Effects of neurofeedback on major depressive disorder: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder is a difficult-to-treat psychological disorder. Approximately 30% of patients with major depressive disorder do not respond to conventional therapies; thus, the efficacy of alternative therapies for treating major depressive disorder, such as neurofeedback, a non-invasive neuromodulation method used in the treatment of psychiatric diseases, must be investigated. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of neurofeedback in minimizing and treating major depressive disorder and its application as a substitute to or an adjuvant with conventional therapies. METHODS: We searched for experimental studies published between 1962–2021 in Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases and identified 1,487 studies, among which 13 met the inclusion exclusion criteria. RESULTS: We noted that not all patients responded to neurofeedback. Based on depression scales, major depressive disorder significantly improved in response to neurofeedback only in a few individuals. Additionally, the number of training sessions did not influence the results. CONCLUSION: Neurofeedback can reduce depression symptoms in patients; however, not all patients respond to the treatment. Therefore, further studies must be conducted to validate the effectiveness of neurofeedback in treating major depressive disorder.