Real-time brain feedback can help people overcome anxiety

May 10, 2013



They used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), to display the activity of the orbitofrontal cortex (a brain region just above the eyes) to subjects while they lay in a brain scanner.



fMRI-driven neurofeedback has been used before in a few contexts, but not for the treatment of anxiety, the researchers say. The findings raise the possibility that real-time fMRI feedback may provide a novel and effective form of treatment for OCD.