_http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6832339.ece
Drug may wipe out troubling memories
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.
The prospect of a memory-cleansing “lifestyle drug” could be attractive to many. For others it would raise medical and moral questions, from the possibility of good or useful memories accidentally being lost during treatment to the potential for misuse.
Research by Andreas Lüthi, 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 almond-shaped organ in the brain where mammals store memories of fear.
Joseph LeDoux, professor of neuroscience at New York University, said human brains had similar sheaths and that drug treatment and therapy could help human sufferers “overwrite” memories with cheerier thoughts.
The treatment could also ease post-traumatic stress disorder or severe phobias. LeDoux, an expert on fear, said: “Any soldier with post-traumatic stress I’ve talked to would have been willing to sacrifice a few normal memories for the bad ones they may get rid of if these experiments are successful.”
A memory-cleansing pill formed the plot of the Oscar-winning 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 people’s lists of the memories they want to erase. “Public humiliation is a constant source of lingering memories,” said Hegde.
Landau said many bad memories, such as the death of a pet, faded over time. The good news? “Most bad memories fade by themselves, but good memories remain more intense and stronger for a lot longer,” said Landau.
, as if everybody isn't zombified enough already.