Therapeutic Effects of Neurofeedback in 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.

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Key information

Conditions

Anorexia Nervosa Feeding and Eating Disorders Mental Disorders

Age range

12 year–18 year

Sex eligibility

Female

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Phase 1 / Phase 2

About this study

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.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

anorexia nervosa diagnosed by ICD-10

Exclusion criteria

epilepsy or other brain organic diseases

Treatment and study plan

Neurofeedback training

Behavioral

training of individual alpha frequency, 10 sessions, each 15 min

Primary outcomes

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)

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Medical University of Graz

Other

Registry information

Official study title

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

Important dates

Study start: 2010
Primary completion: 2014
Study completion: 2014
First posted: Jul 11, 2011
Registry last updated: Mar 11, 2015

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.

Completed