![]() ![]() The goal of neurofeedback is to increase the brain’s capacity for beta waves, while diminishing the frequency of delta and theta waves. Neurofeedback is a form of biofeedback - the process of learning how to change physiological activity using real-time monitoring of biological data - that uses electroencephalography (EEGs) to help patients train their brains to improve focus, impulse control, and executive function.īrain scans show that ADHD brains produce more low-frequency delta or theta brain waves than do neurotypical brains, and often show a shortage of the high-frequency beta brain waves linked to focus and impulse control. Making a general conclusion about brain training for ADHD is almost like making a general conclusion about medication for ADHD, where medication would include not just meds specifically developed for ADHD but a much wider range of medication.” “Instead, it is important to examine the claims and evidence of specific applications. ![]() “Brain training is an umbrella term that accompanies so many different specific applications that generalized conclusions about the value of brain training for ADHD are essentially meaningless,” says David Rabiner, Ph.D. Each of these can be done in an office with a professional, or at home, with or without a trained clinician. When we talk about it for ADHD, however, we’re typically referring to one of two things: neurofeedback or cognitive training (though some ADHD experts, like Sandy Newmark, M.D., don’t consider neurofeedback to be a type of brain training). ![]() What does “brain training” mean for ADHD?īrain training, as you can imagine, is a broad concept, and it can mean a lot of things. Through exercises and experiences specific to each solution discussed below, brain training aims to aims to target and improve particular brain-based skills. Brain training is based on the idea of “neuroplasticity,” which is a relatively recent theory positing that the brain is malleable, and can be changed by experience (for better or for worse) at any age. “Brain training” is used to describe a vast and diverse range of solutions, programs, exercises, or tools meant to strengthen the brain - either by changing its structure, altering brain waves, or improving specific brain-based skills like working memory or processing speed. From Lumosity to CogniFit, brain training has overtaken the mainstream and seeped in to ADHD treatment plans - through at-home apps, in-office neurofeedback programs, and everything in between - claiming to improve attention, lower impulsivity, or boost brain-based skills like processing speed or working memory.īut what do these tools actually do, and do they make any real, measurable impact on symptoms of attention deficit disorder ( ADHD or ADD)? In this FAQ and accompanying chart, we dive into what brain training comprises, how various programs work, and what you or your child can expect from popular solutions. That designation allows drugs to be fast-tracked for development after early clinical trials suggest significant therapeutic promise.Search “brain training” and you’ll find countless apps, games, and tools promising to make you smarter, slow cognitive decline, and/or boost creativity. But recently, a variety of Schedule 1 drugs have been granted “breakthrough therapy” status by the FDA. And, the 1980s war on drugs cemented the idea in the cultural consciousness that drugs which the government labeled Schedule 1 had little to redeem them. In 1970, the Nixon administration instituted the Controlled Substances Act, which made psychedelics and other psychoactive drugs illegal. Timothy Leary of Harvard advised people to take LSD and “tune in, turn on, drop out” of mainstream culture. In the 1960s psychedelics were used recreationally and even as a form of protest: Dr. LSD, for instance, was originally used in a medical context in the 1950s, and shortly thereafter in secret experiments on unwitting participants by the CIA. The history of psychoactive drugs in the United States is a complicated one. From Rave Culture to Rx: Schedule 1 Drugs' Therapeutic Potential ![]()
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