Could science fiction become reality?
In the “Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” of 2004, Jim Carrey’s character suffers a memory procedure to forget his ex.
But while the procedure seemed crazy at that time, technology has us closer to the possibility of cleaning painful memories of our minds, or at least, making them less painful.
According to Dr. Jonathan Rasouli, neurosurgeon at the Hospital of Northwell State Island University, there are three avant -garde methods that can “silence” and “cushion” traumatic memories, and are used to help people with depression and PTD.
Transcraneal magnetic stimulation (TMS)
“TMS is like wireless Jersey cables for your brain, but much more precise,” Rasouli told the post.
“It is a non -invasive treatment that uses magnetic fields (such as MRI) to stimulate specific parts of the brain, generally aimed at the areas involved in the regulation of mood.”
Patients have a magnetic coil place in the scalp, which sends pulses to specific areas of the brain.
“It is mainly used for treatment resistant depression, but researchers are now exploring their memory of Imemory, emotional processing and addiction,” added Rasouli.
According to the DOC, the theory, even in the early stages of the tests, is that addressing certain brain circuits can change the way people access their memories.
He said that in the future, he could help people remodel memory associations, “but probably limited to clinical environments instead of making DIY memory elimination kits.”
Deep brain stimulation (DBS)
DBS is a “brain pacemaker” that is current to treat Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, epilepsy, TOC and major depression.
Small electrodes are implanted directly in specific areas of the brain, where they send electrical impulses to the structures that are involved in movement and mood.
“Some studies show that DBs can influence emotional memory, rewards processing and even reduce traumatic retirement, but again, it is very early,” said the doctor.
In the future, it could be used to “silence” traumatic memories “, but it is invasive and it is unlikely to become a casual outpatient procedure in the short term,” he added.
Propranolol therapy
Popranolol is a beta blocker medication that is generally prescribed to treat high blood pressure, but researchers have also discovered that they can “vaporize the emotional” blow “of memories” and use for therapeutic purposes.
“This is likely that the analogue of the real world closest to the concept of alertal sun, but there is no real memory deletion,” said Rasouli.
Instead of making you forget the memory completely, this “sleeping blow” makes him feel less vivid or depressing.
“When the tasks before remembering a traumatic event, Propranolol reduces the intensity of the emotional response, essentially reconsolidating ‘memory with less emotional weight,” explained the doctor.
“It has been used for experimental treatments of PTSP, anxiety and phobias.”