Want to conquer fear? Artificial intelligence can come to your help

Using a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and brain scanning technology, a team of researchers has developed a novel method that can help remove specific fears from the brain. The new technique that could read and identify a fear memory can pave way of treating patients with conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and phobias, the study said. Neuroscientists, from the University of Tokyo, developed'Decoded Neurofeedback' -- which used brain scanning to monitor activity in the brain, and identify complex patterns of activity that resembled a specific fear memory. In the study, the team included 17 healthy volunteers in whom a fear memory was created by administering a brief electric shock when they saw a certain computer image. Using brain scanner, the researchers monitored the volunteers' mental activity and were able to spot signs of that specific fear memory. Using AI algorithms, they also developed a fast and accurate method of reading the fear.