Get your Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind references ready , because scientists have just figured out a way to erase bad memory using — you guessed it — electroshock therapy . Get ready for on - requirement forgetting . It ’s a real thing now .
A team of Dutch neuroscientists latterly invent an electroconvulsive therapy ( ECT ) to “ target and disrupt affected role ’ memory of a disturbing episode . ” Nature explains how patients were showed two traumatic narratives in a slideshow and then subjected to the unexampled technique :
The squad later on prompt patients to recall only one of the stories by replaying part of that glide show . Immediately afterwards , when the reactivated retentiveness is thought to be vulnerable , the patients received electroconvulsive therapy .
One Clarence Shepard Day Jr. later , when given a multiple - selection retentivity test , patients were significantly bad at recollect details from the reactivate story , performing near hazard . Patients ’ remembering of the other story , however , remained largely whole .
The mental testing was conducted on 42 patients with hard depression , so there ’s a opportunity it could work differently on normal patients . It ’s also deserving pointing out that ECT is no fun . It induces seizures and , well , doctors are shocking patient role ’ brains with electricity .
A breakthrough like this was due , though . For old age , scientist have been aver we ’re on the leaflet of developing a direction to rub out memories , and last twelvemonth , theysuccessfully erase the memories of slumber black eye . Then , just a few month ago , theymanaged to identify the gene that helps us forget . But a point - and - get across method acting for efface particular memory , that ’s proved problematical . Until now .
https://gizmodo.com/scientists-erase-the-memories-of-sleeping-mice-5952627
As is often the display case with groundbreaking research , the next step is more enquiry . But the scientists involved in the field of memory erasurehold out hopethat raise like these will go to find in the treatment of consideration like wicked depression and post - traumatic tension disorder . After all , sometimes , ignorance really is bliss . [ NatureviaWired UK ]
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