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Telegraph.co.uk reports that two separate teams of scientists have made discoveries emotionally neutralizing or even erasing specific, individual unwanted memories with the use of targeted drugs. One research team had human subjects recall traumatic events while being treated with propranolol, a drug known to cause memory problems. Traumatic stress survivors reported a lessening of emotional symptoms associated with the event after treatment for ten days.

In another study, scientists administered U0126, a drug known to cause limited amnesia, to rats who had been conditioned to respond to two musical tones played before they were shocked with an electric charge. After treatment, the rats no longer braced themselves for the “forgotten” tone, but continued to do so for the other one, suggesting that specific memories could be erased.

Telegraph likens the selective amnesia to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but I’m imagining something a tad bit more like the Haitian from Heroes. Ethical questions obviously arise in an era of black ops “detention centers” and date rape drugs. Sure, forgetting can be therapeutic, as long was we are in control of the forgetting. After all, most trauma begins with loss of control. Now we must ask, who controls the controllers?

Note: no rats were harmed in the blogging of this story.

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