Scientists Find Way to Erase Traumatic Memories

By Merely Me Monday, November 08, 2010

- A
- A
- A

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!

The world forgetting, by the world forgot.

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!

Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd

(From the poem, Eloisa to Abelard written by Alexander Pope and used as quote in the movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)

One of my favorite movies is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in which Jim Carrey plays the character of Joel Barish, who finds that his girlfriend Clementine has undergone a procedure to erase him and any memories of their relationship from her mind. Joel decides to undergo the same memory erasing procedure because he is so heartbroken about their break up. Yet during the process of watching those memories disappear, he decides that this is a big mistake. Joel still loves Clementine and despite the fact that some of those memories are painful, he doesn’t want to forget.

The memory erasing procedure depicted in the movie is completely non-surgical and is described as comparable to a "night of heavy drinking” to alleviate any fears to recipients. The concept of targeted memory erasure in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is completely fictional and bears more resemblance to science fiction than reality.

Or does it?

A recent news release from Johns Hopkins Medicine reveals the technology to delete traumatic memories may now be possible. In a report published in Science Express, Johns Hopkins researchers describe a process of removing a protein from a part of the brain responsible for remembering a fearful event. Right now the procedure has been limited to mice but the implication is that they will someday be able to delete traumatic memories of humans.

The team of Johns Hopkins researchers examined fear at a molecular level by looking at the nerve cells of the amygdala, which is a part of the brain where conditioned responses to fearful events originate. They found that when they exposed the rodents to a loud tone, that there were increases in the amount of a particular protein. It was found that removing this protein could, in effect, weaken the connections in the brain created by the trauma and subsequently erase the memory. What they hope to do with this research is to design drugs which could control and remove this protein so that the traumatic memory is effectively erased.

For patients suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) this research may be especially promising. People having PTSD suffer from anxiety and/or panic attacks related to memories of a traumatic life event such as military combat, natural disaster, or sexual abuse. The traumatic memory gains a life of its own as the sufferer re-lives the experience and feels fear when the target memory is triggered. Some theorists believe that medications created from this research combined with cognitive behavioral therapy may help some individuals get rid of the symptoms of their PTSD permanently.

1 | 2

Comments (14) | Add comment

jpw2008

11/ 8/10 5:39pm

I dont even care how I ook what i do

The memories are still there

Sometimes the memories that are good hurt more than the others

It seems they will never happen again

fantasy hurts when reality creeps in

I dont even remember how I got thru it

All I know is that everything gets worse

Jon

Judy

11/ 8/10 7:09pm

This is an interesting study, but I would have a lot of questions about it. For instance, what other memories could be destroyed along with the traumatic one. And if "one" traumatic memory could be erased, should you want that to happen, what if you have more than one? How do they erase them all? Personally, I don't think I would want that, I don't like the idea of not having control of my mind and that's sort of what this feels like. In my case, I didn't have a lot of conscious memories, just clues, and the not knowing drove me crazy until I could uncover more information. What has happened to me has shaped who I am now - I don't want to pretend these things never happened. I could think of a few instances where it might be justified, like if I was one of those miners in Chile who had been underground all those days - I can't even imagine how traumatic that must have been. I would probably like to lose that one, but how selective can this be? Maybe if I were unable to function and nothing else worked I would consider it, but as I look at it now, NO WAY.

The other thing about this is that it's not just our minds that remember, but the cells in the rest of our body do, as well, so how weird would it be for your body to remember things that your mind can't? That did happen to me and THAT drove me crazy.

So, anyway, that's my feeling about it - it will be interesting to hear what others think, too.

stardust

11/ 8/10 7:28pm

MM, wow, what a story, and Judy, you make some good points especially about the mind and body cells. I really think science in any form is too inexact now and in the future to properly identify a memory and then remove it. We're mixing two different processes here entirely. Since I am of the body mind spirit belief, this really doesn't fly with me. Recently I experienced a terrible memory from childhood, and although I went through the painful process of awareness, it was part of my life and had contributed to my behavior which I now understand. That's growth. I don't think erasing memories is growth. On the other hand, when I think of VETS who have lived through hell in war and come home to live through hell with PTSD, I think where would the growth be in their situation. Perhaps erasing memories would give some healing and peace. But if it starts on humans, it would be so new, who knows what could happen. Scary thought. Good controversial subject, though.

