We sometimes call our brain a mental muscle. Now, scientists are attempting to relieve depression by treating the brain as if it is a damaged muscle.
Rehab-focused researchers consider dysfunctional brain regions to be “a muscle that is atrophied,” said Greg J. Siegle, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “The solution to an atrophied muscle is to rehab it.”
Rehabbing the Brain
Brain rehab research uses activities, such as computer games, to hone in on specific cognitive and emotional brain problems related to depression. The activities were selected to strengthen dysfunctional brain areas just as physical exercises are used to rebuild weak or torn muscle tissue.
In one of the rehab activities, research participants concentrate on the sound of birds chirping. Another technique involves solving math puzzles. These actions activate a brain center responsible for emotional regulation.
Another method uses pairs of either face images or words. The participants learn to pull their attention away from the more negative choice in each pair, and place it on the more positive image or word.
To those practiced in managing their own depression, these rehab activities may be identical or similar to coping mechanisms you already employ to reduce symptoms.
Training the Brain Strategically
Brain strengthening or training is also being investigated to help veterans and others with TBIs - traumatic brain injuries - often complicated with symptoms of PTSD and depression.
“This study shows that strategy-based cognitive training focusing on abstract and innovative thinking...lessens depressive and stress-related symptoms,” said Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman, Center for Brain Health.
Over eight weeks, participants in this study went through 18 hours of brain training. A control group had informational sessions about how the brain works.
Those who experienced the abstraction and innovation brain training sessions:
- Increased their abstraction and memory scores by 20 percent and 30 percent.
- Had a 60 percent reduction in symptoms of depression, and a 40 percent decrease in PTSD symptoms.
- Had increased blood flow in their brain’s frontal lobe, anterior cingulate, and precuneus, indicating improving brain health in regions linked to PTSD and TBI symptoms.
“Our research suggests that interventions that improve frontal lobe reasoning, induces positive brain changes that support higher-order thinking and down-regulation of negative emotion,” said Chapman.
“The benefits of the strategy based training were experienced months and years after injury suggesting that brain injuries should be treated more like a chronic health condition rather than a single short-term event.”
Sources: WSJ; Science Daily
Photo credit: Wade M