In fact, trauma victims can suffer from the psychological pain of an emotionally charged experience long after the event has passed.
But now, researchers at Stony Brook University in New York have found a way to potentially strengthen or even erase particular memories.
To do that, the team manipulated acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter in the brain that acts as a mechanism for signaling involved in memory.
In future we hope we can able to erase our bad memories.
What the researcher found in his study on enhance or erase individual memory
Using a fear-based model in mice, the researchers found that increased acetylcholine release in the amygdala, during formation of a traumatic memory, made the memory last more than twice as long as normal.When they reduced the acetylcholine signaling during formation of a traumatic memory, the researchers were able to erase the memory.
The researchers used a method called opto-genetics, which uses light to control cells in living tissue, to stimulate specific populations of neurons.
The findings, published in the scientific journal Neuron, could contribute to the development of new ways to reverse post-traumatic stress disorder.
TRAINING YOUR BRAIN TO BANISH BAD MEMORIES
A new study led by researchers from Dartmouth and Princeton has shown that people can intentionally forget past experiences by changing how they think about the context of those memories.
The researchers showed participants images of outdoor scenes, such as forests, mountains and beaches, as they studied two lists of random words.
The volunteers deliberately manipulated whether the participants were told to forget or remember the first list prior to studying the second list.
Right after they were told to forget, the scans showed they 'flushed out' the scene-related activity from their brains.
But when the participants were told to remember the studied list rather than forget it, this flushing out of scene-related thoughts didn't occur.
The amount people flushed out scene-related thoughts predicted how many of the studied words they would later remember, which shows the process is effective at facilitating forgetting.
To forget those negative thoughts coming back to haunt you, researchers suggest trying to push out the context of the memory.
For example, if you associate a song with a break-up, listen to the song in a new environment.
Try listening to it as you exercise at the gym, or add to a playlist you listen to before a night out.
This way, your brain will associate with a positive feeling.
If a memory of a scene from a horror film haunts you, watch the same scene during the daytime.
Or watch it without sound but play a comedy clip over the top.
Credit : DM & AR
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