If you have seen the movies Men in Black, or The Bourne Identity then you already are aware of the idea of people wanting to erase certain memories in our minds. While these stories are fiction, the ability to erase minds – and restore lost memories – is becoming a reality.
Using genetically modified rats, researchers at the University of California, San Diego have succeeded in erasing some memories, and restoring lost memories in their brains. This study shows that there is a good possibility of increasing or decreasing the connections between brain cells.
The leader of this study, Dr. Roberto Malinow, is a professor of neurosciences out of the University of California. Working with his research team, they used optical lasers to stimulate those nerves in the rat’s brains that had previously been made sensitive to light. Using electric shock treatments, the rats soon learned that these optical lasers caused pain and fear.
Then, this group stimulated these same nerves differently: they used a low-frequency sequence of the same optical pulses. The rats did not respond in fear to the lower frequency shocks; in fact, it appears that the memory that was associated with the pain was erased.
Dr. Malinow happily announced that they are able to form a memory and then erase that memory just by applying an outside stimulus that either strengthens or weakens the synaptic connections. They have also had success restoring lost memories through re-stimulation of these same nerves with the higher frequency pulses. The team played with the rat’s minds like they were yo-yos, but the results were worth the efforts.
Although it is too early to know if this will work on humans, the researchers believe it could someday benefit Alzheimer’s patients, and those with post-traumatic stress disorder. Alzheimer’s patients lose memories because the beta-amyloid protein weakens the neural connections in their brains; this is very similar to the way the scientists erased the memories of the rats with the low-frequency stimulation. Dr. Malinow figures that since they have the ability to reverse this process, we could actually counteract some of the effects of beta-amyloid in the brains of Alzheimer patients.
While this is a wonderful medical break though, it is not without its problems. Think about how the military could use this technology for sinister purposes. The reality of a control freak corporate world could be our future. Let us hope that this medical technology does not go there.
Source: The Mind Unleashed
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