Neuroscientists representing the University of Cambridge made a discovery thanks to which they were able to remove certain fears and fears from the brain. The authors described the results of their scientific work in the profile publication Nature Human Behavior.
Today's society is full of various fears and phobias that people struggle with in different ways. Scientists have already practiced the method when a person was exposed to a stressful situation, putting him face to face with what he is very afraid of. After several sessions, some have a positive effect, but not everyone will agree to such treatment, and science itself increasingly says that this method is quite cruel and unreliable. Therefore, British researchers decided to eradicate the problem in other ways.
Thanks to this commitment, Cambridge scientists have achieved unprecedented success. The researchers decided to scan the brain to track the activity driven by certain fears. After that neurophysiologists came up with a method of "decoding" the memories of something terrible.
Scientists conducted an experiment involving 17 healthy participants. The volunteers were shocked. At this time, they were shown a picture on the screen. Further, the researchers recorded the parameters of the brain with an artificially created phobia.
After that, scientists noticed that even when the volunteers were calm, their brains showed signals characteristic of a phobia. When they were identified, the participants were given a reward. Thus, in a couple of days, the subjects were taught that painful shock is something pleasant. That is, when the volunteers were shown pictures that had previously caused them fear, they no longer reacted to them as to something negative.
Scientists said they intend to continue research. The experts hope that their scientific work will help in the future to help people suffering from PTSD and phobias.
Ivan Golovin