TOP 100 SCIENCE SITES
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| Judge says seals can stay in California cove SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The seals can stay and play at a La Jolla swimming cove.... hosted.ap.org |
Wolf recovery at crossroads in the Southwest ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- A decade has passed since the federal government began returning endangered Mexican wolves to their historic range in the Southwest. It hasn't worked out - for the wolves, for ranchers, for conservationists or for federal biologists.... hosted.ap.org |
'Rewritten' memories less traumatic Breakthrough could help treat phobias and anxiety disordersIn a breakthrough that has major implications for treating phobias and anxiety disorders, psychologists have helped people conquer their fears by "rewriting" their memories to make them less traumatic.The therapy takes advantage of the discovery that human memories can be modified and made less frightening if they are manipulated soon after they are retrieved.Scientists at New York University found peoples' memories were susceptible to being rewritten between three minutes and six hours of a memory being recalled. Only memories that were rewritten in this time frame remained changed a year after the treatment.Researchers led by Elizabeth Phelps carried out a conditioning experiment in which 20 volunteers sat in front of a computer screen on which squares of different colours appeared. When blue squares flashed on the screen, they received an electric shock to the wrist.The next day, the volunteers were shown blue squares again to reactivate the memory. Sensors placed on their skin showed that the images caused the participants to sweat as their stress levels rose.To erase the memory that linked blue squares with pain, the volunteers were put through "extinction training" which involved flashing blue squares on the screen without the accompanying electrical shocks.When the volunteers were retested a day later, the fear associated with the squares had gone, but only in participants whose memories were rewritten soon after their fear was reactivated, according to a report in Nature.Those who had extinction training after six hours did not lose their fear of blue squares. Instead of their original memory being rewritten, Phelps believes they gained a second memory – that the squares were harmless – which was stored alongside their original experience.The study shows human memories are susceptible to being modified in a specific time window called the "consolidation period", when the brain is trying to restore a memory that was recently retrieved.A year later, some volunteers returned to the laboratory and were given more electric shocks to try to bring back the fearful memories. Those whose fear memories had been rewritten during the "consolidation window" were largely immune to the shock treatment, while in the others the sense of fear was rekindled.The therapy is still at the experimental stage but it paves the way for treatments that could help people overcome traumatic memories without resorting to drugs."Previous attempts to disrupt fear memories have relied on pharmacological interventions," Phelps said. "Our results suggest such invasive techniques may not be necessary. Using a more natural intervention that captures the adaptive purpose of reconsolidation allows a safe way to prevent the return of fear."Medical researchPsychologyIan Sampleguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Using a Virus’s Knack for Mutating to Wipe It Out When a virus’s rate of mutation gets too high, mathematical studies suggest, it will suffer, and scientists hope this will aid in fighting diseases. feeds.nytimes.com |
Lifting of GM ban on canola exposes divisions The decision by the WA government to lift the ban on growing genetically modified canola has exposed deep divisions within the farming sector and drawn criticism from consumer groups. abc.net.au |