Dr Michelle Dickinson: nanotechnologist on the electrical zap promising to cure heartbreak

The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

Love is one of the most wonderful feelings that can be experienced, however when love ends it can also be one of the most painful. New research out this week in the Journal of Psychiatric Research has found that the best way to get over a painful breakup is with a quick electrical zap to the brain!

The research looked at volunteers who had been diagnosed with love trauma syndrome (LTS). LTS is a clinically diagnosed syndrome that can occur after the end of a romantic relationship and is characterised by deep emotional pain, depression, anxiety, insomnia, mood swings, obsessive thoughts, as well as feelings of insecurity, helplessness and guilt.

The 36 volunteers were all asked to wear a headsets for 20 minutes twice a day for five days. These headsets deliver a mild electrical current to specific areas of the brain.

The volunteers were divided into three groups. One group was a control group and their headsets were never actually turned on. One group had headsets which applied an electrical current to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) part of the brain. The final group had headsets which applied an electrical current to the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) part of the brain.

Both of the brain regions targeted are known to be involved in voluntary emotion regulation.

After the 5 days of headset treatment, the researchers found that all of the volunteers who had been zapped showed a significant reduction in their LTS symptoms when compared to the control group with the volunteers who had been zapped around their dorsolateral prefrontal cortex showing the greatest reduction in symptoms.

The scientists also found that the zapped volunteers still felt better one month after their electrical treatment indicating a long term effect from this simple headset treatment.

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