Soon, drug to wipe out bad memories
John Harlow | Times of India Bangalore | September 14 2009
.
Scientists believe they could one day be able to create a drug to remove unhappy or embarrassing memories, from the death of a pet to childhood teasing or a failed love affair.
Research by Andreas Luthi, of the Friedrich Miescher Institute in Switzerland , has found that, after receiving treatment, laboratory animals stopped being scared of sounds associated with electric shocks, indicating the memories had been erased.
They had been given a drug that dissolves a sheath around the amygdala, an organ in the brain where mammals store memories of fear.
Joseph LeDoux of New York University said human brains had similar sheaths and that drug treatment and therapy could help human sufferers overwrite memories with cheerier thoughts.
A memory-cleansing pill formed the plot of the Oscarwinning film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, in which Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey erase memories of their soured love affair.
Ashok Hegde, a neurologist at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, said mockery topped many peoples lists of the memories they want to erase. SUNDAY TIMES, LONDON
Research by Andreas Luthi, of the Friedrich Miescher Institute in Switzerland , has found that, after receiving treatment, laboratory animals stopped being scared of sounds associated with electric shocks, indicating the memories had been erased.
They had been given a drug that dissolves a sheath around the amygdala, an organ in the brain where mammals store memories of fear.
Joseph LeDoux of New York University said human brains had similar sheaths and that drug treatment and therapy could help human sufferers overwrite memories with cheerier thoughts.
A memory-cleansing pill formed the plot of the Oscarwinning film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, in which Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey erase memories of their soured love affair.
Ashok Hegde, a neurologist at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, said mockery topped many peoples lists of the memories they want to erase. SUNDAY TIMES, LONDON
0 comments:
Post a Comment