Gina

Ruby

11/ 8/10 8:05pm

Hmmm... as far as discovery, it's certainly a big step, but to use it...

The thing is, it really may help some people, but don't things like this nearly always have a bad point?

Like, for example, if by removing that part in the brain, they cause the patient more damage than good... it may cause alzheimer's in later life, or make functioning other parts of the brain hard...

I don't know...

I'm a little bit of a negative thinker when it comes to these things... I just don't think you should mess with the brain unless you have no other choice.

Ginger

11/ 8/10 8:20pm

Hi MM, I don't think I have any memories that are so bad I can't live with them. Luckily I was never raped or tortured by anyone. And if I was, I don't know how I would want to deal with that.

How can we not have our bad memories...everything makes us who we are. I don't think I would want black holes in my mind of years I could not remember. Actually I feel like that about the 9 yrs I was married. It's like a black hole, a part of my life I don't like to revisit and have mostly forgot. Has forgetting about it improved my life, hardly. I have plenty of other negative things to think about in the present.

Instead of erasing bad memories...give me something that makes me feel happy and possitive about life and not dead inside. Give me a reason to live. I would love a reason to live. Scientist should work on that. What is there to live for when you don't have love in your life? give me "love" in a pill and that would be great!

Ginger

CJinLV

11/ 9/10 10:14am

Hi M/M & all,

Hmmm, an interesting concept indeed, although one I don't particularly care for. While we're currently in the "baby steps" stage of evolving & ultimately (& hopefully) resolving them, Mental Health issues in the hands of amateurs & charlatans could be disasterous. No doubt there would be a tremendous monetary profit to be made on such technology; hence the 'bottom line' would be everything. I fear the only 'growth' in this technology would be monetary.

My views on the concept are that no matter how traumatic the memories are, recognizing them & dealing with them make us the people we have become. We are always in a state of growth; trouble is some move ahead while others may regress.

Take away a day, week or year of your life & you risk upsetting an entire time continuum ("Great Scott, Marty!"- Back to the Future). As painful as this can be for any of us, these events are deeply buried & once unearthed must be dealt with so the person may grow & evolve. Even buried they still affect our psyche.

The survivors of the Holocaust are a fine example of personal growth. They endured the most horrific example of Mans' Inhumanity To Man and so many of these people have lived their lives & many have thrived (I oersonally knew two survivors).

I believe doing such things lowers our being as people to a lab animal status and literally robs us the human experience of personal growth, no matter how painful or rewarding. Remember, "what doesn't kill us will make us stronger".

Carl

Don

11/18/10 4:24pm

I think science has already found a less evasive way to disolve this newly identified protien. see http://veteranssuicides.weebly.com

Nephilim

11/ 9/10 10:52am

This is a huge scientific breakthrough that many people have wondered about for years. "If only there was a pill to help me forget" I personally am curious on how this entire experiement turns out. I have memories i want gone forever so i may function normal for once in my life. Im on medicine to help me be positive about living life. Yes i do believe i am a stronger person because of everything i been through, but this also makes me an angry , bitter person at the world and my perspectives of men and other things are rotten. Would taking a pill to forget change my perspectives and attitude toward life and people? Would if make someone a entire different person?! This can be good and bad. But this makes me wonder, would this erase bad events AND people out of our memory? Every event is linked to someone, something, our senses, our emotions... If we are missing a certain event that has been with us for years in our mind, would we become more confused than cured? I find this to be an amazing discovery the scientists have made. But i do believe undergoing this experiment comes with severe consequences to the mind and senses.

Elisa

LyraStorm

11/10/10 5:37am

I guess the real question for me is: how do you separate one part of your life from another? We are the sum of all of our experiences, thus we make decisions in our lives and act certain ways based on what has happened to us before this point, whether we can remember the event or not. In my experience not remembering an event that is causing you to act in a certain way is far more distressing than facing up to it and at least being able to explain why (for example why I feel nauseous any time I pass a school, or for some time whenever I saw the colour pink).

My memories are a jumble in my head, one thought setting off a whole string of events that link... how could I siphen through that to get rid of what I don't like, even if I wanted to?

I think the idea of just stripping away unpleasant memories is too simplistic and doesn't take into consideration the knock on affect... those mice were exposed to a loud noise, had the area identified, given this treatment, and then monitored... they weren't exposed to it, had to live a life that kept reminding them of that event and having them haunted by it and influencing what they do next, and then tried to get rid of the 'problem memory'. I don't believe it could truly work so the idea of whether it is good or not seems quite a moot point to me...

