''Drug can clear away one fearful memory''

A single, specific memory has been wiped from the brains of rats, leaving other recollections intact.

(Nature.com)

If this progress was being made in 2007, I wonder what they are capable of today ? I find it amazing that they are able to completely delete a fearful memory, what's in place to stop these drugs being abused ?

this is great and i openly support this.
lots of people have fearfull memoryes which cause chaos of theyr lives
now thats a future i want to live in.

cure for PTSS?

I'm sure many would welcome that drug with open arms.

Seeing a buddy die in your arms is a memory I wouldn't want to keep with me.

Or if a woman was raped she could erase that memory and live a normal life.

Child abuse. Domestic violence.

Reminds of the neurolyzer from MIB.

Plenty of uses.

thats pretty cool!

Can I use the drug to help me forget that I ever took the drug in the first place?

yes,it seems like we are only a step away from memory erasing,but this step is not easily ot get.human's brain is so complex.

This is cool, but it bothers me for two reasons. The first is your basic "omg this could be used for brainwashiiiiiiing" paranoia, which I'm surprised hasn't really been mentioned yet. The other one is more speculative.

Don't our negative memories help make us who we are? When bad things happen to us, that permits us to grow. If you forget that you had once been domestically abused, you lose the chance to get over that hurdle. This is a bit different from "those who forget the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them" but it's also a valid point; you won't know the signs of pending domestic abuse (not that everyone who goes through it does). I'm not saying that forgetting bad things is out and out a bad thing; seeing a buddy die in your arms in war, that might be worth forgetting. But how healthy is it really...?