Computer-based cognitive training for ADHD: a review of current evidence

Edmund Sonuga-Barke; Daniel Brandeis; Martin Holtmann; Samuele Cortese

doi:10.1016/j.chc.2014.05.009

Computer-based cognitive training for ADHD: a review of current evidence

Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2014 Oct;23(4):807-24. doi: 10.1016/j.chc.2014.05.009. Epub 2014 Aug 10.

Authors

Edmund Sonuga-Barke¹, Daniel Brandeis², Martin Holtmann³, Samuele Cortese⁴

Affiliations

¹ Developmental Brain-Behaviour Laboratory, Psychology, Institute for Disorders of Impulse & Attention, University of Southampton, University Road, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK; Department of Experimental Clinical & Health Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, Ghent B-9000, Belgium. Electronic address: ejb3@soton.ac.uk.
² Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Zürich, Neumünsterallee 9/Fach, Zürich CH-8032, Switzerland; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, J5, Mannheim D-68159, Germany.
³ LWL-University Hospital for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ruhr University Bochum, Heithofer Allee 64, Hamm D 59071, Germany.
⁴ Department of Child Psychiatry, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Hills Road, Cambridge PE29 2BQ, UK; Division of Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham, Triumph Road, Nottingham NG7 2TU, UK.

PMID: 25220088
DOI: 10.1016/j.chc.2014.05.009

Abstract

There has been an increasing interest in and the use of computer-based cognitive training as a treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The authors' review of current evidence, based partly on a stringent meta-analysis of 6 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in 2013, and an overview of 8 recently published RCTs highlights the inconsistency of findings between trials and across blinded and nonblinded ADHD measures within trials. Based on this, they conclude that more evidence from well-blinded studies is required before cognitive training can be supported as a frontline treatment of core ADHD symptoms.

Keywords: ADHD; Attentional control; Brain plasticity; Cognitive training; Inhibitory control; Randomized controlled trial; Treatment; Working memory.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / therapy*
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / instrumentation
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / methods*
Executive Function / physiology*
Humans
Memory, Short-Term / physiology*
User-Computer Interface*