This link has been bookmarked by 18 people . It was first bookmarked on 06 Apr 2009, by someone privately.
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30 Jul 09
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28 Jul 09
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20 Jul 09
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The drug blocks the activity of a substance that the brain apparently needs to retain much of its learned information. And if enhanced, the substance could help ward off dementias and other memory problems.
So far, the research has been done only on animals. But scientists say this memory system is likely to work almost identically in people.
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Would a treatment that “cleared” the learned habits of addiction only tempt people to experiment more widely?
And perhaps even more important, when scientists find a drug to strengthen memory, will everyone feel compelled to use it?
The stakes, and the wide-open opportunities possible in brain science, will only accelerate the pace of discovery.
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What could that engram actually be?
The answer, previous research suggests, is that brain cells activated by an experience keep one another on biological speed-dial, like a group of people joined in common witness of some striking event. Call on one and word quickly goes out to the larger network of cells, each apparently adding some detail, sight, sound, smell. The brain appears to retain a memory by growing thicker, or more efficient, communication lines between these cells.
The billion-dollar question is how?
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22 May 09
leapin_larry NorthSuppose scientists could erase certain memories by tinkering with a single substance in the brain. Could make you forget a chronic fear, a traumatic loss, even a bad habit.
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10 Apr 09
Daniel AndrlikThis New York Times article by Benedict Carey is reporting on a fascinating discovery in the field of neuroscience: a specific molecule that appears to control the way memory is formed in the brain. This is **huge**, especially since it appears that researchers have already been conducting research with a drug that can inhibit this molecule, effectively limiting the formation or retention of a particular memory. The article talks about some practical uses for the drug, but I'm not clear on how researchers would go about targeting specific memories to block or erase.
Obviously, there are a ton of ethical and practical concerns related to this, and the article hints at them effectively enough without going into a terrible amount of detail. I won't dive into them yet either, it's far too big an issue to address in a bookmark, but it is something we should all be discussing.
One other point I found quite interesting is that Carey makes the statement:
>Artists and writers have led the exploration of identity, consciousness and memory for centuries. Yet even as scientists sent men to the moon and spacecraft to Saturn and submarines to the ocean floor, the instrument responsible for such feats, the human mind, remained almost entirely dark, a vast and mostly uncharted universe as mysterious as the New World was to explorers of the past.
There's some judgement implied here, but I find the assignment of roles fascinating. Once again, that's for a longer post. Sorry to be a tease, but the gears are turning and attempting to yank my thoughts from them prematurely will almost certainly result in broken fingers.-
Artists and writers have led the exploration of identity, consciousness and memory for centuries. Yet even as scientists sent men to the moon and spacecraft to Saturn and submarines to the ocean floor, the instrument responsible for such feats, the human mind, remained almost entirely dark, a vast and mostly uncharted universe as mysterious as the New World was to explorers of the past.
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07 Apr 09
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06 Apr 09
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Robert CorleyVery interesting piece about the discovery of a certain molecule that seems to create pathways in the brain to memory. Removing it selectively also appears to delete memory. Discusses ethical issues this research raises.
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sirk46medicine
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