Spotless mind? Scientists rewire mouse memories from fearful to cheerful

28 August 2014 - 13:00 By Times LIVE
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Scientists have discovered how to switch negative memories into positive ones by artificially activating circuits in the brain.

Scientists gave mice bad memories of a place, and then made those memories good without returning to the place in question, according to a BBC News report.

Neurons storing the ‘place’ memory were re-activated with an alternate emotional context, changing the associations linked with that place. Male mice were put in an area where they got shocked and gained negative emotional associations to a blue light. By giving them a female companion, a positive emotional association, scientists ‘flipped the switch’ and made the mice want the blue light on.

The research, published in the journal Nature, is unlikely to be used in humans with traumatic memories but the work will help us understand how emotional memories are created and how they change over time.

The study’s senior author, Professor Susumu Tonegawa from the Riken-MIT Centre for Neural Circuit Genetics said that “Emotion is intimately associated with memories of past events and episodes, and yet the 'valence' - the emotional value of the memories - is malleable.”

Therapists use this changeability in their efforts to treat trauma patients, and by attempting to replace negative associations with positive ones.

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