Erasing bad memories may soon be possible, according to scientists, after breakthrough experiments on rats turned bad recollections into positive ones.
In a study appearing in PLOS One, a team at McLean Hospital found that the gas xenon, which is used in anaesthesia, could neutralise the fear associated with negative memories by blocking cells involved in recall from making connections with the emotional part of the brain.
In more simplistic terms, negative events are just events without the emotional weight we attach to them. In rats, xenon simply removed the emotional aspect – and the research team believe it will have a similar effect on humans.
‘My speculation is that xenon lessens the impact of the emotional component, the real emotional pain associated with a traumatic experience,’ said Edward Meloni, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
‘We’ve got a good start in animals, and as we work through the ladder in getting it to people, I’m hopeful.’
If Meloni and his colleagues are right, we will soon be able to use xenon like an asthma inhaler, self-administering a small dose to reshape negative memories or cope with nightmares, and since the gas dissipates quickly, there shouldn’t be any harmful side-effects.
Marc Kaufman, director of McLean Hospital Translational Imaging Laboratory, also speculated that since xenon isn’t specific to blocking negative emotion, it could be effective in neutralising the highs and reward system that comes with drug addiction.
However, while xenon might be effective in treating PTSD and other negative recollections, painful experiences like the loss of a loved one would likely not be impacted by xenon because there is no specific memory or ‘flashbulb moment of trauma’ to target.