Brain training shows promise for short-term depression relief

Check your subscription status, update your details and more. Brain training shows promise for short-term depression relief Training that encourages people to alter their brain's activity seems to reduce negative emotions among people with depression, but not in the way researchers expected We could actively regulate our brain activity to improve our mental health A single session of brain training temporarily improved the mood of people with depression in a small trial. This type of neurofeedback, which non-invasively measures brain activity to help us learn how to regulate it, encouraged the individuals to alter activity in a region involved in motivation and reward.

While their brain activity didn’t meaningfully change, they did report immediate improvements to their mood that persisted into the following day. A range of wearable devices, such as headbands, aim to monitor our nervous systems and intervene to improve our wellbeing. But trials into their effectiveness aren’t always carried out independently and they tend to lack a well-matched control group.

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