[Dean's World] Dave Price: Memory Eraser

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Dave Price:
Memory Eraser
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1173742566.shtml


   [1]Eerie.

     A single, specific memory has been wiped from the brains of rats,
     leaving other recollections intact.
     ...
     To find out, they trained rats to fear two different musical tones,
     by playing them at the same time as giving the rats an electric
     shock. Then, they gave half the rats a drug known to cause limited
     amnesia (U0126, which is not approved for use in people), and
     reminded all the animals, half of which were still under the
     influence of the drug, of one of their fearful memories by
     replaying just one of the tones.
     When they tested the rats with both tones a day later, untreated
     animals were still fearful of both sounds, as if they expected a
     shock. But those treated with the drug were no longer afraid of the
     tone they had been reminded of under treatment. The process of
     re-arousing the rats' memory of being shocked with the one tone
     while they were drugged had wiped out that memory completely, while
     leaving their memory of the second tone intact.

References

   1. http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070305/full/070305-17.html