Spotless Minds

Posted on April 3rd, 2009 by Tariq Nelson

A new therapy could wipe away dreadful memories in humans without using drugs and might eventually help patients with post-traumatic stress disorder, say researchers.

The new procedure relies on a quirky property of memories called reconsolidation. The process of jogging a memory – with an emotional or sensory jolt, for instance – seems to make it malleable for a few hours.

Potent drugs that block brain cells from making new proteins can erase fearful memories during this window. But these chemical are toxic, and wholesale memory erasure could do more harm than good, says Karim Nader, a neuroscientist at the McGill University in Montreal, Canada, who performed some of the drug studies.

Filed under: Changing World

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10 Responses to “Spotless Minds”

  1. sabiwabi, on April 3rd, 2009 at 10:03 am Said:

    ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’, comes true!

    Where do I sign up?

  2. Hamza 21, on April 3rd, 2009 at 12:23 pm Said:

    Am I the only one who doesn’t think this is a good thing?

  3. sabiwabi, on April 3rd, 2009 at 12:37 pm Said:

    What’s so wrong with a little, experimental mind tampering?

    LOL

    J/K

  4. Tariq Nelson, on April 3rd, 2009 at 12:40 pm Said:

    Am I the only one who doesn’t think this is a good thing?

    Problem is that you would get tricked twice by the exact same person in the exact same way

  5. Matt, on April 3rd, 2009 at 10:11 pm Said:

    More mind control! Yay! What’s next? Allowing parents to choose the eye, hair color, and strengths of their future children before they are even born? Oh, that’s in the works too….

  6. Rasheed Moore, on April 3rd, 2009 at 11:20 pm Said:

    Pain is weakness leaving the body… Any attempt to numb it only makes you weaker…

  7. Nadeem, on April 4th, 2009 at 10:13 am Said:

    This is where we need guidance from our Ulema who can look at the Quran, Hadith, Fiqh (4 Imaams) and Qiyaas as a means to advice Muslims about this issue. Anesthesia puts a person to sleep but the memory returns? How the scholars evaluate this issue requires the specialists. I would throw this question to http://www.askimam.com.

  8. K-Dude, on April 6th, 2009 at 12:17 pm Said:

    Hmm, could help me forget all about the relationships that failed….

  9. carter, on April 6th, 2009 at 3:30 pm Said:

    Touch hot stove…Ouch! Painful memory erased. Touch hot stove…Ouch! Painful memory erased. This does not seem to smart

  10. Abu Sinan, on April 11th, 2009 at 1:31 am Said:

    Sounds like another Arnold (Arnie) movie like the one mentioned in a latter blog spot. This one could be “Total Recall”.

    I have gone through some pretty bad things in my life, but I wouldnt want to give them up. They are part of who I am today.

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