Erasing memories erases who you are - look at those suffering from alzheimers and other such diseases. The distressing part for loved ones who witness a sufferer is the person they know becomes less and less like the person they know as their lives (memories) are stripped away from them. Why on earth would you choose such a thing? No matter how bad the memory is if you chose to try and get rid of it it'd simply be another attempt at suicide/self-harm type behaviour - a hatred for one's self and ones life and wanting an out.

Sorry if I'm not making much sense. I guess what I'm saying is I don't trust it, I don't believe it'd ever work, and I think it'd cause more harm than good. No, I would never take such a treatment - I am who I am till the day I die, for better or for worse. (And I have been diagnosed with a type of PTSD though I don't really agree with the shrink...)

Taylor

11/13/10 3:26pm

I wonder what the results would be if this procedure was performed on people who are suicidal. I had a friend who was deeply tormented by his past and at the age of 21, threw himself in front of a train, leaving behind his girlfriend and 1 year old daughter. It just got me thinking whilst reading this article, whether this procedure would've saved my friend's life and if it did, would he act totally different? And if he did act totally different but was happy then would this really be a bad thing?

On the scientific/physical side of things, research is being conducted everyday to find cures for untreatable diseases, doctors are cutting people open, in order to preserve life. On the psychological side, people are being counselled everyday to live a better life and to gain a healthier mentality. This procedure is pretty interesting as it would involve physically removing something in the hope to improve the mental state....

Anderson

3/15/11 9:24pm

Even if it's possible to delete painful or embarassing memories, it will still reside in the memory of the others. In a way, a void in communication is created if the others remembers something but you don't. Might end up confused in this kind of situation.

Memories are part of life experience. Whether we like it or not.

DUCKFEVER

3/30/11 9:33am

If any of you have read this article First, in relativity to this protein research "CREB", it has no use in memory deletion, this article is 'radicalized" and without mentioning the whole truth of it, also excites the reader with more false expansion of the matter. Good reading material, bad discussion material; This research is in no way a matter of memory deletion, its more so the removal of emotional association. The experiments performed with the mice, involved a fearful loud tone that the mice thereafter consistently with analysis showed great fear in reaction and albeit neural observation... After cleaning out the neurons with the most concentrated CREB proteins, the area of interest, "im assuming a tighter cluster of tied emotion"fear" with a specific memory, the mice showed no further recollection, or Reaction in regards with fear when it came the subjective tone in experiment.

It has no further grounds or progress in terms of getting close to human usefulness or implication. IN my opinion with mice, this experiment would be isolated I assume, and they would have not much else as far as experiences go, so it cant be too specific, just generalized in a populated CREB protein area, It's not like you can tell a mouse to focus on a memory, I imagine it had something to do with associated tone with doses.. I couldnt tell you.

However try to imagine how much more there is to humans, And the complexities of advanced research and mere accuracy... And how vaguely this information made it to the web, I dont know alot about it myself, but when I first came across it, in great details, it was far less exciting, and even less tangible than the aspiring theme of it all.

DUCKFEVER

3/30/11 9:40am

BUt yes maybe someday, in the future this protein research can find hope with forms of Post trauma "STRESS", in humans, I really do hope, i doubt, and expect minimal value from this work, but I really do hope it can atleast find value in Severing the horrifying definitions that describe and motivate memories to revisit your consience, Realistically more, Fast acting DEsensitization in medical form,

Dale 95

6/29/11 11:02am

("People having PTSD suffer from anxiety and/or panic attacks related to memories of a traumatic life event such as military combat, natural disaster, or sexual abuse. The traumatic memory gains a life of its own as the sufferer re-lives the experience and feels fear when the target memory is triggered.")

It's called LIFE, and sometimes it sucks but we must learn how to focus forward, not backward. Simple cognitive training in positive goal setting that can't be duplicated with caged lab-rats.

The real problem lies in our culture's small box thinking of eliminating all the potential negative possibilities that happen, instead of learning coping skills with forward thinking priorities. Go climb a tree! Ride a horse! Walk a dog! Go scuba diving, or sky diving! Mentor some kids, volunteer at the shelter, but, "GET A LIFE", and leave the friggin lab-rats alone. (I'm talking to the scientists here that work for big Pharma. LOL)

Scientists Find Way to Erase Traumatic Memories

Ask a Question