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American Academy Of Pediatrics Level 2 Treatment Recommendations For ADHD Do Not Apply to Neurofeedback

teenage boy in close-up during EEG biofeedback therapy sessionThere has been much excitement surrounding the recent positive developments for neurofeedback (EEG-biofeedback) for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In the past week, news circulated that American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) endorsed neurofeedback for ADHD. Although I too was admittedly excited about this potentially important development for the field of neurofeedback and children with attentional disorders, I found no evidence in AAP’s original announcement that Level 2 (“good evidence”) recommendations applied to neurofeedback and and posted an article to this effect.

In a follow-up investigation, a representative at the PracticeWise Evidence-Based Services (PWEBS) Database service (i.e., provided the research evidence to AAP) stated that the Level 2 recommendations apply only to EMG-biofeedback. Although PWEBS did not provide specific references to BMED Report, they stated that these evidence-based recommendations were established using two controlled studies from the early 1980’s.

Practitioners of neurofeedback will surely be disappointed with this announcement. However, it is vital that other scientists and the general public receive accurate statements about neurofeedback treatment efficacy. Erroneous public claims will only damage the credibility of future genuinely positive research findings.

On a side note, I wonder why PWEBS did not consider more recent studies of EEG-biofeedback for ADHD?

I am very interested to hear what others think about this topic. I encourage health-care practitioners who want to post comments at BMED Report to please contact me to have a quick and free subscriber account set-up.

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One Response to American Academy Of Pediatrics Level 2 Treatment Recommendations For ADHD Do Not Apply to Neurofeedback

  1. avatar
    Christopher Fisher, M.A. July 23, 2010 at 12:49 PM #

    There was quite a reaction in professional circles about this article. Many were happy that a clarification was made, but most were understandably disappointed that the AAP announcement did not apply to neurofeedback. There was also much bewilderment that PWEBS ignored more recent, and in some cases, published controlled neurofeedback for ADHD studies. I anticipate a movement will emerge at the professional society level to help the folks at PWEBS get updated with more recent neurofeedback research.

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