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To Treat Depression, a New Approach Tries Training the Brain
http://www.wsj.com/articles/to-treat-depression-a-new-approach-tries-training-the-brain-1433178996
To Treat Depression, a New Approach Tries Training the Brain
Computer games, chirping birds and electrical stimulation in studies to change how depressed people think
By Andrea Petersen
June 1, 2015 1:16 p.m. ET
Should depression be treated more like a stroke?
That’s the view of a growing number of researchers developing new psychological treatments that aim to directly target the particular brain dysfunctions and cognitive and emotional processes understood to underlie depression.
The approach is to think of a brain region that goes awry as “more like a muscle that is atrophied,” says Greg J. Siegle, director of the Program in Cognitive Affective Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “The solution to an atrophied muscle is to rehab it.”
Many of the new treatments involve simple computer games. One technique uses math problems and audio of chirping birds to activate a part of the brain involved in emotion regulation. Another uses pairs of words and faces to train depressed people to disengage from negative emotional stimuli. Other approaches combine computer games with actual electrical stimulation of brain regions.
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To Treat Depression, a New Approach Tries Training the Brain
Computer games, chirping birds and electrical stimulation in studies to change how depressed people think
By Andrea Petersen
June 1, 2015 1:16 p.m. ET
Should depression be treated more like a stroke?
That’s the view of a growing number of researchers developing new psychological treatments that aim to directly target the particular brain dysfunctions and cognitive and emotional processes understood to underlie depression.
The approach is to think of a brain region that goes awry as “more like a muscle that is atrophied,” says Greg J. Siegle, director of the Program in Cognitive Affective Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “The solution to an atrophied muscle is to rehab it.”
Many of the new treatments involve simple computer games. One technique uses math problems and audio of chirping birds to activate a part of the brain involved in emotion regulation. Another uses pairs of words and faces to train depressed people to disengage from negative emotional stimuli. Other approaches combine computer games with actual electrical stimulation of brain regions.
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The Birdsong Treatment
This is a 30-second segment of a 15-minute cognitive control training exercise involving birdsong, which is meant to focus listeners’ attention on external sounds instead of their own thoughts.
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/media/crowfocusandbirds_mixdown02.mp3
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