WINSTON-SALEM -- Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is making huge strides when it comes to treating post-traumatic stress.
A recent pilot study shows a new noninvasive brainwave mirroring technology helped significantly reduced PTSD in military personnel.
The new study showed the technology helped with PTSD symptoms like insomnia, depression and anxiety.
18 service members or recent veterans who experienced symptoms over one to 25 years received an average of 19 and a half sessions over 12 days.
The neurotechnology used in the study -- high-resolution, relational, resonance-based electro-mirroring, is a noninvasive approach, where computer software algorithms translate specific brain frequencies into audible tones in real time.
Figuratively speaking, the technology provides a chance for the brain to listen to itself through an acoustic mirror.
The study's chief investigator says on top of improved symptoms like insomnia and depression the study also showed improvements in blood pressure and heart rate.
"We also recorded their blood pressure and heart rate before they started their sessions and before they left and analyzing that we found that there was significant improvement in these autonomic measures, things like heart rate variability and reflex sensitivity,” said Dr. Charles Tegeler.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, approximately 31 percent of Vietnam veterans, 10 percent of Gulf War veterans and 11 percent of veterans of the War in Afghanistan experience PTSD.