Traumatic memories can be erased after all
Traumatic memories can be erased after all
Fear memories get registered in
the brain forever. However, a new study has offered fresh hope after claiming
that traumatic experiences can be
memories can be erased after all wiped out .
A recent paper in Science,
evaluated by three Faculty Members for F1000, reports an extraordinary finding
that supports the use of a drug to control recollections of traumatic incidents.
The researchers demonstrated that, in mice, proteins known as
extra cellular matrix chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans form ‘neural nets’ in the
brain that protect against the erasure of memory.
They also reported
that, when these mice were given a drug called chondroitinase ABC, fear memories
were more likely to disappear than for those mice in the control group.
The finding has important therapeutic implications for sufferers of
anxiety disorders, as it could allow doctors to erase the memories of patients
who have had extremely traumatic experiences, such as survivors of war.
In his review for F1000 Medicine, David P. Wolfer said, "The
identification of cellular mechanisms that ... control the stability of fear
memories is extremely important for the development of new and better therapies
for anxiety disorders".
The article was also evaluated by Gregory Quirk,
an anxiety disorders expert, who said, "Once we know how perineuronal nets are
regulated, it may be possible to ... allow fears in adults to be erased by
extinction-based therapies."
.
Fear memories get registered in
the brain forever. However, a new study has offered fresh hope after claiming
that traumatic experiences can be
memories can be erased after all wiped out .
A recent paper in Science,
evaluated by three Faculty Members for F1000, reports an extraordinary finding
that supports the use of a drug to control recollections of traumatic incidents.
The researchers demonstrated that, in mice, proteins known as
extra cellular matrix chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans form ‘neural nets’ in the
brain that protect against the erasure of memory.
They also reported
that, when these mice were given a drug called chondroitinase ABC, fear memories
were more likely to disappear than for those mice in the control group.
The finding has important therapeutic implications for sufferers of
anxiety disorders, as it could allow doctors to erase the memories of patients
who have had extremely traumatic experiences, such as survivors of war.
In his review for F1000 Medicine, David P. Wolfer said, "The
identification of cellular mechanisms that ... control the stability of fear
memories is extremely important for the development of new and better therapies
for anxiety disorders".
The article was also evaluated by Gregory Quirk,
an anxiety disorders expert, who said, "Once we know how perineuronal nets are
regulated, it may be possible to ... allow fears in adults to be erased by
extinction-based therapies."
.
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