Review of Rationale for Neurofeedback Application in Adolescent Substance Abusers with Comorbid Disruptive Behavioral Disorders

Neurofeedback is a type of operant conditioning in which an individual modifies the frequency, amplitude, or other characteristic of his or her own brain activity as measured by EEG. Neurofeedback-training-based neurotherapy is one of the potentially efficacious nonpharmacological treatment options for substance use disorders (SUD) in adults, but it is also a very promising as a treatment modality for adolescents, especially those with stimulant abuse and attention and conduct problems. There is practically no literature on the use of neurofeedback in adolescent drug abusers. Treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with neurofeedback has already gained substantial empirical support in recent years. Short-term effects were shown to be comparable to those of stimulant medication at the behavioral and neuropsychological level, leading to significant decreases of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. In addition, neurofeedback results in concomitant improvement and normalizations o...