A group of New York researchers believe they may have blocked the retention of memories by applying a drug to a specific area in rat brains, according to The New York Times.
The implications include alleviating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, altering addiction and enhancing memory, according to the Times.
The findings, by Dr. Todd C. Sacktor and André A. Fenton of State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, have also prompted many questions:
Could the molecule erase a specific memory? What if it deleted more than the target memory? Would scenarios emerge where patients haphazardly eliminated a failed romance or an embarrassing episode?
Similar studies on humans would be dangerous, said John Shosky, an AU professor teaching a Biomedicine and Bioethics class.
"You see the result in Alzheimer's patients now," Shosky said in an e-mail. "Loss of memory steals away the self ... When that happens some argue we are no longer human, that we have lost the very things that make us human: memories, empathy, language skills and rationality itself."
The research could also be potentially misused to tame criminals or political dissidents, Shosky said.
"I personally think the ethical question now for this topic is do we continue the research," said Ryan Carter, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs and a student in Shosky's bioethics class. "I would say yeah."
The results could have "beneficial use," Carter said. But there is also potential for abuse that could have dramatic consequences since science and ethics often conflict.
"One of the things with ethics is people think it's so restrictive of science and that's the point to tell us what not to do and what to do," he said. "And science will tell us to do everything because it ultimately values knowledge while ethics values people, so there's a conflicting value system."
In the SUNY studies, Fenton trained rats to avoid a pie slice area of a circular chamber, according to the Times. The rats would receive a small shock if they crossed into the section, and they quickly learned to avoid it.
Meanwhile, Sacktor discovered a molecule called PKMzeta that seemed to strengthen neural transmission, according to the Times. He then brought the findings to Fenton.
The duo found that when they gave the rats an injection of ZIP, a drug that interferes with PKMzeta, they acted as if they had never known the area would shock them, according to the Times. Instead of avoiding the area like before, they ran right through it.
"Memories and learning are mediated by changes in the neuro-connections in the brain," AU psychology professor Bryan Fantie said.
Neurons send messages down axons, the trunk-like part of the tree-shaped cell. The leaf-like part of a neuron, the dendrites, receives messages. PKMzeta molecules enter the tips of dendrites and increase sensitivity when transmitting messages, according to the Times.
"What the [PKMzeta] are doing, they're part of that mechanism making those changes in the brain," Fantie said. "So what the drug does is it interferes with the ones that seem to be going on in the parts of the brain that seem to be related to memory."
However, the rats may have failed to avoid the electric area for a variety of reason, Fantie said. The researchers just think the most likely cause is the rats forgot what they learned, he said.
"It might not be that they've forgotten that they'll get a shock there, but they might actually remember but not be able to do anything about it," he said. "Or the way that they've responded to shock has changed. There are always other possibilities."
While more research with the chemicals needs to be done, said David McNamara, a senior in the School of Communication, the drug seems promising him.
"I think it could definitely be used to relieve people who have traumatic experiences, have unreasonable fears, stuff like that," McNamara said.
With innovative drugs, there are always risks, said Kari Elam, a senior in SOC. She said she did not worry about the procedure possibly being misused.
"I think it's too far in advance," Elam said. "I think it's something that's probably going to happen with every drug, you've got the exception to the rule. But I don't think that's something that should bar people from research and development to figure out the benefits. I think the benefits would probably outweigh the risks."
You can reach this staff writer at landerson@theeagleonline.com.
