Scientists Show That You Can Erase Fear by Erasing Memories
Baku, October 2 (AZERTAC). Good news, gumshoes. Science has figured out how to erase fears. That sentence is not as sensational as it looks. A team of researchers from Uppsal University in Sweden have developed a technique whereby they can do away with new emotional memories in the brain, like the fearsome ones that might form after an animal attack or a late night mugging. Feeling a little sheepish about flying after a terrible turbulent fight? Well, let`s just zap that fear right out of your head.
In principle, it`s pretty simple. Memories aren`t fully formed the moment something happens. It takes a process called consolidation that trains certain neurons to form bonds and speak to each other to create a memory, and the Swedish researchers hypothesized that interrupting this process could affect the resultant memory. To test this idea, they did an experiment in which they showed subjects images of random, neutral things like pictures of everyday objects or landscapes and administered electric shocks on certain images. This created fear associated with those images. The next time they cycled through the images, the ones that previously came with an electric shock would provoke a fearful response in the subject.
The molecule swarmed around neurons in the memory-making process, so they guessed that interfering with the chemical could also interfere with the formation of memories. They were right. Using a drug called ZIP, they were effectively able to stop memories from being formed. This is not unlike the cognitive training used by the scientists in Sweden, except it could be bottled up in pill form. What`s more powerful about this discovery, however, is that it`s effective for older memories, too.
We`re not in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind territory, yet, but we`re getting closer. In the meantime, the new research suggests, the best way to avoid being scared after that dog bite or mugging would be to give the dog or the mugger a big hug right after the attack. But frankly, taking a pill sounds like a much better option.
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