Soften the blow of bad memories.
July 3, 2007
A US and Canadian team used is using Inderal (propranolol) to target unwanted memories, while leaving others intact.
They injected the drug while asking the patient to recall a painful memory, and The Journal of Psychiatric Research study found that this seemed to disrupt the way the memory was then stored in their brain.
The researchers, from McGill University in Montreal, and Harvard University in Boston, hope their work could lead to new treatments for patients with psychiatric conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
The researchers treated 19 crash or rape victims for 10 days with a drug, or a placebo.
A week later the researchers found that those people who were given a shot of propranolol showed fewer signs of stress, such as raised heart rate, when recalling their trauma.
The researchers believe that memories are initially stored in the brain in a malleable, fluid state before becoming hard-wired into the circuitry. Then when they are recalled they once again become fluid - and capable of being altered.
They believe propranolol disrupts the biochemical pathways that allow a memory to “harden” after it has been recalled.
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