Researchers Use Electroconvulsive Therapy To Disrupt Recall of Nasty Events

ananyo writes "In the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, unhappy lovers undergo an experimental brain treatment to erase all memories of each other from their minds. No such fix exists for real-life couples, but researchers report in Nature Neuroscience that a targeted medical intervention helps to reduce specific negative memories in patients who are depressed. The technique, called electroconvulsive (ECT) or electroshock therapy, induces seizures by passing current into the brain through electrode pads placed on the scalp. Despite its sometimes negative reputation, ECT is an effective last-resort treatment for severe depression, and is used today in combination with anaesthesia and muscle relaxants. Marijn Kroes, a neuroscientist at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands, and his colleagues found that by strategically timing ECT bursts, they could target and disrupt patients' memory of a disturbing episode."

Comments

Re:Seems like a mixed blessing

[TheCarp]

Are you familiar with ECT? Because I can't really see it being used voluntarily outside of some pretty extreme cases. It isn't exactly like the doctor pushes a button and you just forget....we are talking about inuction of massive seizures from an external electrical source.

I think there is a very simple way of telling if an event is so traunmatic that it warrants this sort of treatment: If undergoing the therapy sounds preferable to continuing as you are; even after considering the chances that it doesn't work.... then its likely traumatic enough.