Published September 30, 2026, in Clinical EEG and Neuroscience, this pilot randomized 30 men with opioid use disorder who were receiving methadone maintenance treatment to LORETA Z-score neurofeedback, dot-probe cognitive rehabilitation or methadone treatment alone.
What the study tested The neurofeedback group completed 20 sessions. The dot-probe group completed 15 sessions over two weeks. Investigators tracked addiction severity across medical, employment, drug, legal, family and psychiatric domains.
An encouraging but preliminary signal The indexed abstract reports numerical improvement within all three groups and highlights selected Addiction Severity Index subcomponents in the LORETA group. The overall group-by-time analysis did not show a robust interaction, so the study does not establish that neurofeedback outperformed the comparison conditions.
Why it matters The pilot adds a structured, source-localized neurofeedback approach to the research conversation around recovery support. A larger sham-controlled trial could clarify whether the signal is specific to training, how durable it is and whether it changes opioid use, retention or daily function.
Source and disclosure Authoritative abstract checked. The abstract does not identify the equipment, report group-specific sample sizes, effect estimates, adverse events or a follow-up interval. Funding and competing-interest details were unavailable in the indexed record. Prepared with AI assistance and source-checked October 1, 2026.