The latest study, carried out in mice, unpicks why certain sounds can stir alarming memories, and reveals a new approach to wiping such memories from the brain. “We can use same approach to selectively manipulate only the pathological fear memory while preserving all other adaptive fear memories which are necessary for our daily lives,” said Jun-Hyeong Cho, co-author of the research from the University of California, Riverside. “Fear extinction is not an eraser of fear memory ,” said Cho. “It just hides the fear memory transiently.”But the team discovered that using a technique called optogenetics, it was possible to truly erase the unpleasant memories. “It permanently erases the fear memory,” said Cho.

Source: The Guardian August 17, 2017 16:52 UTC