A protein was found, that just as a pencil eraser, is able to forever delete traumatic events from our minds. It was discovered by scientists from John Hopkins University through experiments with rats. The results promise to one day fight PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) caused by war, rape and other traumatic events.
The study was published by Science Express, which publishes brealthroughs before they reach their print version in Science Magazine.
In order to verify the validity of the discovery, researchers scared rats with a loud noise and after eliminating the afforementioned protein the rats no longer associated the noise to fear. The rats had forgotten the terror that the sound initially generated.
The protein is located in the amygdala -a group of neural nuclei located in the depth of the temporal lobes of the brain-, an area responsible, among other things, for conditioning to fear both in humans and animals. The study proved that these proteins can be removed from the nerve cells.
The idea is to delete this proteins and weaken the connections with the trauma, erasing the memory itself. This study opens the possiblility of one day manipulating memories with drugs destined to improve cognitive therapies for these type of ailments.
This discovery opens more than a few interrogants and concerns.
