Scientists can now use artificial intelligence to eradicate phobias by ‘rewriting’ your bad memories
Disorders such as phobias and post-traumatic stress could be overcome, the 'Nature Human Behaviour' study suggests
SCIENTISTS have claimed they can now use artificial intelligence to help overcome fear-associated disorders in sufferers, according to a new study.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge detail how they have managed to 'rewrite' bad memories in the brain in their study entitled 'Nature Human Behaviour'.
Typically, when a patient with a phobia seeks to overcome their fear, they must consciously expose themselves to it.
Arachnophobia, for example, can be tackled by patients handling spiders and learning to overcome their fear.
But academics working on the study wanted to bypass this stage, which is both stressful for suffers, time-consuming and provides mixed results.
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So scientists studied 17 patients who were given live MRI scans while also being shown an image of an object.
When shown the image, they would receive an electrical shock.
Eventually researchers began to notice that the patients showed increased activity in their amygdala - the part of the brain which controls fear.
The researchers had developed an artificial intelligence programme to read these increases in amygdala activity, and patients were then rewarded when the system anticipated that fear - induced by the image and the associated electrical shocks - was imminent.
The report reads: "Our current findings may eventually benefit clinical treatments for fear-related disorders.
"The present results hopefully represent an initial step towards a potential new avenue for treatment."
