The Possibilities of Memory Modification

What was once confined to the realm of science fiction may just be one step closer to becoming reality. In the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the characters seek to recover from a painful break up by embarking on an experiment to erase certain memories. Most recently, scientists have discovered a way to selectively erase the memories of genetically engineered mice, an article in the New Scientist reveals. http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/dn15025-eternal-sunshine-drug-selectively-erases-memories.html?feedId=online-news_rss20

The scientists first increased the levels of a protein called alpha-CaM kinase II, an important component in memory storage and retrieval, while placing the mice in a chamber and exposing the mice to a tone accompanied with a mild shock. After a brief enough time for the mice to have remembered the experience, the scientists placed the same mice (while overexpressing the protein again) in a different chamber but played the same tone without the shock. This time, however, the mice were unresponsive. Yet after the scientists placed the mice back into the original chamber where they had received the shock and played the same tone again, the mice froze and showed the classic fear response. The changed reaction signified that the scientists were able to selectively erase the memory of tone recall.

Once thought to be ingrained in the anatomical structure of the brain, scientists are finding that memories are “the stuff of molecular connections, constantly built and destroyed by specific enzymes,” the article states.

This finding heralds a host of possibilities: anyone desiring to erase unwanted memories could one day pop a pill that manipulates the protein and obliterate the remnants of a traumatic experience. Of course this is years or possibly even decades into the future, but scientists seem to be optimistic that this could one day become possible.

Scientists view this technology as a possible treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and phobias. Another article even mentioned its usefulness in the Central Intelligence Agency and Department of Homeland Security. (http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/category/alpha-cam-kinase-ii/) But imagine the reverse--its use in the hands of terrorists or criminals.

The staff working paper of the President’s Council on Bioethics explains that studies conducted by James McGaugh and Joseph LeDoux and other scientists, suggest that “our memory system has specific capacities, involving the amygdala, that match the intensity of an experience with the intensity of our memory of that experience. “ http://www.bioethics.gov/background/better_memories.html#endnote20 This allows our brain to adapt to our environment by associating negative memories to fearful things.

By modifying the stress hormone that regulates memory scientists are able to control patients’ recollection of traumatic experiences. Scientist Roger K. Pitman administered propranolol hydrochloride (a drug which blocks the activation of stress hormones released during emotionally arousing experiences) on emergency room patients within hours after car accidents. Weeks later, those administered the drug exhibited a lower “psycho-physiological response to ‘internal cues that symbolized or resembled the initial traumatic event” than those in the placebo group, the paper stated.

Many potential questions arise as scientists begin manipulating hormones that regulate memory. The paper asks “how are we to judge an intervention in human memory so soon after an event, before the ultimate significance of the experience has fully revealed itself and before it is even possible to know whether the individuals will suffer from PTSD?” The next question is then, are we tampering with nature or are we fixing a faulty encoding system? What permanent effects do these drugs have on the brain when memories of traumatic experiences are dulled?

This science carries much potential by offering relief from painful experiences, but a larger ethical question remains: to what extent do memories, good or bad, shape our identity and would the numbing of certain memories eventually be a detriment when applied to the larger framework of our existence? In other words, if at the end of our lives we can only remember the good, would we really have lived?

Ellie