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Results of the Benton VRT are shown in terms of both the number of errors (to the left) and number of items correct (to the right) both before and after training, for fourteen of the fifteen subjects.
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The efficacy of brain wave training and EEG biofeedback in the remediation of attentional deficits and specific learning disabilities is evaluated for a study population of fifteen school-age children in a clinical setting using psychological and academic testing. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised (WISC-R) is used in combination...
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... Visual Retention Test Results for the Benton VRT are shown in Figure 10. In this test, simple geometric figures are drawn from memory after a brief exposure. The number of errors made is shown, along with the number of correct representations. The improvements registered in this test are quite striking. Six of the fourteen subjects improved from a rating of average or below to superior. Six showed lesser gains, and two were rated superior already in the pretest, and did not undergo significant change. The test yields unambiguous evidence that the EEG training can improve short-term visual memory. Combined with the significant gains observed on the WISC digit span test of auditory memory, these test results imply a beneficial effect of EEG training on the mechanisms of short-term memory. Benton Visual Retention Test Results for the Benton VRT are shown in Figure 10. In this test, simple geometric figures are drawn from memory after a brief exposure. The number of errors made is shown, along with the number of correct representations. The improvements registered in this test are quite striking. Six of the fourteen subjects improved from a rating of average or below to superior. Six showed lesser gains, and two were rated superior already in the pretest, and did not undergo significant change. The test yields unambiguous evidence that the EEG training can improve short-term visual memory. Combined with the significant gains observed on the WISC digit span test of auditory memory, these test results imply a beneficial effect of EEG training on the mechanisms of short-term memory. Harris Tests of Lateral Dominance--Tapping Subtest The Tapping Subtest was used to determine shifts in handedness, and as a test of changes in eye-hand coordination. The test compares right and left hand performance in a timed challenge in which pencil dots must be placed in rows of boxes. Dominance is defined as right or left if the scores differ by 20 % or more. (To remain close to the data, we will refer to handedness, rather than cortical dominance) Seven of the fifteen subjects significantly improved their score, three by more than 100%. Of the 28 data points in the test (only 14 subjects were given the tapping test), 25 showed an increase. The three decreases were related to left-hand performance, and resulted in these subjects shifting from mixed to right- handedness. The average increase in score was 40%, heavily weighted by the three individuals who underwent very large changes. The median improvement was ...
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... Visual Retention Test Results for the Benton VRT are shown in Figure 10. In this test, simple geometric figures are drawn from memory after a brief exposure. The number of errors made is shown, along with the number of correct representations. The improvements registered in this test are quite striking. Six of the fourteen subjects improved from a rating of average or below to superior. Six showed lesser gains, and two were rated superior already in the pretest, and did not undergo significant change. The test yields unambiguous evidence that the EEG training can improve short-term visual memory. Combined with the significant gains observed on the WISC digit span test of auditory memory, these test results imply a beneficial effect of EEG training on the mechanisms of short-term memory. Benton Visual Retention Test Results for the Benton VRT are shown in Figure 10. In this test, simple geometric figures are drawn from memory after a brief exposure. The number of errors made is shown, along with the number of correct representations. The improvements registered in this test are quite striking. Six of the fourteen subjects improved from a rating of average or below to superior. Six showed lesser gains, and two were rated superior already in the pretest, and did not undergo significant change. The test yields unambiguous evidence that the EEG training can improve short-term visual memory. Combined with the significant gains observed on the WISC digit span test of auditory memory, these test results imply a beneficial effect of EEG training on the mechanisms of short-term memory. Harris Tests of Lateral Dominance--Tapping Subtest The Tapping Subtest was used to determine shifts in handedness, and as a test of changes in eye-hand coordination. The test compares right and left hand performance in a timed challenge in which pencil dots must be placed in rows of boxes. Dominance is defined as right or left if the scores differ by 20 % or more. (To remain close to the data, we will refer to handedness, rather than cortical dominance) Seven of the fifteen subjects significantly improved their score, three by more than 100%. Of the 28 data points in the test (only 14 subjects were given the tapping test), 25 showed an increase. The three decreases were related to left-hand performance, and resulted in these subjects shifting from mixed to right- handedness. The average increase in score was 40%, heavily weighted by the three individuals who underwent very large changes. The median improvement was ...
