Scientists test ability to strengthen, suppress memories

[Ronja]

TA: 1) You are evil, QED ^^ and 2) your turn to clean up this derail

[Geoff]

It does look a fascinating concept, the sticking point I see at this early stage is that the memories have to be "recorded" as they're made, in order to know which areas to stimulate or suppress. In other words, it won't work (yet) on "old" memories.

Promising, though, but still a long way from being at all useful.

[GenesForLife]

I see someone making a fortune over revision et cetera.

[Alan C]

Lever flipping made me think about Mystery Men.

[Ronja]

Anybody else thinking Clockwork Orange?

I wasn't directly, but that's a good point. The reprogramming of Alex is presented as a form of torture in Clockwork Orange, so it is easier to see what was wrong with that. If reprogramming can be done without overt pain or violence, how much harder will it become to oppose mind-altering "for their own good" or "for the greater good"? What constitutes consent if/when something that looks enough like consent can be created artificially?

Just the first thought that came to my mind...

[Ayaan]

Within the past two or three years, there was a story about a drug that showed promise in treating PTSD. It didn't erase the memory, but it seemed to turn down the intensity of it, making it easier to handle, so that the person could deal with it and move on, as I recall. Wish I could remember the name of it.

[Geoff]

Within the past two or three years, there was a story about a drug that showed promise in treating PTSD. It didn't erase the memory, but it seemed to turn down the intensity of it, making it easier to handle, so that the person could deal with it and move on, as I recall. Wish I could remember the name of it.

I recall one where ecstasy showed promise, is that it? Might have been in Time magazine?

[Ayaan]

Within the past two or three years, there was a story about a drug that showed promise in treating PTSD. It didn't erase the memory, but it seemed to turn down the intensity of it, making it easier to handle, so that the person could deal with it and move on, as I recall. Wish I could remember the name of it.

I recall one where ecstasy showed promise, is that it? Might have been in Time magazine?

IIRC, it was on an American news program called 60 Minutes.

[Geoff]

Within the past two or three years, there was a story about a drug that showed promise in treating PTSD. It didn't erase the memory, but it seemed to turn down the intensity of it, making it easier to handle, so that the person could deal with it and move on, as I recall. Wish I could remember the name of it.

I recall one where ecstasy showed promise, is that it? Might have been in Time magazine?

IIRC, it was on an American news program called 60 Minutes.

Found this, from July last year:

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/c ... 41219.html

Published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology - (not sure how reputable that is in terms of peer review).

<snips>
The study participants underwent two eight-hour psychotherapy sessions scheduled about a month apart, with 12 patients taking MDMA, and eight taking a placebo. Subjects were also given psychotherapy on a weekly basis before and after each experimental session. An independent psychologist evaluated each patient's symptoms of PTSD prior to and after the sessions.
< >
At the end of the trial, more than 80 percent of the patients who received a combination of MDMA and psychotherapy no longer met the diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder, compared with only 25 percent of the placebo group. In addition, the three patients who reported being unable to work due to post-traumatic stress disorder were able to return to work following treatment with MDMA.

(MDMA is ecstasy, of course)