Therapeutic Effects of Neurofeedback in Anorexia Nervosa

March 10, 2015 updated by: Medical University of Graz

Therapeutic Effects of Alpha-neurofeedback in the Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa

The purpose of this study is to determine whether neurofeedback training can significantly reduce the symptoms of anorexia nervosa (AN) with focus on changes in personality and psychological well-being. The primary aims of this study include:

  1. To examine whether AN patients are able to control their alpha-activity through neurofeedback.
  2. To examine the effects of neurofeedback on symptomatology and personality variables in AN patients.
  3. To examine the long-term effects of neurofeedback in the treatment of AN.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The aim of the present study is to investigate the impact of EEG frequency band biofeedback (neurofeedback) training on EEG topography and symptomatology of patients suffering from anorexia nervosa (AN).

There is evidence that alpha-neurofeedback leads to an increase in positive therapy outcome in clinical populations by changing long-lasting EEG frequency patterns. The use of an EEG-guided relaxation paradigm has been shown to be associated with well-being and improvements in pathology of psychiatric patients.

In the present study the effects of alpha-training on EEG activity, mood, personality, well-being, blood parameters, and heart frequency will be evaluated in a sample of anorectic girls (12-18 years).

The subjects are trained with at least 10 sessions alpha-neurofeedback, in order to enhance individual alpha frequency, with spectral resting EEG, EKG, blood samples, ERP-measures and psychometric measures assessed before and after training. Neurofeedback is conducted over a period of five weeks, with each participant receiving two training sessions per-week. Neurofeedback is administered using USBAmp-EEG system.

For better surveillance of training effects there are two non-treatment control groups. A patient group receiving conventional therapy programme of the Psychosomatic Division of the Pediatric Department at the University Hospital Graz and a healthy control group.

A twelve-week follow-up study is carried out in order to document long-term effects of alpha-neurofeedback training in AN patients.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

12

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 1

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

12 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • anorexia nervosa diagnosed by ICD-10

Exclusion Criteria:

  • epilepsy or other brain organic diseases

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: neurofeedback, alpha power
Behavioral: neurofeedback training
training of individual alpha frequency, 10 sessions, each 15 min

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
brain activity in the alpha band
Time Frame: 10 sessions neurofeedback
measuring selected variables pre/posttraining and follow-up and on 10 points of measurement (10 sessions neurofeedback)
10 sessions neurofeedback

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Medical University of Graz

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Nina Lackner, Mag., Department of Psychology, Karl-Franzens-University Graz

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

October 1, 2010

Primary Completion (Actual)

November 1, 2014

Study Completion (Actual)

November 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 7, 2011

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 8, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

July 11, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

March 11, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 10, 2015

Last Verified

March 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • NEUROAN

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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