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Citations
... The beta activity decreases in posterior and temporal regions with tasks requiring sustained attention. Beta activity (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30) has also been related to cognitive activity. Similar results were obtained by Chabot et al, 24 Clarke et al, 25 and Lazzaro et al. 26 However, several studies also indicate that early intervention can help manage EEG characterizations during resting and activity conditions. ...
... These changes indicate the connectivity between frontal and posterior association and the association between sensory and motor areas, suggesting the improvements in attention and working memory of children with learning problems. 27 Othmer et al 28 reported the successful use of NFT for academic and cognitive improvements by decreasing theta and enhancing beta. In another study, Fernandez et al 29 also reported that EEG absolute power of delta, theta, alpha, and beta bands decreased after twenty-half-hour neurofeedback sessions on children with a learning disability. ...
Background: Electroencephalography (EEG) has been used to measure neural correlates of cognitive and social development in children for decades. It is essential to evaluate the relationship between EEG parameters and cognitive measures to understand the mechanisms of learning problems better. Methods and procedure: Fifty school-going children with complaints of learning problems were studied. EEG and other cognitive measures were used to assess children before and after PEABLS; a cognitive-behavioral intervention was imparted. EEG was recorded while hyperventilation, writing, and reading conditions, and the values for absolute and relative powers were calculated. Results: The results suggested that the post-intervention absolute (in the theta and alpha bands) and relative (delta, theta, and alpha) power values were higher, and the relative power beta value was significantly lower at most of the electrodes in comparison to pre-intervention EEG measures. A significant high positive correlation in the children with learning problems between the relative power of alpha, beta O1O2, the relative power of theta, delta T3T4, and the academic scores, IQ, working memory, DTLD, and BGT values. Conclusion: These quantitative electroencephalogram findings in children with learning problems are related to cognitive measures. The findings could be due to brain immaturity and lack of learning opportunities.
... Al respecto, los estudios realizados por Lubar (Lubar & Shouse, 1976;Lubar & Lubar, 1984;Lubar, 1991;Lubar, Mann, Gross & Shively, 1992;Lubar, Swartwood, Swartwood & O'Donnell, 1995;Rasey, Lubar, McIntyre, Zoffuto & Abbot, 1996;Lubar & Lubar, 2001;Monastra, Lynn, Linden, Lubar, Gruzelier & LaVaque, 2005) en la universidad de Tennessee dejan en clara evidencia la alta efectividad de esta técnica en la población infantil con déficit de atención con y sin hiperactividad. Al igual que los estudios presentados por Othmer (Kaiser & Othmer, 2000;Othmer, Othmer & Marks, 1991;Scott, Kaise, Othmer & Sideroff, 2005;Legarda, McMahon, Othmer & Othmer, 2011;Othmer & Kaiser, 2000), que demuestran su alta eficacia en el tratamiento de dicho trastorno. ...
La violencia doméstica en sus múltiples manifestaciones constituye un problema de
salud pública, de derechos humanos y de género, de relevancia social a nivel local, nacional
y mundial. Actualmente, existe cada vez un mayor consenso sobre las consecuencias
de este problema por parte de diferentes asociaciones civiles y científicas,
organizaciones internacionales y gobiernos de diferentes países (Agencia de los Derechos
Fundamentales de la Unión Europea [FRA] 2014; Mitchell Wight, Van Heerden
& Rochat, 2016; Morrison, Ellsberg & Both, 2005; Organización Panamericana
de la Salud, Organización Mundial de la Salud & Centros de control y Prevención de
las Enfermedades de los Estados Unidos, 2014; World Health Organization, 2013).
