European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Background and Objectives:
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders that sometimes begins in childhood and adolescence. Epidemiological studies have reported the prevalence of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in a high clinical population; hence, the use of new methods can be very useful. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of neurofeedback on working-memory in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Method:
A total of 20 obsessive-compulsive patients were selected by convenient sampling and were randomly placed in two groups of 10 (experimental and control). In this study, the N-back test was used to collect information from the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). In the beginning, the pretest was done and then the experimental intervention (neurofeedback) was performed on the experimental group during 15 one-hour sessions. At the end of the treatment program, a post-test was given to both groups. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANCOVA) was used for data analysis.
Results:
The results showed that neurofeedback is significantly associated with increased working memory and decreased symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder in people with obsessive-compulsive syndrome (p <0.05).
Conclusion:
Neurofeedback training increases working memory in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder; therefore, it can be used as an effective method with regard to these patients.