Scientists Have Discovered How To 'Delete' Unwanted Memories (telegraph.co.uk)

A new documentary from PBS reveals how cutting edge science enables us to 'edit' memories and create new ones from scratch. "For much of human history, memory has been seen as a tape recorder that faithfully registers information and replays it intact," say the film's makers. "But now, researchers are discovering that memory is far more malleable, always being written and rewritten, not just by us but by others. We are discovering the precise mechanisms that can explain and even control our memories."

Comments

Faithfully?

[Knuckles]

"For much of human history, memory has been seen as a tape recorder that faithfully registers information and replays it intact,"

Um, no. It has been well known that memory is unreliable.

Paywalled

[Anonymous Coward]

Got a message demanding that I either pay their subscription or allow them to load adds on my machine. Ironic considering the subject of the article... Even more disheartening is that pbs's own site flat out displays a white page with an add blocker enabled.

In any case here is a functioning link http://news.discovery.com/tech/biotechnology/neuro-hackers-create-delete-memories-160213.htm

Re:Before We Go All "This is Great!"...

[DigiShaman]

So I watched the documentary...

1: Does it require the subject's cooperation to erase the memories?

Yes. Fundamentally, when you recall a memory (including phobias), the act of recalling it leaves the memory in a chemically vulnerable state as it has to be "re-written" when you're done. It's not like computer storage where you can read the same data over and over without fear of tampering with the original content. In the brain, all memories being recalled get modified at some level.

Basically, the phobia is recalled by the subject. He or she takes a pill that will block the re-writing of the memory process. After several sessions, the phobia is severally diminished if not outright eliminated. I would imagine this technique could condition the perfect soldier to not fear the battlefield. A true "disposable hero".

2: Can they be retrieved by some means later, if necessary?

I don't think so. Once the memory has been modified, that's it. I doubt there (but do not know) equivalent of shadow copies of pathways like a hard drive has a shadow copy of data per the filesystem.