What if you could put a headband on for just 20 minutes a day to help treat the symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)? The new process utilizes a specialized ADHD headband designed to use non-invasive light electrical brain stimulation to help bypass the traditional medication route used by many with ADHD right now.
The headband was designed by Neurode, an Australian startup founded by Nathalie Gouailhardou and engineer Damian Sofrevski. Gouailhardou is a neuroscientist who was diagnosed with ADHD at just five years old. So far, the company has garnered quite a bit of attention surrounding its headband, including 5.3 million AUD ($3.7 million USD) in funding to bring the device to the market.
And it really isn’t that surprising to see so much hype around an ADHD headband that does away with the invasive medicines that remain extremely difficult to get ahold of. There’s also the fact that other treatment options, like behavioral therapy, continue to have huge obstacles in front of them for most folks.
With a headband like Neurode’s device, though, treatment could be opened up exponentially. That’s because the medications that typically help people with ADHD are considered controlled substances. Thus, they have strict rules surrounding them, which can make them difficult to get ahold of. The entire point of something like Neurode is to make it easier for people with ADHD to self-manage their treatment.
Instead of relying on medication to change how the brain works, the ADHD headband will deliver light electrical stimulation to the prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain known for controlling executive function and focus. Something else that Neurode’s headband does is monitor your brain, and then provide you with detailed information and real-time data to help you understand how your PFC is changing over time. This will let you better understand how the changes relate to your ADHD.
Being able to treat ADHD symptoms with just 20 minutes of headband use each day seems like something that’s too good to be true. But, so far, the company has reported good findings with those who have tested it, with many even reporting no side effects or even feeling anything while using it—a huge improvement over the side effects some ADHD medication can have. Scientists have been looking for different ways to treat ADHD for years now, with the FDA even approving an electric shock device for kids back in 2019.
