10-01-2018, 07:25 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-01-2018, 07:26 PM by coffeedude22.)
Just read a little about this : Crucially, ketamine can disrupt the formation of memories, and scientists believe that this property could be harnessed to over-write the memories that drive addiction and harmful patterns of behaviour.
“Memories that you form can be hijacked by drugs in some people,” said Das. “If you were an alcoholic you might have a strong memory of being in a certain place and wanting to drink. Those memories get continuously triggered by things in the environment that you can’t avoid.”
There is increasing evidence, however, that memories are less stable than once assumed and may be open to manipulation.
Each time our brain accesses a memory, the neural connections that encode it are temporarily destabilised, meaning that our recollection can be slightly altered before it goes back into storage. This is one reason why, in everyday life, people can recall wildly different versions of the same events.
In the clinic, scientists believe this short period of instability, represents a window of opportunity. Ketamine blocks a brain receptor called NMDA, which is required for the formation of memories. So the logic is that giving someone the drug just as a memory has been destabilised could help weaken the memory, or even erase it."
Makes a lot of sense now that I think about it.
“Memories that you form can be hijacked by drugs in some people,” said Das. “If you were an alcoholic you might have a strong memory of being in a certain place and wanting to drink. Those memories get continuously triggered by things in the environment that you can’t avoid.”
There is increasing evidence, however, that memories are less stable than once assumed and may be open to manipulation.
Each time our brain accesses a memory, the neural connections that encode it are temporarily destabilised, meaning that our recollection can be slightly altered before it goes back into storage. This is one reason why, in everyday life, people can recall wildly different versions of the same events.
In the clinic, scientists believe this short period of instability, represents a window of opportunity. Ketamine blocks a brain receptor called NMDA, which is required for the formation of memories. So the logic is that giving someone the drug just as a memory has been destabilised could help weaken the memory, or even erase it."
Makes a lot of sense now that I think about it.