Reducing anxiety and stress with pupil feedback
The brain’s state of arousal is the key to many stress- and anxiety-related disorders. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now found a way to influence it with a new biofeedback method.
In brief
- Researchers at ETH Zurich demonstrate that the arousal centres in the brainstem can be influenced when we receive feedback about pupil size.
- This biofeedback helps us learn effective relaxation or activation techniques.
- In the future, this means stress- and anxiety-related disorders could be treated in a playful way using a VR headset.