at last! there may be a cure for some of null's delusional problems!
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> wrote in message
news:Xns9B44875EAE11Fc54s0l1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20081022/hl_hsn/scientistserasespecificmemoriesinmice
>
> Scientists Erase Specific Memories in Mice
>
>
> By Alan Mozes
> HealthDay Re****ter by Alan Mozes
> healthday Re****ter - Wed Oct 22, 7:03 pm ET
>
> WEDNESDAY, Oct. 22 (HealthDay News) -- It sounds like science fiction,
by
> scientists say it might one day be possible to erase undesirable
memories
> from the brain, selectively and safely.
>
> Using a complex genetic approach, U.S. and Chinese researchers believe
> they
> have done just that in mice, but the feat is far from being tested on
> humans.
>
> Study co-author Joe Z. Tsien, co-director of the Brain & Behavior
> Discovery
> Institute at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, says the "work
> reveals
> a molecular mechanism of how [memory deletion] can be done quickly and
> without doing damage to brain cells."
>
> The finding is published in the Oct. 23 issue of Neuron.
>
> Humans plagued by painful memories have long wished for a way to eject
> them
> from the brain. The concept was the premise of the popular 2004 film
> Eternal
> Sun****ne of the Spotless Mind, in which two former lovers pay a "memory-
> erasure" service to expunge the unhappy affair from their minds.
>
> To explore the possibility of safely carving away bits of memory, the
> study
> authors first focused on the activity of a common protein found only in
> the
> brain, called CaMKII.
>
> In both mice and people, this enzyme is often referred to as the "memory
> molecule" because of its key role in facilitating brain cell
> communication --
> especially people's ability to learn and retain information.
>
> To hone in on the specific workings of CaMKII, Tsien and his team first
> developed a "chemical-genetic method" that enabled them to instantly
turn
> the
> protein "on" or "off" among mice intentionally bred to overproduce the
> molecule.
>
> After exposing the mice to emotionally powerful stimulations, such as a
> mild
> shock to their paws, the scientists then observed how well or poorly the
> animals subsequently recalled the particular trauma as their brain's
> expression of CaMKII was manipulated up and down.
>
> When the brain was made to overproduce CaMKII at the exact moment the
> mouse
> was prodded to retrieve the traumatic memory, the memory wasn't just
> blocked,
> it appeared to be fully erased.
>
> This occurred without impacting the animal's ability to recall any other
> memories, the scientists say.
>
> A similar observation was made in experiments involving the mice's
> recognition of specific objects. In those cases, overexpression of
CaMKII
> appeared to eliminate all memory of toys with which the mice had
> previously
> been exposed.
>
> According to Tsien, the animal study illustrates how the targeted
erasure
> of
> specific memories might be genetically triggered in a controlled and
> harmless
> manner.
>
> The authors stressed that their work is in its infancy, but they believe
> it
> opens up the theoretical possibility of therapeutic applications for
> humans
> down the road. Memory erasure might help relieve trauma among people
> plagued
> by fearful memories, such as those with post-traumatic stress disorder
> (PTSD), for example.
>
> "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,"
> Tsien said.
>
> However, Dr. Joe Verghese, an associate professor of neurology at the
> Albert
> Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, cautioned that the animal
> work
> described in the study remains preliminary.
>
> "I think the idea of selectively targeting memory processes is very
> interesting," he said, "because it not only opens up a whole area of
> possible
> intervention but also reveals something about the neurobiology that goes
> into
> creating memory in the brain."
>
> "But memory in a human is much more complex than a memory in a mouse,"
> Verghese added. "So, this experimental model, while it brings to mind
all
> sorts of possible applications, is many steps removed from any human
> application."
>
> Copyright © 2008 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
>
>
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