Drug 'can erase bad memories'
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Bad memories can be erased by drugs used to treat high blood pressure, research has shown.
A team of Dutch researchers created a fear memory in 60 patients by showing them pictures of spiders and giving them mild electric shocks.
When the volunteers were shown the pictures 24 hours later their levels of fear were assessed by testing eyeblink reactions.
Administering the beta blocker propranolol - usually prescribed for high blood pressure - before making the patients recall the bad memory led to a marked reduction in the startle response.
The volunteers were much less disturbed by the spider pictures and the effect appeared to be permanent.
The findings, reported in the journal Nature Neuroscience, raise the possibility of a new approach to tackling emotional problems and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Study leader Professor Merel Kindt and colleagues from the University of Amsterdam wrote: 'Our findings may have important implications for the understanding and treatment of persistent and self-perpetuating memories in individuals suffering from emotional disorders.'
But Dr Daniel Sokol, lecturer in Medical Ethics at St George's, University of London, said: 'It will change our personal identity since who we are is linked to our memories. It may perhaps be beneficial in some cases, but before eradicating memories, we must reflect on the knock-on effects that this will have on individuals, society and our sense of humanity.'
John Harris, Professor of Bioethics at the University of Manchester, said: 'It is obviously up to the individual whether or not she wishes to risk the possible effects, including psychological discontinuity, of erasing unpleasant memories.
'An interesting complexity is the possibility that victims, say of violence, might wish to erase the painful memory and with it their ability to give evidence against assailants.'
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