Neurofeedback training for symptom reduction in children with dyslexia : multiple case study

Abstract

Dyslexia is one of the most common neurobiological disorders, affecting about 20% of children in Norway. According to phonological theory of dyslexia, the disorder is caused by a deficit in the representation, storage and recall of speech sounds. Different brain areas have been linked to the phonological deficit by means of different brain imaging techniques, among other qEEG. Some interesting studies conducted by Breteler and colleagues (2010) and Nazari and colleagues (2012) have tried to improve reading ability among dyslexics by means of neurofeedback training. Their results have been essential to the construction and the design of the present study. The aim of this study was to investigate neurofeedback training to improve reading ability in Norwegian dyslexic children. The study was conducted as a pre-post intervention multiple case design with 5 participants, aged 14-15 years. The intervention consisted of 25 sessions of neurofeedback, 15 Theta/Beta training and 10 individualized training mostly at language areas. The effect of intervention was measured by means of qEEG and Logos (Norwegian dyslexia test). The results showed improvement in reading ability and phonological skills among all participants. Furthermore, qEEG analysis showed some changes in theta, alpha and beta activity in several brain areas. The results also confirm the heterogeneity of dyslexia, and the complicity of many brain areas that are involved in dyslexia. This study is limited by the small number of participants, and low control of other variables that may have an effect on the reading ability. The improvements in reading and phonological skills in this study suggest that further research in this area, with larger sample and several training sessions, is highly required.