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Neurofeedback in Learning Disabled Children: Visual versus Auditory Reinforcement

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Abstract

Children with learning disabilities (LD) frequently have an EEG characterized by an excess of theta and a deficit of alpha activities. NFB using an auditory stimulus as reinforcer has proven to be a useful tool to treat LD children by positively reinforcing decreases of the theta/alpha ratio. The aim of the present study was to optimize the NFB procedure by comparing the efficacy of visual (with eyes open) versus auditory (with eyes closed) reinforcers. Twenty LD children with an abnormally high theta/alpha ratio were randomly assigned to the Auditory or the Visual group, where a 500 Hz tone or a visual stimulus (a white square), respectively, was used as a positive reinforcer when the value of the theta/alpha ratio was reduced. Both groups had signs consistent with EEG maturation, but only the Auditory Group showed behavioral/cognitive improvements. In conclusion, the auditory reinforcer was more efficacious in reducing the theta/alpha ratio, and it improved the cognitive abilities more than the visual reinforcer.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the children’s and parents’ cooperation in this study. The authors also acknowledge Judith Becerra, Fabiola García, Nelson Pumariega, Héctor Belmont, Susana Angélica Castro-Chavira, Lourdes Lara, Leonor Casanova, Bertha Esquivel, Teresa Álvarez, María Elena Juárez, Eneida Porras-Kattz, and Efraín Santiago for technical assistance, Roberto A. Prado-Alcalá for his invaluable psychological comments, and Dorothy Pless for revising English style. This project was supported in part by Grants IN226001, IN204103 and IN204613 from PAPIIT; 2001 and E59 from CONCYTEQ; and 69145 and 218556 from CONACYT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Neurobiología Conductual y Cognitiva, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, 76230, Juriquilla, Querétaro, Mexico

    Thalía Fernández, Jorge Bosch-Bayard, Thalía Harmony & Josefina Ricardo-Garcell

  2. Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Querétaro, 76010, Mexico

    María I. Caballero

  3. Centro de Neurociencias de Cuba, Avenida 25 y 158, Playa, La Habana, Cuba

    Lourdes Díaz-Comas, Lídice Galán & Eduardo Aubert

  4. Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, 50180, Toluca, Mexico

    Gloria Otero-Ojeda

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  1. Thalía Fernández
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  2. Jorge Bosch-Bayard
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  3. Thalía Harmony
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  4. María I. Caballero
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  6. Lídice Galán
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  7. Josefina Ricardo-Garcell
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Correspondence to Thalía Fernández.

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Fernández, T., Bosch-Bayard, J., Harmony, T. et al. Neurofeedback in Learning Disabled Children: Visual versus Auditory Reinforcement. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 41, 27–37 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-015-9309-6

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