... Al respecto, los estudios realizados por Lubar (Lubar & Shouse, 1976;Lubar & Lubar, 1984;Lubar, 1991;Lubar, Mann, Gross & Shively, 1992;Lubar, Swartwood, Swartwood & O'Donnell, 1995;Rasey, Lubar, McIntyre, Zoffuto & Abbot, 1996;Lubar & Lubar, 2001;Monastra, Lynn, Linden, Lubar, Gruzelier & LaVaque, 2005) en la universidad de Tennessee dejan en clara evidencia la alta efectividad de esta técnica en la población infantil con déficit de atención con y sin hiperactividad. Al igual que los estudios presentados por Othmer Othmer, Othmer & Marks, 1991;Scott, Kaise, Othmer & Sideroff, 2005;Legarda, McMahon, Othmer & Othmer, 2011;, que demuestran su alta eficacia en el tratamiento de dicho trastorno. ...
... Al respecto, los estudios realizados por Lubar (Lubar & Shouse, 1976;Lubar & Lubar, 1984;Lubar, 1991;Lubar, Mann, Gross & Shively, 1992;Lubar, Swartwood, Swartwood & O'Donnell, 1995;Rasey, Lubar, McIntyre, Zoffuto & Abbot, 1996;Lubar & Lubar, 2001;Monastra, Lynn, Linden, Lubar, Gruzelier & LaVaque, 2005) en la universidad de Tennessee dejan en clara evidencia la alta efectividad de esta técnica en la población infantil con déficit de atención con y sin hiperactividad. Al igual que los estudios presentados por Othmer Othmer, Othmer & Marks, 1991;Scott, Kaise, Othmer & Sideroff, 2005;Legarda, McMahon, Othmer & Othmer, 2011;, que demuestran su alta eficacia en el tratamiento de dicho trastorno. ...
Este libro presenta parte del conocimiento acumulado de la Facultad de Psicología como producto del esfuerzo coordinado de un grupo de investigadores, docentes y estudiantes de la Universidad Católica de Colombia e instituciones aliadas. Las investigaciones se articulan en torno a la agenda de problemas, intereses, inquietudes y necesidades de siete líneas de investigación e integración curricular en psicología:
neurociencias del comportamiento; clínica de la salud y de las
adicciones; psicología educativa; psicología jurídica y criminología; psicología de las organizaciones; psicología social, política y comunitaria; y métodos de investigación en ciencias del
comportamiento. Con respecto a lo metodológico, en este documento se da cuenta de ejemplos de microetnografías, evaluaciones de impacto de programas educativos, caracterizaciones de dinámicas psicosociales, intervenciones expost-facto, diseño y evaluación de instrumentos de medición psicológica, y estudios preexperimentales; y en cuanto a los temas, a lo largo de los capítulos se abordan constructos psicológicos y problemáticas sociales como la participación política, la neurorrealimentación (neurofeedback), el
homicidio, la violencia doméstica e, incluso, la conciencia comunitaria, además de las aplicaciones del modelo de Rasch de la Teoría de Respuesta al Ítem para evaluar la calidad técnica de instrumentos de evaluación psicológica en los ámbitos educativo, organizacional y jurídico.
En síntesis, este libro es reflejo de la diversidad de estrategias metodológicas y prácticas teóricas de los psicólogos, como científicos del comportamiento, en un contexto social cambiante y complejo.
Palabras clave: investigación, psicología, métodos, evaluación, política, organizaciones, homicidio, neurofeedback, violencia, comunitaria.
... Al respecto, los estudios realizados por Lubar (Lubar & Shouse, 1976;Lubar & Lubar, 1984;Lubar, 1991;Lubar, Mann, Gross & Shively, 1992;Lubar, Swartwood, Swartwood & O'Donnell, 1995;Rasey, Lubar, McIntyre, Zoffuto & Abbot, 1996;Lubar & Lubar, 2001;Monastra, Lynn, Linden, Lubar, Gruzelier & LaVaque, 2005) en la universidad de Tennessee dejan en clara evidencia la alta efectividad de esta técnica en la población infantil con déficit de atención con y sin hiperactividad. Al igual que los estudios presentados por Othmer Othmer, Othmer & Marks, 1991;Scott, Kaise, Othmer & Sideroff, 2005;Legarda, McMahon, Othmer & Othmer, 2011;, que demuestran su alta eficacia en el tratamiento de dicho trastorno. ...
