Stress menagement

How Neurofeedback Is Revolutionizing Stress Management

We may be able to train ourselves to control brain activity

Erman Misirlisoy, PhD

Mar 26

Credit: Alfred Pasieka/Science Photo Library/Getty ImagesFear, stress, and anxiety are some of the biggest dangers to our 

mental health. But like many of our unpleasant emotions, they have 

important functional origins; without them, we lack the motivation 

to flee from danger or avoid harmful behaviors.

The amygdala is a brain structure involved in emotional experiences, such as fear and anxiety. Stressful experiences can adjust its sensitivity. For soldiers who enter military service, for example, symptoms of stress correlate with their amygdala reactivity. After their military service, their amygdala is more responsive to medical images than it was before their service started.