Effectiveness of EEG-Biofeedback on Attentiveness, Working Memory and Quantitative Electroencephalography on Reading Disorder

Objective: Cognitive factors are the important correlates of reading disorder and their impairments are established in children with reading disorder. Neurofeedback as an intervention has been reported to be useful in improvement of cognitive deficits. The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of this treatment on attentiveness and working memory and related electroencephalographic (EEG) changes in children with reading disorder. Methods: In this single subject study, six children with reading disorder aged 8-10 years old completed twenty 30-minunt sessions of treatment. Continuous performance task, the digit span subscale of the 3rd edition of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III) and quantitative electroencephalography were used to evaluate the changes at pre and post-treatment. The data were evaluated by visual inspection of the graph, the mean percentage improvement and signal detection measures. Results: The results showed improvements in attention and working memory. Furthermore, EEG analysis did not show notable changes in the power of the targeted bands (delta, theta, and beta), rather the normalization of coherence was explicit in theta band at T3-T4, delta band at Cz-Fz, beta band at Cz-Fz, Cz-Pz and Cz-C4. Conclusions: These significant changes in coherence are possible indications of the connectivity between frontal and posterior association and integration between sensory and motor areas that explain the improvements in attention and working memory.