The Effect of Neurofeedback Training on Increasing Sustained Attention in Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of neurofeedback training on improving&nbsp;sustained attention of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Methods: The research design is quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest and control group.&nbsp;The study population consisted of the veterans with PTSD who were hospitalized in psychiatric&nbsp;wards. Purposeful sampling method was done to select 30 patients in psychiatric hospitals of&nbsp;Sadr, Delaram, and Parsa during spring, summer, and autumn of 2014 by considering their arrivals and departures. Then, they were randomly assigned into 2 experimental (n=15) and&nbsp;control group (n=15). The neurofeedback training by alpha-theta protocol was administered to&nbsp;the experimental group, but the control group did not receive any neurofeedback training. The&nbsp;sustained attention was measured by continuous performance test (CPT). After that, the data&nbsp;were analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance. Results: The results showed that neurofeedback training significantly increased the omission&nbsp;errors (P<0.001, F=17.074), commission errors (P<0.001, F=18.515), and reaction times&nbsp;(P=0.044, F=4.511) in sustained attention and reduced correct detection. Conclusion: According to the findings, the relation between alpha and theta waves, and based&nbsp;on underlying principles, neurofeedback treatment has achieved acceptable results.&nbsp;