Medical Scientists Find Memory Molecule

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    Memory Molecule
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Researchers at SUNY Downstate Medical Center have identified a molecule that plays a crucial role in strengthening synaptic connections in the brain. By inhibiting this molecule, they can effectively "erase" memories that are between one day and one month old, drawing a striking analogy to deleting data from a computer. The method of administering the molecular inhibitor raises concerns, particularly regarding whether it was applied locally to specific synapses or systemically throughout the body. The potential implications of having a substance that inhibits synaptic strength circulating in the body are viewed as troubling, highlighting the ethical considerations of such memory-erasing studies.
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http://www.physorg.com/news75883856.html

Scientists at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center found a molecule that strengthens synaptic connections. By inhibiting this molecule, they can prevent connections from being maintained and "erase" them. They claim to have erased memories in people that are between a day and a month old!

The article makes the astounding analogy that it's like erasing data from a computer disc. Brains are not quite "machine readable" yet, the way computer discs are. However, we're always getting closer, of course.

I just wonder how they administered the molecular inhibitor. Did they apply it locally to a few synapses or systemically as a drug? I'd think the idea of having stuff that inhibits synaptic strength just swimming everywhere around in a person's body would be pretty bad.
 
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All I know is that I would not wish to partake in such a study O_O
 

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