Train your brain to get over a heartbreak

FROM drowning their sorrows to reinventing their lifestyle, the lovelorn try all sorts of ways to get over a break-up.

Now a scientist has suggested a new way. Professor Barbara Sahakian believes that brain training could help them recover from heartbreak.

People may be able to reprogramme their brains to stop dwelling on being dumped and prevent themselves sending drunk texts or trying to win someone back, the Cambridge University neuroscientist claims.

She said the key is to exercise the part of the brain that stops impulsive behaviours. The principle is the same as for existing brain training for people with obsessive compulsive disorder.

The training exercise works by asking people to repeatedly press a button when they see an arrow pointing left or right, then stop when a buzzer sounds.

The prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain in charge of stopping, is strengthened. And the same part of the brain may kick in to stop people acting on their feelings after a break-up.

Professor Sahakian said: ‘It is like exercising a muscle, and it might stop someone who is heartbroken from repeatedly texting their ex-partner. The brain would have the tools to put a stop to that.’

She was speaking after appearing at Cheltenham Science Festival to talk about neuroimaging, based on her book Sex, Lies and Brain Scans.