Effects of neurofeedback on the short-term memory and continuous attention of patients with moderate traumatic brain injury:A preliminary randomized controlled clinical trial

• Published in: 中华创伤杂志（英文版） Vol. 20; no. 5; pp. 278 - 282
• Main Authors: Reza Rostami, Payman Salamati, Kourosh Karimi Yarandi, Alireza Khoshnevisan, Soheil Saadat, Zeynab Sadat Kamali, Somaie Ghiasi, Atefeh Zaryabi, Seyed Shahab Ghazi Mir Saeid, Mehdi Arjipour, Mohammad Saeid Rezaee-Zavareh, Vafa Rahimi-Movaghar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Department of Psychology, Tehran University, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran%Sina Trauma and Surgery Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran%Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran%Department of Psychology, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran%Department of Clinical Psychology, Al ame Tabatabaei University, Tehran, Iran%Sina Trauma and Surgery Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran 2017; Students' Research Committee, Baqiyatal ah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
• Subjects: Attention; Short-term memory; Neurofeedback; Brain injuries
• ISSN: 1008-1275
• DOI: 10.3760/j.issn.1008-1275.2017.05.006

Purpose: There are some studies which showed neurofeedback therapy (NFT) can be effective in clients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) history. However, randomized controlled clinical trials are still needed for evaluation of this treatment as a standard option. This preliminary study was aimed to evaluate the effect of NFT on continuous attention (CA) and short-term memory (STM) of clients with moderate TBI using a randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT). Methods: In this preliminary RCT, seventeen eligible patients with moderate TBI were randomly allo-cated in two intervention and control groups. All the patients were evaluated for CA and STM using the visual continuous attention test and Wechsler memory scale-4th edition (WMS-IV) test, respectively, both at the time of inclusion to the project and four weeks later. The intervention group participated in 20 sessions of NFT through the first four weeks. Conversely, the control group participated in the same NF sessions from the fifth week to eighth week of the project. Results: Eight subjects in the intervention group and five subjects in the control group completed the study. The mean and standard deviation of participants' age were (26.75 ± 15.16) years and (27.60 ± 8.17) years in experiment and control groups, respectively. All of the subjects were male. No significant improvement was observed in any variables of the visual continuous attention test and WMS-IV test between two groups (p≥0.05). Conclusion: Based on our literature review, it seems that our study is the only study performed on the effect of NFT on TBI patients with control group. NFT has no effect on CA and STM in patients with moderate TBI. More RCTs with large sample sizes, more sessions of treatment, longer time of follow-up and different protocols are recommended.