Found this through Yahoo! News:
http://60minutes.yahoo.com/segment/21/memory_drug
It’s a 60 Minutes piece on a drug called propranolol that can be used to forget painful memories. A UC Irvine neurobiologist observed that the adrenalin released after stressful situations helps the mind solidify memories. Propranolol apparently blocks adrenalin receptor sites and therefore helps repress memory creation. Apparently, propranolol also helps weaken older traumatic memories as well. According to the 60 Minutes report, the drug is currently in the early stages of testing for the treatment of post-traumatic stress syndrome.
Clearly, there are also concerns about the potential for abuse. There are concerns about persons using the drug for trivial reasons: forgetting embarrassing moments, for example. Would avoiding and side-stepping the painful moments inherent in the course of the human experience dull the formation of a person’s identity? On the other hand, some have likened withholding the drug from trauma victims to withholding morphine from patients suffering pain from their injuries. Is treating psychological pain any different than treating physical pain?
Fictional stories like “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Tokyo Doesn’t Love Us Anymore” illustrate how forcing our minds to forget events do nothing to erase the consequences of events or deal with the ramifications of our past decisions. Science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick wrote tales about how memory defines our humanity and perhaps even couches our very souls. Never mind genetic engineering. If the claims about propranolol are true, I am for the first time truly fearful of what we can do to our minds (and souls) with drugs.
any “arrested development” fan will literally L Out Loud at the thought of G.O.B. using his “Forget-Me-Now” pills on himself, to forget his “huge [sex] mistake.” yes yes, i know that loyal (obsessed) A.D. fans are obnoxious, but it’s THAT GOOD. *grr* Windows/IE users can stream the show for free here: http://arresteddevelopment.msn.com/
But how precise is it? Do you administer the drug while the subject is recalling the memory? I imagine that if it works, there would be a serious chance of unintended memory loss.
Vladypus’ friend Kelly taught me this joke:
-Why do elephants drink?
-To forget
If you think you know an elephant joke that she hasn’t heard. I challenge you to tell Vlad.
Ken-Ichi,
The drug is administered while the subject is asked to recall the traumatic event. So far it seems the subject does not fully forget the event itself, but rather disassociates from the negative emotions related to the trauma.
The precision-problem is what bit the protagonist in Ray Loriga’s “Tokyo Doesn’t Love Us Anymore”. He started out as a dealer of the memory-erasing drug, started over-sampling his wares, and soon burned out all of his memory and his ability to create any new ones.
i was always under the impression that there are various type of memory, each of which has its distinct mechanism. patient H.M. is a particularly famous case, in which a man with no long-term memory is still able to form other types of memory, such as muscle memory. i can’t immediately call an example, but i wouldn’t be surprised if the emotional trauma side of memory is distinct from the frontal type of memory that would be blocked by this drug. someone can help me out, but in intro to neuroscience, i learned about a guy who would remember to love his wife, even though he could not remember who she was or recognize her face.
on this topic, i love this book: “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” by Oliver Sacks
also, blocking adrenaline sounds scary (no irony intended).
Funny thing I have been on this drug for years (or is it days?) for high blood pressure. And a heart condition — Hypertropic Cardio Myopithey (sp?) I think on the 60 min piece they are using something like 40mg dose. Not sure how often etc but someone with normal blood pressure taking more than that could land you on your back with low blood pressure or worst 6 feet under.
My intake is 80 mg twice a day and that brings my pressure under control It does have some other side effects like making it harder to get going during exercise. Sort of what they are indicating with the memory studies. But even on those dose I can still remember crappy stuff happening in the past.
The IRS (inland revenue) said I have not paid taxes in years and it looks like I will have some bad memories to forget. I really don’t think this drug is the one they are looking for. It may have an effect but it can’t be that strong or consistant.
Now… Where did I put my pills?
Carl