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Neuroscientists find another way to erase long term memories |
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Wednesday, 22 August 2007 |
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A study in June that was revealed in the
Journal of Psychiatric Research used an 'amnesia' drug to
'dampen' the memories of trauma victims. The drug they used was
called propranolol - a drug normally used to treat hypertension,
but causes memory problems.
A new study published in Science by neuroscientists from the
Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehobot, Israel, uses a protein to
wipe out long-term memories in rats.
Yadin Dudai and Reut Shema are trying to show that memories can
last for years or even a lifetime, but they are constantly
maintained by an active process that can be disrupted.
First they trained rats to avoid the sweet smell of sacharin by
giving them a chemical that made them sick whenever they were
exposed to it. They quickly learned to avoid it. They then injected
the rat cortex with a protein called ZIP. ZIP silences an enzyme
called PKM-zeta, which is believed to be the key to perpetuating
long-term memory. After the injection, the rats lost their memory
of the association and once again drank the water containing
saccharin.
Maybe I'm just paranoid, but these recent studies that revolve
around erasing memories are really disturbing. Let's just hope
that these techniques don't fall into the wrong hands.
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Consciousness 