En los últimos años, el uso de la neurorretroalimentación o, en términos anglosajones, neurofeedback electroencefalográfico basado en el registro y en el análisis automático de la actividad eléctrica del cerebro, ha incrementado considerablemente. En particular, el entrenamiento cerebral interviene las ondas provenientes del Sistema Nervioso Central y permite la lectura electroencefalográfica de funciones cognitivas superiores. Según Pedrero-Pérez (2011), los parámetros indican procesos inconscientes que escapan al control racional, donde uno de los objetivos del entrenamiento es lograr que el individuo aprenda a ejercer control sobre el feedback que recibe de la información registrada, lo que permite optimizar su funcionamiento cerebral. En el presente estudio se propuso evaluar la aplicabilidad del neurofeedback con protocolos de entrenamiento cerebral tradicionalmente utilizados, con el objetivo de ampliar su validez externa. Específicamente, se trabajó con 50 pacientes, 26 de ellos con diagnóstico de Déficit de Atención (ADD), 16 con diagnóstico de Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad (ADHD) y ocho con trastorno autista; en general, con edades que oscilaron entre los 5 y los 38 años (M = 12.65; DE = 7.73) y con un número de sesiones que osciló entre 10 y 75 (M = 27; DE = 14). Los resultados finales expresan que el 4.1 % de los pacientes quedaron clasificados en relación a la evaluación del tratamiento en A+ (sobresaliente), el 57.1 % en A (excelente), el 24.5 % en B (bueno) y el 14.3 % en C (promedio); hallazgos que corroboran la efectividad del entrenamiento cerebral con neurofeedback en las patologías de estudio.
... 15 children with ADD features and/or learning disabilities were trained just as if they had been in ordinary clinical practice. Independent testing and evaluation was relied upon exclusively (Othmer, Othmer, and Marks, 1992). Average improvement in WISC-R score was found to be 23 points. ...
... Neurofeedback is one of the applications of Brain-computer interface (BCI) in rehabilitation and behavioral medicine [12]. Neurofeedback is reportedly used to treat associated deficits in children with reading disability [13] and also some of other psychiatric disorders [14] [15]. Some studies reported improvements in the reading ability and phonological awareness deficit, as well as changes in the EEG in children with reading disabilities as a result of neurofeedback in a single-subject study [16]. ...
Recent studies describe a number of difficulties associated with attention deficit in children with reading disabilities. Information about visual-spatial attention mainly arises from studies using event-related potentials (ERPs) during Posner’s spatial cueing paradigm. This study aims to use neurofeedback with a special protocol for treating children with reading disabilities, and moreo-ver, to evaluate visual-spatial attention ability by means of Posner paradigm task and ERPs. The study was conducted in a single subject design in 20 sessions. Participants were 2 male children, aged between 10 - 12 years old, who completed twelve 30-min neurofeedback sessions. Repeated measurements were performed during the baseline, treatment, and post treatment phases. Results showed some improvement in Posner paradigm parameters (correct response, valid and invalid reaction times). Furthermore, grand average ERPs for both of the participants in each of the four conditions (Valid-right, Invalid-right, Valid-left and Invalid-left) were analyzed. The analysis of P3 component showed a reduction in latency, indicating an improvement in the timing of cognitive processes. In addition, the graphs showed a decrease in amplitude level, which meant easier processing than before.
... La activación inicial, valorada a través de la ratio beta/theta, se estimula con neurofeedback EEG (los sujetos pueden jugar si manejan los umbrales de activación propuestos), terapia que, según Martínez-León (2006), ha mostrado resultados exitosos y estables a lo largo del tiempo (véanse al respecto: American Biotec Corporation, 2000; Lubar y Lubar, 1984;Lubar, Swartwood, Swartwood y O'Donnell, 1995;Monastra et al., 1999;Othmer, Othmer y Kaiser, 2000;Othmer, Othmer y Marks, 1991;Tansey, 1993; entre otras investigaciones). En este estudio, la activación cortical se trabaja con el EEG Spectrum, (www.neurocybernetics.com), ...
