![]() None of the participants received any further electric shocks. Those in the second group had to imagine hearing that same sound instead, while those in the third group - the controls - had to imagine pleasant sounds, such as the trills of birds and the pitter-patter of rain. To those in the first group, the researchers played the sound that the participants now associated with an unpleasant physical experience. They then split the participants into three groups. In the current study, the research team recruited 68 healthy participants, whom they conditioned to associate a particular sound with receiving an electric shock that was uncomfortable but not painful. “This is the first neuroscience study to show that imagining a threat can actually alter the way it is represented in the brain,” she adds. “These novel findings bridge a long-standing gap between clinical practice and cognitive neuroscience,” notes the study’s lead author Marianne Cumella Reddan, who is a graduate student in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder. The aim was to see whether and how imagination may help us discard negative associations. In the new study, the researchers used functional MRI to scan participants’ brains and assess brain activity both in real and imagined situations involving unpleasant triggers. This can help a person disassociate those stimuli from a sense of threat and impending negative consequences. When it comes to helping people address their phobias or anxiety disorders, psychologists may recommend “ exposure therapy.” This approach aims to desensitize a person to stimuli that trigger a fear response by repeatedly exposing them to these stimuli in a completely safe environment. Tor Wager, co-senior author of the study. ![]() “This research confirms that imagination is a neurological reality that can impact our brains and bodies in ways that matter for our wellbeing,” says Prof. New research by a team from the University of Colorado Boulder and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, NY, now proves that what we imagine can seem just as real to our brains as actual experiences.Īs the investigators explain in their study paper, which appears in the journal Neuron, we can harness the “magical powers” of our imagination to help us overcome persistent fears and anxiety disorders. The results of another study, which featured in Current Biology in 2013, suggest that imagining that we hear certain sounds or see particular shapes can change how we perceive the world in real time. Moreover, existing research has suggested that what we imagine can actually affect our minds and bodies in very concrete ways.įor instance, a study that the journal Psychological Science published in 2009 found that when we imagine doing something, our minds and bodies anticipate the imagined action as though it were a real action. ![]() Some researchers have argued that our imagination, which gives us the ability to consider different scenarios, is at the core of what makes humans different from the rest of the animal kingdom. It can soothe us during difficult times and help us solve problems, create new things, and consider possible courses of action. Our imagination is an incredibly useful tool. Share on Pinterest Your imagination is a powerful tool that you could use to overcome your fears.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |