Effect of the Brain Balance Program® on Cognitive Performance in Children and Adolescents with Developmental and Attentional Issues
Rebecca Jackson *
Brain Balance Achievement Centers, 400 Oyster Pt Blvd, Suite 203, South San Francisco, CA, 94080 USA.
Conor J. Wild
The Brain and Mind Institute, Western University, London, On, Canada.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
We reviewed the cognitive task performance of children and adolescents with developmental and attentional issues, before and after participation in the Brain Balance® (BB) program. The program consisted of three 1-hour sessions/week (sensorimotor stimulation and academic activities) with other multimodal activities, for 3 months. Participants were compared to a control group that had the same underlying demographic and phenotypical features but did not yet complete the program (participated on average for 27 days). For all ages (4-6 and 7+ years), we found a significant main effect of group, such that BB groups improved overall more than controls (CTRLs). More specifically, BB groups improved on all cognitive tests (three tests for ages 4-6 years; 12 tests for ages 7+ years), whereas CTRLs only improved on one test. These data support the potential of multimodal training programs toward the overarching goal of improving cognitive performance in children with developmental and attentional difficulties.
Keywords: Development, drug-free, ADHD, cognition, learning, memory