Were you born a coward? Scientists have found a way to erase the brain to increase your courage and remove fear
- Scientists have developed a way to monitor brain activity in real time
- They say it was used to remove fear and increase a person’s confidence
- I thought it had the potential to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), phobias and anxiety.
Scientists have developed a method that changes the way a person’s brain works to increase confidence and eradicate fears.
It is believed that the technique may have the potential to treat psychological conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), phobias and anxiety.
Called “decoded neurofeedback,” the technology is still in its infancy, and while Japanese researchers have found that it works, it is not effective for everyone.
Therefore, the team published its findings in the hope that other experts can help improve the procedure.
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Scientists have developed a method that changes the way a person’s brain works and can be used to boost confidence and eradicate fears. In the picture, the brain scan of an anonymized person
A combination of artificial intelligence and MRI imaging were used by experts at the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) in Seika, Japan.
They found that an fMRI scanner can provide real-time brain activity that can be compared to previous recordings.
For example, the brain of a person with arachnophobia will respond in a particular way when faced with an image of a tarantula and it is recorded by a computer.
But the variation in the brain’s natural activity means that a response that looks the same will appear at random times.
Called “decoded neurofeedback,” the technology is still in its infancy, and while Japanese researchers have found that it works, it is not effective for everyone. Therefore, the team published its findings in the hope that other experts can help improve the procedure.
At points where this is in line with the fear response, the researchers gave participants a monetary reward.
Finally, this positive reinforcement reconnects the brain, so that when the person is triggered again with a spider, it does not respond in the same way.
“The simple act of repeatedly offering a reward every time the model is detected changes the original memory or mental state,” explains Dr. Mitsuo Kawato of ATR.
“Importantly, participants do not need to be aware of the ‘content’ patterns for this to work. ”
Data were obtained from over 60 people who participated in five separate studies and all data were collected in a single database.
“The decoded Neurofeedback approach could have major benefits for clinical populations over traditional treatments,” said author Dr. Aurelio Cortese.
Patients may avoid the stress associated with exposure therapies or side effects from established medications.
“As such, it is crucial to accelerate the development of the decoded Neurofeedback technique – and this will only be possible if more scientists are able to work on the actual data.”
Complete findings are available in Scientific Data.