Stimulating the brain with electricity can heal the pain of a broken heart

New research has revealed that wearing a £400 headset for just a few minutes each day can ease the trauma and misery that accompanies a romantic breakup.

For the study, 36 volunteers with love trauma syndrome wore the device that stimulates the brain with a mild electrical current.

The participants were divided into three groups with one having the current aimed at the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the other having the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex targeted.

The headset was switched off for the third group of volunteers.

Both areas of the brain targeted are involved in voluntary emotion regulation and previous neuroimaging studies suggest that there is a neuropsychological connection between breakups and bereavements and that specific regions of the organ are involved.

The study, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, said: "Considering the relation between love trauma and emotional regulation, which is associated with activation of specific brain areas and networks treatment methods tackling the involved brain areas might be promising."

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