Posted on 08/28/2014 10:14:21 AM PDT by Red Badger
Bad memories could be reversed after scientists discovered the part of the brain which links emotions to past events
Bad memories of past trauma can leave people emotionally scarred for life.
But now neuroscientists believe they can erase feelings of fear or anxiety attached to stressful events, in a breakthrough which could help treat depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Researchers at MIT, US, have discovered which brain circuits attach emotions to memories, and crucially, how to reverse the link.
They managed to ‘switch off’ feelings of fear in mice which had been conditioned to feel anxious. It is likely the same technique could be used in humans.
“In our day to day lives we encounter a variety of events and episodes that give positive or negative impact to our emotions,” said Susuma Tonegawa, Professor of Biology and Neuroscience at the Riken-MIT Centre for Neural Circuit Genetics.
“If you are mugged late at night in a dark alley you are terrified and have a strong fear memory and never want to go back to that alley.
“On the other hand if you have a great vacation, say on a Caribbean island, you also remember it for your lifetime and repeatedly recall that memory to enjoy the experience.
“So emotions are intimately associated with memory of past events. And yet the emotional value of the memory is malleable. Recalling a memory is not like playing a tape recorder. Rather it is like a creative process.
“The circuits seem to be very similar between human and mice when it comes to memory formations and the emotions of memories. So a similar technology could be available for humans.”
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
brain bleach, we haz it!
Idiocracy has.....
Braind-No
The America of old is going down the highway at a high rate of speed in your rear view mirror. Can’t force the masses to accept CHANGE until they stop clinging to the ways and beliefs of the past.
Memories of how things used to be at all levels need to be purged to make way for the future.
And then President Bush turned over the White House to President Cruz.... funny though, I don't remember President Bush shaking hands with President Cruz but instead some other man did....
Aieieeiie it's coming back, it's coming back. Time for another treatment.
Right down the memory hole!
people voting for democrats decades after decades proves that one
Can they start by erasing the last six years of Obama?
You mean ST:TOS
+!
After ST:TNG I use ST:CRAP for the rest of them! lol
OR,
ST: Deep Snore Nine
ST: Boreager
ST: EnterSandman
"You aren't here, you never were."
Sounds interesting, and worth looking into, but those connections are there for a reason.
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