Background: Neurostimulation techniques are potential methods of treating ADHD, involving stimulation of brain areas showing abnormal activity in ADHD. They are associated with benefits that last longer with fewer side effects. This literature review will evaluate the effectiveness of these methods.
Subjects and methods: A literature search using scientific databases including PubMed and the Cochrane Library, using "ADHD" and "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder" combined with "Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation", "TMS", "Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation", "tDCS", "Vagus Nerve Stimulation", "VNS", "Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation", "TNS", "Deep Brain Stimulation", "DBS", "Electroconvulsive Therapy", "ECT", "Ultrasound stimulation" as keywords was conducted, yielding 417 references, 30 of which are used in this paper.
Results: Mixed results have been found in the effectiveness of neurostimulatory methods in treating ADHD.
Conclusions: Neurostimulation techniques have potential in treating ADHD, with some studies having positive results. More research using greater sample sizes and standardised outcome measures could be done to verify the results of previous studies.