Scientists may soon be able to erase fear and trauma from your mind

[Raineyrocks]

I don't know why they say "soon" in the title when the article states "it could be years", whatever.   
I have mixed feelings about this possible technology because in a way it sounds nice and I have lots of fears I'd love to get over however I think I'd like to do it on my own. I think it builds character.   The erasure of trauma that one just confuses me right now and I need to think about it.  For some reason as nice as it sounds there's something that doesn't seem right about it to me anyway; for now.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/10/22/scimind122.xml   

Scientists may soon be able to erase fear and trauma from your mind

By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent
Last Updated: 5:01pm BST 22/10/2008

Scientists are a step closer to being able to wipe the mind clean of painful memories, a deveolpment that will offer hope to those with a fear of spiders or who are trying to bury traumatic experiences.
Neurobiologists believe they will soon be able to target and then chemically remove painful memories and phobias from the mind without causing any harm to the brain.
   
The researchers think that the new technique could help war veterans get over the horrors of conflict and cure people with debilitating phobias.

It could even eventually be applied to ease the pain of a failed relationship or a bereavement.

"While memories are great teachers and obviously crucial for survival and adaptation, selectively removing incapacitating memories, such as traumatic war memories or an unwanted fear, could help many people live better lives," said Dr Joe Tsien, a neurobiologist at the Brain and Behaviour Discovery Institute at the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine.

"Our work reveals a molecular mechanism of how that can be done quickly and without doing damage to brain cells."

The team, who published their work in Neuron and worked with scientists at East China Normal University in Shanghai, has isolated a "memory molecule" in a mouse and used it to remove its painful memories.

In a number of experiments they instilled a trauma in the mouse by applying electric shocks - but then removed the memory with a calcium enzyme called CamKII.

Just as a war veteran remembers a fateful patrol when he was fired upon, mice can establish a very long-lasting emotional memory about a place if, for example, they receive a mild shock to the paws.

But fears both new and old alike were wiped clean or over-written by over dosing the mouse's brain with CamKII.

A similar approach was taken with object recognition memory, giving mice a couple of toys to play with then erasing their memory of one of them. Each time the mice acted like it had a new toy.

Eventually the research could lead to a pill or injection being administered to a person at the same time as they are asked to recall the painful memory or fear.

Despite the exciting breakthrough Dr Tsien said it would still be years before a similar trick could be carried on a human because their brains were much more complicated.

He also cautioned against the use to erase failed romances.

"If one got a bad relationship with another person, hoping to have a pill to erase the memory of that person or relationship is not the solution," he said.

[dalebert]

Watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Excellent movie.

[K. Darien Freeheart]

Watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Excellent movie.

THAT'S the movie!

I read the headline, and said "there was a movie about that once!" but I couldn't remember which one.

[Pat McCotter]

L. Ron Hubbard's Scientology has been doing this already.

[Giggan]

Would anyone actually get this done? It's probably easier to say no when there's no phobia that controls your life, but I can't see myself ever wanting a piece of myself destroyed.

[Sam A. Robrin]

Robert Anton Wilson was making similar "matter of years" predictions twenty years ago.  (It was just before he said that libertarians hate poor people, and I stopped paying attention to him.)

[Pat McCotter]

Robert Anton Wilson was making similar "matter of years" predictions twenty years ago.  (It was just before he said that libertarians hate poor people, and I stopped paying attention to him.)

"'Is', 'is.' 'is' — the idiocy of the word haunts me. If it were abolished, human thought might begin to make sense. I don't know what anything 'is'; I only know how it seems to me at this moment." -Robert Anton Wilson

"It depends on what the meaning of the words 'is' is." –Bill Clinton

[Raineyrocks]

Watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Excellent movie.

I will check this movie out, hopefully tonight, thanks! 

[Raineyrocks]

L. Ron Hubbard's Scientology has been doing this already.

True, very true but shhhh or we might get sued. 

[Raineyrocks]

Would anyone actually get this done? It's probably easier to say no when there's no phobia that controls your life, but I can't see myself ever wanting a piece of myself destroyed.

I don't know but I bet there would be some takers on the deal.  I mean there are already people volunteering to get the chip implanted in their bodies.

I'd like to see some parts of me destroyed like the fat parts! 

[dalebert]

Would anyone actually get this done? It's probably easier to say no when there's no phobia that controls your life, but I can't see myself ever wanting a piece of myself destroyed.

The third penis. Two is more than enough.

[Raineyrocks]

Would anyone actually get this done? It's probably easier to say no when there's no phobia that controls your life, but I can't see myself ever wanting a piece of myself destroyed.

The third penis. Two is more than enough.

    What about boobs, maybe 2 are too much?  Then again I was just thinking of something, nevermind to that one, I'll keep both!   

[Pat McCotter]

TMI! TMI! TMI!

[Raineyrocks]

TMI! TMI! TMI!

Ooops!