Influence of a BCI neurofeedback videogame in children with ADHD. Quantifying the brain activity through an EEG signal processing dedicated toolbox

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) affects around 10% of children in the world and conventional therapy has proved to be insufficient to supply the resources for an effective rehabilitation. Novel approaches in attention training include the use of information technologies to complement health professional's work. Specifically, the use of neurofeedback treatments has been shown as effective for train attention's self-regulation in children with ADHD. In this paper, a pilot study using a custom-made neurofeedback videogame called Harvest Challenge is presented. The videogame uses a low-cost Brain Computer Interface (BCI) to measure the attention levels of players in order to use them as an input control in the videogame. We carry out 2-sessions intervention with 7 children with ADHD attempting to find improvements in sustained attention levels. Furthermore, we recorded the EEG signals during a resting state in order to neurophysiologically characterize the children. Results revealed improvements in the sustained attention levels of players (measured by game metrics) as well as higher resting values in the power of alpha and beta bands rather than Delta and Theta. A statistical relationship between the power of the Theta band during resting and the time to accomplish the first game level was found indicating important game correlates with brain activity. Finally, we exposed the development of a software tool to simplify the EEG signal processing from low-cost BCI sensors highlighting its promising usefulness in user experience studies.