EEG neurofeedback for children with overweight and obesity: A proof-of-concept study.

Ten neurofeedback sessions were feasible and accepted in this small study. Some eating-behavior and body-mass measures changed from before to after training, but the targeted EEG change was very small and the study had no comparison group.

Hahn U, Hübner C, Hilbert A, Schmidt R.
Brain research · Publication date: 2026-09-17
Added to site: 2026-09-18
DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2026.150554

First electronic publication date verified in PubMed and Europe PMC; the Crossref record supplies September 2026 without a day.

Modalities

Neurofeedback, EEG

Clinical focus

Childhood overweight and obesity, Eating behavior, Self-regulation

Population

Children ages 8 to 14 with overweight or obesity

Sample

20 children

Intervention / method

Ten food-cue EEG neurofeedback sessions over six weeks, intended to reduce food-specific high-beta activity

Comparator

No control or sham group

Clinician summary

Food-specific high-beta activity showed less than a small pre-post reduction. Standardized BMI and external eating showed small effects, while overeating measures showed medium-to-large effects. The uncontrolled design prevents causal attribution.

How to interpret the findings

Only 20 children participated, there was no randomization or control condition, and the accessible abstract does not report durability, adverse events, equipment or detailed effect estimates. Pre-post changes may reflect nonspecific influences.

Equipment and disclosures

The EEG neurofeedback equipment and electrode configuration were not specified in the accessible abstract.

The authors declared no known competing financial interests or personal relationships. Funding was not available in the checked indexed record.

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