According to DSM-IV,
personality disorder constitutes a class only when personality traits are inflexible and maladaptive and cause either significant functional impairment or subjective distress. Classical treatment of choice for
personality disorders has been psychotherapy and/or psychopharmacotherapy. Our study is to determine if subjects with
antisocial personality disorders will benefit from quantitative EEG (qEEG) guided
neurofeedback treatment. Thirteen subjects (9 male, 4 female) ranged in age from 19 to 48 years. All the subjects were free of medications and
illicit drugs. We excluded subjects with other
mental disorders by clinical assessment. Psychotherapy or psychopharmacotherapy or any other treatment model was not introduced to any of the subjects during or after
neurofeedback treatment. For the subject who did not respond to
neurofeedback, training was applied with 38 sessions of LORETA
neurofeedback training without success. Evaluation measures included qEEG analysis with Nx Link data base, MMPI, T.O.V.A tests and SA-45 questionaries at baseline, and at the end of
neurofeedback treatment. Lexicor qEEG signals were sampled at 128 Hz with 30 minutes-
neurofeedback sessions completed between 80-120 sessions depending on the case, by Biolex
neurofeedback system. At baseline and after every 20 sessions, patients were recorded with webcam during the interview. Twelve out of 13 subjects who received 80-120 sessions of
neurofeedback training showed significant improvement based on SA-45 questionaries, MMPI, T.O.V.A. and qEEG/Nx Link data base (Neurometric analysis) results, and interviewing by parent/family members.
Neurofeedback can change the view of psychiatrists and psychologists in the future regarding the treatment of
personality disorders. This study provides the first evidence for positive effects of
neurofeedback treatment in
antisocial personality disorders. Further study with controls is warranted.