Propranolol. Memory drug for the future or grave mistake?
Propranolol is a medication that is commonly used to treat certain heart conditions and stage fright. Something of an odd combination. The drug is what's called a beta-blocker. That is, it blocks the neurotransmitter adrenaline from locking into the brain when released. Most connect adrenaline to a "rush" which generally occurs under intense, high stress situations. Scientists believe that this neurotransmitter is also one which affects the cementing of memories.
And so...let the games begin.
Researchers led by New York University neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux have been working with rats to see if it is possible to erase single memories. They used the drug named U0126, which has similar results as propranolol. This drug, however, has not been approved for human use yet.
But rats tested with propranolol have been found successful, and so far, the human tests as well have worked out. The drug was administered to a group of individuals who had stressful events occur to them such as miserable accidents or rape. One woman reports that the memories are still there, but not nearly as intense. She has no physical reaction to the retelling of her rape in extreme detail, no emotion whatsoever. The drug is being considered for use in cases similar to this one, as well as to treat post traumatic stress disorder.
So basically, we now have a pill which removes memories. Imagine taking a simple pill to forget anything you choose.
It's like something out of another one of those "end of the world" movies. It's scary to think we don't listen to ourselves. We don't listen to the idea that it is possible to distroy ourselves by our own design, by our own manipulation.
Memories are undoubtedly, one of the most important pieces of our humanity. It is by memory that oral traditions were passed on generations before finally being recorded. It is by memory that authors begin to write the most heart gripping stories abotu real events. We write to store memories. We talk to one another to recall memories. Memories make up who we are, the people that were, and help to shape the people who will be. Without memory of the past we cannot live in the hear and now.
So what does this have to do with a drug? After all, the idea is that it be used to treat people with PTSD. Should they not be able to push the memories away and life with their lives? I must argue no. Not that way. First of all, it is currently being studied and proven that simulations of the stressful events are helping our troops recover from PTSD. This, I feel is far more natural. Simply look at the way in which we process normal stressful events. We talk to everyone about it, retelling every detail. We think about the scenarios over and over again. And when we come to that place, everything floods our memories. But this is a normal process. A drug is not.
My one main concern is the following: we already have critics of the media telling us that because of all of the images we are already exposed to, our generation is desensitized to the horrors of war, rape and mass desrtuction. Now tell me, of anyone, who honestly are the most active people trying to make peace, stop rape, stop abuse. Is it you and I? No. It is not. This group of people are the people who somehow experienced it themselves. And by their memories, they can share with us the stories of the horrors they experienced, that we can only try to grasp by their own descriptions. It makes a difference when you hear a report on the news about a bombing in Iraq, and then hear the story from a soldier who was there. What they were thinking, feeling, fear, anxiousness, longingness to be with their loved ones. As you see the tears roll down their face you are drawn into the story with them.
What then happens when no one is left to tell the story? I am afraid the answer is that we will become desensitized. Rape will no longer be horrible, because no one will have to live with the horror again. Wars can be fought for the sake of war without cause, because no one will be able to remember the terror they felt. And the idiot at the party will not be averted from drinking again, because he could simply take a pill to get rid of the embarrassment from last night. All of a sudden nothing seems real.
I am afraid that inasmuch as I despise "end of the world" movies over and over, the idea is not fresh, and the reality not far away. If we don't stop trying to change nature for what it is, what it was fashioned for, I must say we are all in for no surprise at all. The end of society as we know it, and a turn for the worse. They are grave, harsh words that I write, but they are true. Everything in this world was fashioned with a specific design and purpose. Normal processes should not be changed by physical means unless there are no negative repercussions. Yes, you can give a patient in excruciating pain morphine, and yes, by all means try chemo if it will save a life a few more years. But changing the stuff of which we are made of, like our memories, or in the movies, our free will, is to deny our humanity and is inherently wrong.
And so...let the games begin.
Researchers led by New York University neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux have been working with rats to see if it is possible to erase single memories. They used the drug named U0126, which has similar results as propranolol. This drug, however, has not been approved for human use yet.
But rats tested with propranolol have been found successful, and so far, the human tests as well have worked out. The drug was administered to a group of individuals who had stressful events occur to them such as miserable accidents or rape. One woman reports that the memories are still there, but not nearly as intense. She has no physical reaction to the retelling of her rape in extreme detail, no emotion whatsoever. The drug is being considered for use in cases similar to this one, as well as to treat post traumatic stress disorder.
So basically, we now have a pill which removes memories. Imagine taking a simple pill to forget anything you choose.
It's like something out of another one of those "end of the world" movies. It's scary to think we don't listen to ourselves. We don't listen to the idea that it is possible to distroy ourselves by our own design, by our own manipulation.
Memories are undoubtedly, one of the most important pieces of our humanity. It is by memory that oral traditions were passed on generations before finally being recorded. It is by memory that authors begin to write the most heart gripping stories abotu real events. We write to store memories. We talk to one another to recall memories. Memories make up who we are, the people that were, and help to shape the people who will be. Without memory of the past we cannot live in the hear and now.
So what does this have to do with a drug? After all, the idea is that it be used to treat people with PTSD. Should they not be able to push the memories away and life with their lives? I must argue no. Not that way. First of all, it is currently being studied and proven that simulations of the stressful events are helping our troops recover from PTSD. This, I feel is far more natural. Simply look at the way in which we process normal stressful events. We talk to everyone about it, retelling every detail. We think about the scenarios over and over again. And when we come to that place, everything floods our memories. But this is a normal process. A drug is not.
My one main concern is the following: we already have critics of the media telling us that because of all of the images we are already exposed to, our generation is desensitized to the horrors of war, rape and mass desrtuction. Now tell me, of anyone, who honestly are the most active people trying to make peace, stop rape, stop abuse. Is it you and I? No. It is not. This group of people are the people who somehow experienced it themselves. And by their memories, they can share with us the stories of the horrors they experienced, that we can only try to grasp by their own descriptions. It makes a difference when you hear a report on the news about a bombing in Iraq, and then hear the story from a soldier who was there. What they were thinking, feeling, fear, anxiousness, longingness to be with their loved ones. As you see the tears roll down their face you are drawn into the story with them.
What then happens when no one is left to tell the story? I am afraid the answer is that we will become desensitized. Rape will no longer be horrible, because no one will have to live with the horror again. Wars can be fought for the sake of war without cause, because no one will be able to remember the terror they felt. And the idiot at the party will not be averted from drinking again, because he could simply take a pill to get rid of the embarrassment from last night. All of a sudden nothing seems real.
I am afraid that inasmuch as I despise "end of the world" movies over and over, the idea is not fresh, and the reality not far away. If we don't stop trying to change nature for what it is, what it was fashioned for, I must say we are all in for no surprise at all. The end of society as we know it, and a turn for the worse. They are grave, harsh words that I write, but they are true. Everything in this world was fashioned with a specific design and purpose. Normal processes should not be changed by physical means unless there are no negative repercussions. Yes, you can give a patient in excruciating pain morphine, and yes, by all means try chemo if it will save a life a few more years. But changing the stuff of which we are made of, like our memories, or in the movies, our free will, is to deny our humanity and is inherently wrong.