Is it possible to cure a broken heart by training your brain?

Brain training using simple online activities can help cure a broken heart. With the help of computer tests, as suggested by one neurologist, a person can reprogram his brain to stop thinking about too heavy parting, and even prevent sending messages or calls to voice mail while drunk.

The assumption of a neurologist professor

Such a proposal was made by Professor Barbara Sahakyan from the University of Cambridge, who studies the neural basis of emotional and behavioral dysfunction. Typically, it focuses on curing people with compulsive behavior, and also find ways to strengthen their self-control by performing simple tasks assigned to them on the computer. Nevertheless, she suggested that the same therapy could be used to help people cope with emotional separation.

How online tests work

Computerized tests seem incredibly simple: the patient should react to the flickering of the left or right side of the screen, but stop when the buzzer begins to sound. It is believed that this helps to strengthen the prefrontal cortex of the brain. This area is related to the executive functions and their control. Sahakyan says that this part of the brain can be trained in the same way as muscles, for example, increasing its ability to respond to emotional stress.

What is responsible for the frontal lobes of the brain

The frontal lobes of the brain control in many different situations, whether it be tests for the development of the brain or an attempt by a person to forget the lost love. It's like exercising muscles, and if done correctly, a person with a broken heart will avoid the temptation to write text messages or call a former partner. It is the brain that can have tools to put an end to this behavior.

Sometimes obsessive behavior can be an advantage, for example, when it comes to situations in which strong feelings are simply necessary (such as relationships with children). But problems can arise in the event of a rupture of relations, when a person reacts inadequately to it.

Is it worth to rely on the effectiveness of the methodology

Sahakyan believes that the prefrontal cortex should be trained to help people restrain the impulsive part of their brain after breaking off the relationship. This will help a person, for example, not to send a former partner messages, when his emotions are too excited. However, Sahakyan warns that such training may take some time, although even in this case 100% of positive results will be difficult to achieve, especially for people who like to revel in their grief. Nevertheless, it can help people train their brains to get out of this situation and cope with the gap. Although, on the other hand, the proposed methodology has not yet been tested, it is therefore premature to draw conclusions about its effectiveness.