skills with the tapping subtest of the Harris Tests of Lateral Dominance. This test is particularly useful when minor neurological damage is suspected. And, indeed, three of the fifteen children made more than 100% improvement in this test with the training. Others improved only modestly, where presumably this was not a problem. The median improvement in tapping score was 40%. Significantly, there was also a change in the ratio of right-hand to left-hand performance. This is shown in Figure 3. Before training, the ratio of right to left hand tapping skills ranged widely. After training, there was a narrow peak for the right-handers, and a narrow peak for the left-handers, with fewer cases of mixed dominance. These data are perhaps the most surprising, and the most direct evidence that neurological function is being altered with the training. After all, one does not expect handedness to change with children sitting in front of a video game for several hours, particularly one where they don't even use their hands but only their brain!

Figure 3. Right-left ratio in tapping performance before and after EEG training. Ratio varies widely before training. After training, there is a depletion of mixed dominance, and peaks emerge for right-handers and left-handers. The change in laterality is taken as evidence for the remediation of minor neurological deficits.