Actualmente, no hay duda de que la atención sostenida se modifica con la práctica, de ahí que cada sujeto pueda generar un potencial atencional propio. También se sabe que este modelo dinámico de la atención está condicionado por variables cognitivas, conativas y afectivas que precisan de una evaluación y una intervención «adaptada». El trabajo cuasi-experimental que aquí se describe se enmarca dentro de esta perspectiva, siendo su objetivo conocer la eficacia de una intervención combinada (activación cortical y práctica continuada) para la disminución de los déficit en atención sostenida asociados a bajo rendimiento escolar. Se trabaja con una muestra de 64 sujetos con déficit en atención sostenida, con edades comprendidas entre los 10 y 16 años, de los cuales 30 forman el grupo control y 34 el grupo experimental. Los resultados obtenidos evidencian la eficacia de la intervención para la mejora de la atención sostenida (a mayor grado de activación aumenta la calidad de la concentración y el control de la ejecución). Estos resultados son discutidos, así mismo, tomando conciencia de algunas limitaciones metodológicas del estudio.
... Although there is evidence of the use of neurofeedback since the late 1970´s [6] [8], it is in the late 1980´s [7] when the method started to gain worldwide acceptance. Neurofeedback has been used to treat ADHD as well as multiple disorders [3] [12]. One of the most common signal processing methods used for analyzing EEG signals for neurofeedback applications consists of calculating the DFT power spectrum density [15]. ...
This paper describes a neurofeedback system for auxiliary diagnostic of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The design stresses ease of use and modification so that different interfaces can be added, and different signal processing procedures can be implemented as required. An isolated data acquisition system based on the MC68HC908GP32 microcontroller transfers the acquired EEG signals to a PC. The interface and signal processing procedures were implemented using the Labview (National Instruments) virtual instrumentation software. The software calculates the power density spectrum (PDS) of the signals using the Welch PDS estimation method and Kaiser-Bessel windowing functions, to determine the ratio beta-EEG/thetas-EEG. Two different screen layouts are available for carrying out the tests. A clinical study was conducted on 4 unmedicated young adults suspected of suffering from ADHD. The test consisted of 6 10-minute sessions, divided in two stages of 5 minutes, over a period of 12 days. The results obtained showed an increased beta/thetas ratio as sessions progressed.
... Second, follow-ups are missing to examine long-term effects. Third, the follow-up data are incomplete, e.g., EEGdata and information about academic performance are absent (Othmer, Othmer, & Clifford, 1991). Vernon, Frick, and Gruzelier (2004) summarize, that "at this moment evidence for the long-term efficacy of neurofeedback remains equivocal." ...
Behavioral and cognitive improvements in children with ADHD have been consistently reported after neurofeedback-treatment. However, neurofeedback has not been commonly accepted as a treatment for ADHD. This study addresses previous methodological shortcomings while comparing a neurofeedback-training of Theta-Beta frequencies and training of slow cortical potentials (SCPs). The study aimed at answering (a) whether patients were able to demonstrate learning of cortical self-regulation, (b) if treatment leads to an improvement in cognition and behavior and (c) if the two experimental groups differ in cognitive and behavioral outcome variables. SCP participants were trained to produce positive and negative SCP-shifts while the Theta/Beta participants were trained to suppress Theta (4-8 Hz) while increasing Beta (12-20 Hz). Participants were blind to group assignment. Assessment included potentially confounding variables. Each group was comprised of 19 children with ADHD (aged 8-13 years). The treatment procedure consisted of three phases of 10 sessions each. Both groups were able to intentionally regulate cortical activity and improved in attention and IQ. Parents and teachers reported significant behavioral and cognitive improvements. Clinical effects for both groups remained stable six months after treatment. Groups did not differ in behavioural or cognitive outcome.
