Neurofeedback in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

ISRCTN ISRCTN12800253
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN12800253
Secondary identifying numbers N/A
Submission date
12/03/2012
Registration date
27/03/2012
Last edited
01/03/2018
Recruitment status
No longer recruiting
Overall study status
Completed
Condition category
Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most common child psychiatric disorder. It is a group of behavioural symptoms that include inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. The most common treatment is medication, but this has side effects. This study aims to test a new treatment for ADHD called neurofeedback.

Who can participate?
Patients aged between 12 and 18 with ADHD.

What does the study involve?
Participants are randomly allocated to either the intervention group or the control group. Participants in the intervention group undergo neurofeedback, where they are taught to increase the activity of certain brain regions that we know are not functioning well in ADHD. Neurofeedback in these regions will be compared with neurofeedback in other brain regions. This is done in 4 visits over 2 weeks. The control group are asked to do the same but on a different brain region.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
It is expected that patients will benefit from the neurofeedback training as it will improve their ADHD symptoms. There are no known side effects of neurofeedback.

Where is the study run from?
Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London (UK)

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
September 2012 to March 2015

Who is funding the study?
Action Medical Research (UK)

Who is the main contact?
Prof. Katya Rubia

Contact information

Prof Katya Rubia
Scientific

King's College London
Institute of Psychiatry
Department of Child Psychiatry
London
SE5 8AF
United Kingdom

ORCiD logoORCID ID 0000-0002-1410-7701

Study information

Study designRandomised controlled trial
Primary study designInterventional
Secondary study designRandomised controlled trial
Study setting(s)Hospital
Study typeTreatment
Participant information sheet Not available in web format, please use the contact details below to request a patient information sheet
Scientific titleNeurofeedback using functional magnetic resonance imaging in patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Study objectivesThe hypothesis is that ADHD children will be able to progressively upregulate right frontal cortex and caudate activations in 16 sessions of 10 minutes of fMRI-Neurofeedback and that this upregulation will be associated with an improvement in symptom severity of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness as measured in ADHD behavioural rating scales
Ethics approval(s)Not provided at time of registration
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studiedAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
InterventionNeurofeedback using functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI-NF)

Patients will undergo Neurofeedback to learn to upregulatetheir own brain activation in 16 sessions of 5 minutes each. This will be done over 4 MRI sessions. Within each FMRI session there will be 4 sessions of 5 minutes each. This will be done over 4 visits over 2 weeks.

The control group will be asked the same but on a different brain region.
Intervention typeOther
Primary outcome measure1. The ADHD Rating Scale (ADHD-RS)(Dupaul et al., 1998), measured before and after the treatment
2. Monotonic increase in inferior frontal lobe and caudate activation across the feedback sessions in the active group
Secondary outcome measures1. Reduction in the ADHD Index of the Conners Parent Rating Scale
2. Reduction in the Children’s Global Assessment Scale (CGAS), a clinical rating scale used to document children’s overall functional capacity at home, school, and with peers
3. No side effects as measured on a side effects scale
IMprovement in a cognitive task battery we have developed for ADHD that measures key functions including inhibition, attention, timing and motivation
Overall study start date01/09/2012
Completion date01/03/2015

Eligibility

Participant type(s)Patient
Age groupChild
Lower age limit12 Years
Upper age limit18 Years
SexBoth
Target number of participants40
Key inclusion criteria1. Between the age of 12– and 18 years
2. Score above clinical cut-off on the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, ADHD module (K-SADS) (Kaufman, Birmaher, Brent, Rao, & Ryan, 1996)
3. Score above clinical cut-off on the Conners Parent and Teacher Rating Scales (CPRS/CTRS) (Conners, Sitarenios, Parker, & Epstein, 1998)
4. Score above cut-off on the ADHD Rating Scale (ADHD-RS) (Dupaul, Power, Anastopoulos, & Reid, 1998).
5. Patients will be either medication naïve or on their usual stable medication without change in regime throughout the study.
6. Comorbidity with other disorder will be allowed except the ones outlined below under exclusion criteria
7. IQ > 80
Key exclusion criteria1. Neurological disorder
2. Epilepsy
3. Drug and alcohol abuse/dependence (as assessed by K-SADS)
4. Comorbidity with schizophrenia, Bipolar disorder, learning disability, severe depression with current suicidal behaviour (as assessed on Kiddie-SADS)
5. IQ < 80
Date of first enrolment01/09/2012
Date of final enrolment01/03/2015

Locations

Countries of recruitment

  • England
  • United Kingdom

Study participating centre

King's College London
London
SE5 8AF
United Kingdom

Sponsor information

King's College London (UK)
University/education

Institute of Psychiatry
De Crespigny Park
London
SE5 8AF
England
United Kingdom

Website http://www.kcl.ac.uk/iop
ROR logo "ROR" https://ror.org/0220mzb33

Funders

Funder type

Research organisation

Action Medical Research (UK) ref: 1890
Private sector organisation / Trusts, charities, foundations (both public and private)
Alternative name(s)
actionmedres, action medical research for children, AMR
Location
United Kingdom

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to shareYes
IPD sharing plan summaryAvailable on request
Publication and dissemination planNot provided at time of registration
IPD sharing plan

Study outputs

Output type Details Date created Date added Peer reviewed? Patient-facing?
Results article proof-of concept study results 01/06/2017 Yes No

Editorial Notes

19/01/2016: Plain English summary added.
28/02/2018: Publication reference added.
01/03/2018:
1. Participant level data changed from 'not available at time of registration' to 'available upon request'
2.. ORCID ID for principal investigator was added in contact information