THESUN – January 30, 2017: Memories that are triggered by everyday sensations can be switched off using lasers, scientists at the University of Toyama have found.
Researchers have “decoupled” overlapping memories in mice and believe it will be possible to do the same with humans in the future.
Overlapping memories can trigger positive and negative feelings, like how a perfume smell might remind you of an ex-lover and cause you to feel a burst of anger.
…During the experiment, several days later, the same mice were given an electric shock whenever they heard a certain noise, building a bad memory.
These layers of negative memories are rooted in humans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.
After using optogenetic lasers on the mice’s brains, they were able to turn the memories off, claimed the scientists. Link: Read Complete Article
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