The brain can produce antidepressants with the right signal, a finding that suggests that meditating, or going to your “happy place,” tru
ly works, scientists reported on Wednesday.

Mice, who were forced to swim endlessly until they surrendered and just floated, waiting to drown, could be conditioned to regain their will to live when a tone they associated with safety was played.

The experiment suggests that there are good ways to teach people this skill, and points to new routes for developing better antidepressants, said Dr Eric Kandel of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Columbia University in New York, who led the research.