The researchers were able to prove the fundamental possibility of removing memories, reports The Independent.
During the experiments, scientists were able to isolate those brain cells that contain certain memories, said Professor Sheena Jocelyn of the University of Toronto at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston.
By suppressing the activity of these brain cells, scientists managed to ensure that mice, accustomed to the fact that after a certain sound signal followed by an electric shock, stopped responding to it. After scientists re-stimulated the activity of these same cells, the memory of the danger associated with sound returned to animals. “This way we can turn the memory on and off,” Jocelyn said.
The researchers note that testing such methods in humans is impossible for ethical reasons, but they admit that erasing traumatic memories in the future may help to cope, in particular, with post-traumatic stress disorder, writes The Independent.
