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Erasing memories

29.07.2020

Fantastic plots of films and novels tend to become reality. For example, "memory erasure" is often mentioned in them. Success in this direction was achieved by researchers from Italy. They mastered the technique of removing unpleasant memories from a person’s memory. It is assumed that it can become the foundation for creating approaches for the effective treatment of mental disorders and post-traumatic syndrome.

Memory erasure is based on the effect on the brain using transcranial magnetic stimulation. By acting on the brain with a magnetic field and directing it to certain zones, it is possible to change their electrical activity. By doing this in an orderly manner, scientists have learned to achieve the results they need. For example, TMS can be used to treat Alzheimer's disease, improve math skills, and reduce cravings for smoking and other bad habits.

Scientists have figured out in detail how memories arise in the brain. They highlighted the presence of such a phenomenon as memory reconsolidation. This term refers to the periodic recall of memories from long-term memory, reinforcing them. It is characterized by the so-called "window of variability", when the memory can be influenced and corrected. Knowing this and applying a magnetic field to areas of the prefrontal cortex of the brain, one can remove unpleasant memories associated with stress.

To confirm this theory, a demonstrative experiment was conducted with the participation of 100 volunteers who volunteered to serve science. They were asked to view a selection of photographs with a neutral theme. While watching, they were electrocuted, inflicting unpleasant electric shocks. This caused an association between the photo and the pain. The next day, they were asked to recall their experiences and had a TMS session. Then, their memories were checked again. It turned out that they were freed from the fear of electric shock, although they did not forget what happened to them a few days ago.

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Random news from the Archive

Programmable dreams 07.02.2001

Psychologists and psychiatrists from Harvard Medical School (USA), led by Robert Stickgold, managed to inspire 17 experimental subjects with the same dream, though not very interesting.

In these experiments, a group of 27 people were seated in front of computer screens and asked to play the famous computer game Tetris. Of the subjects, 10 were experienced players, 12 were beginners, and 5 suffered from short-term memory loss, that is, they remembered past events but could not remember what had just happened.

The games went on for three days, in sessions of one to two hours in the morning and one hour before bed. The following morning, the subjects were asked about the content of the dreams. Seventeen participants in the experiment reported that they dreamed of falling Tetris elements. Moreover, these dreams appeared mainly after the second day of the games. Interestingly, three of the five amnesiacs also dreamed of Tetris figurines.

Psychologists expected that the lack of "momentary" memory would prevent them from dreaming about the events of the past day. Memory loss, however, prevented them from improving their game performance over the course of the experience (most of these test subjects even had to relearn the game every morning). But these people by the end of the experiments turned out to be more dexterous. The results may be important for the treatment of amnesia.

Another curious point: experienced Tetris players, as a rule, did not see the game in their dreams. This supports the theory that dreams play an important role in learning. In the process of dreaming, the information received during the day, as it were, fits into memory.

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