Month: September 2022

OPTICAL LASERS. “The rats soon learned to associate the optical nerve stimulation with pain and displayed fear when the nerves were stimulated. The scientists then used a series of low-frequency optical lasers to stimulate the same nerves in a different way, erasing the memories.” http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2645740/How-flash-light-delete-bad-memories-Breakthrough-help-dementia-patients.html View in LinkedIn

TRACE RECOVERY. “But in the study’s most startlingly discovery, the scientists found they could re-activate the lost memory by re-stimulating the nerves with a high-frequency blast.” http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2645740/How-flash-light-delete-bad-memories-Breakthrough-help-dementia-patients.html View in LinkedIn

ENGRAMS. “Manipulation of engram circuits presents many opportunities for significant practical applications. The efficacy of this technology for artificially updating existing memories, as well as for reversing the emotional valence associated with contextual memories, has been established.” http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959438815001270 View in LinkedIn

DEPRESSION AND ADDICTION. “Positive memory engram activation has recently been shown to alleviate stress-induced models of depression in mice. Furthermore, tagging and interfering with engram cells for cocaine-related memories has been reported as possible treatment avenues of drug addiction.” http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959438815001270 View in LinkedIn

IMPLANTING FALSE MEMORIES in a mouse. “Not only did these scientists identify the brain cells involved in encoding a single memory, but they also manipulated these cells to insert a false memory.” http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/meet-two-scientists-who-implanted-false-memory-mouse-180953045/ View in LinkedIn

INVASIVE PROOF OF CONCEPT. "Malinow believes that he has the potential to do something revolutionary: erase a memory or reactivate it at will. Optogenetics relies on the ability to insert a protein into nerve cells that will make them sensitive to light. Researchers can then activate the cells by exposing them to a light pulse: each time the light hits the cells, the nerve fires.” http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/can-memories-implanted-removed View in LinkedIn