Efeitos do Neurofeedback em Transtornos Neurocognitivos e Psiquiátricos em Adultos Tratados Cirurgicamente por Tumor Cerebral

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of neurofeedback in improving neurocognitive and psychiatric disorders in adults surgically treated for brain tumor. Methods: Double-blind, randomized and placebo-controlled study intending to investigate whether neurofeedback improves neurocognitive and mental functioning in adults who received surgical treatment for brain tumor. Thirty-seven survivors of brain tumor who underwent neurosurgery with complaints of neurocognitive deficits, depressive symptoms and worse quality of life were selected. Results: Individuals surgically treated for brain tumor showed improvement in their memory skills and attention after performing treatment with neurofeedback. The group undergoing treatment with neurofeedback showed a significant increase. There was an improvement in cognitive abilities after treatment with neurofeedback. Indexes of measurement of quality of life showed increase. Study participants showed a decrease in depressive symptoms after performing treatment with neurofeedback. Conclusion: This study showed that neurofeedback is effective in treating cognitive deficits, depressive symptoms and changes in quality of life secondary to brain tumors. Future studies with brain electrophysiological monitoring and functional magnetic resonance imaging are needed to establish and register possible changes in brain physiology offered by training with neurofeedback.