Testing the feasibility of neurofeedback interventions in mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders

Across seven small studies, researchers were generally able to recruit participants, deliver neurofeedback sessions and retain enough people for early-phase evaluation. The report is about whether the studies could be run, not whether neurofeedback treated any of the conditions.

McNamara R, Randell E, Playle R, Hood K, Mouga S, Castelo-Branco M, Hallschmid M, Fruchtman-Steinbok T, Kadosh KC, Hendler T, Linden DE.
Research Square (preprint) · Publication date: 2026-10-09
Added to site: 2026-10-11
DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-11141693/v1

Preprint posted October 9, 2026. Added to Neurofeedback.com October 11, 2026 after full-text review; not peer reviewed.

Modalities

fMRI neurofeedback, EEG neurofeedback

Clinical focus

Trial feasibility, Transdiagnostic research design

Population

Adolescents and adults studied for alcohol dependence, post-traumatic stress, autism, increased body weight or anxiety

Sample

Seven studies with recruited samples ranging from 15 to 57 participants

Intervention / method

A shared BRAINTRAIN framework used a common protocol template, central database, safety procedures, feasibility outcomes and independent steering committee while allowing condition-specific neurofeedback designs

Comparator

Four studies used randomized comparators including treatment as usual or sham feedback; three were single-arm feasibility studies

Clinician summary

Most predefined recruitment, retention and intervention-uptake thresholds were met, with lower performance in some vulnerable or logistically demanding groups. A single serious adverse event across the program was assessed as unrelated to neurofeedback. The paper does not pool efficacy outcomes and directs readers to condition-specific reports.

How to interpret the findings

This non-peer-reviewed synthesis combines heterogeneous studies, populations, targets, comparators and sample sizes. Several underlying trials were conducted years earlier and one remained unpublished. Adherence, intervention fidelity, acceptability and contamination lacked consistent predefined criteria or reporting, so the authors sometimes inferred acceptability from retention. Feasibility does not establish clinical efficacy.

Equipment and disclosures

The program included fMRI, EEG and EEG-derived electrical-fingerprint neurofeedback. The synthesis does not support a single device or vendor attribution.

Funded by the European Commission Health Cooperation Work Programme of the Seventh Framework Programme under grant 602186. The authors declared no competing interests. Preprint findings have not undergone journal peer review.

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