Researchers from the University of Cambridge have found a way to recondition fear within the brain
Orange County, CA - November 23rd 2016 - Fear related disorders affect 19 million people in the United States alone. These disorders, like phobias and post-traumatic stress disorder, can induce an all consuming panic in a person’s thoughts ranging from an inconvenience to debilitating effects. Often accompanied by a strong physical reaction, such as a panic attack, these disorders can interfere with daily life.
Common treatment for these disorders is cognitive behavioral therapy, or aversion therapy, where patients are encouraged to confront their fears through exposure. By doing this, doctors hope the patient will learn that the fear is irrational and misplaced. As one could imagine, this is not a desirable trial to put oneself through, and many patients choose not to engage in this form of treatment.
Now a team of neuroscientists have found a way to help those suffering, by unconsciously removing fear memories from the brain. The team from the University of Cambridge, Japan and the USA developed a method to read and identify fear memories using 'Decoded Neurofeedback'. This new technique uses brain scanning and artificial intelligence (AI) image recognition to identify complex patterns of brain activity resembling a specific fear memory. The fear memory was conditioned through administration of an electric shock each time a certain image appeared.
The researchers tried to offset the fear memory with a reward of monetary value; a small cash prize. Participants were told they received the reward depending on brain activity, but didn’t know how to activate it. Connecting that fear memory associated with a shock, with a reward, researchers hoped to gradually override the fear memory unbeknownst to the participant.
When participants were shown the pictures previously associated with an electric shock, increased reaction from the brain’s fear center ceased to occur. The memory was removed without participants consciously experiencing the fear memory, giving those apprehensive about aversion therapy hope to one day live unhindered by fear.
“To apply this to patients, we need to build a library of the brain information codes for the various things that people might have a pathological fear of, " adds Dr. Seymour. “Then, in principle, patients could have regular sessions of Decoded Neurofeedback to gradually remove the fear response these memories trigger."Read the full study here.
