A New Mental Health Treatment Is Non-Intrusive, Game-Like And Effective
By linking brain activity to an image or sound in real time, we can use simple game-like techniques to get people to train themselves to forge new neural connections and voluntarily adopt (or avoid) certain mental states. Using fMRI, researchers can create a map of an individual’s neural activity while thinking of a particular concept, such as ‘a spider’; by finding this brain pattern for people with phobias, researchers are then able to reduce the need for exposure during treatment. In the early days of neurofeedback, researchers would place this cap on a participant’s head and offer pleasant tones or a happy face on a screen whenever the read-out yielded brainwaves that would result in a positive clinical effect.
Source: aeon.co