Effects of School-Based Neurofeedback Training on Attention in Students with Autism and Intellectual Disabilities.

The study did not use a placebo or sham control, so improvements in the experimental group could be due to the extra attention from therapists or the novelty of the equipment. Participants were not randomly assigned to groups; the experimental group consisted of students whose parents applied for and approved the training, while controls did not apply or were ineligible, which may introduce selection bias. The study did not control for the specific educational activities students participated in during the school year, which could have influenced attention scores. The sample size was relatively small and the study was not powered by a prior analysis. The effects were not tested for long-term retention after the school break.

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The study was conducted at a public special school where neurofeedback equipment is available via public funds.

Do not assume that neurofeedback improves general attention in students with autism or intellectual disability. The study found no benefit for selective attention or complex attention tasks, and the improvement in simple sustained attention may be due to non-specific factors like therapist interaction or practice effects rather than the neurofeedback itself.