Absolutely shocking: electrocuting brain can wipe unpleasant memories

Ever done something so embarassing, ridiculous or depressing that you wish you could forget the whole horrible mess forever? If so, you're in luck -- a recent report in Nature Neuroscience claims that with a few electroshock therapy (ECT) induced seizures, your brain can be wiped of the offending memory. Marijn Kroes and his team of neuroscientists at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands, discovered that strategically timed electric shocks to the brain can effectively destroy thoughts of unpleasant moments in your past.

Kroes' discovery relies on the theory of memory consolidation, which suggests that memories are plucked from a mental warehouse whenever they are accessed and re-written over time back onto the brain's circuits. It is thought, after studying results from tests made on animals and humans, that whilst the brain is in the process of reconsolidating, memories can become vulnerable to destruction.

42 patients suffering from severe depression and already undergoing ECT were Kores' test subjects. He showed them two slides, one depicting a car accident and another depicting an assault. Later, the team requested the patients recall one of the slides, which began the "re-writing" process, it is at this moment that their brains were electrocuted. A day later, patients were unable to answer questions relating to the slide they had thought of during the ECT process but were able to recall with clarity the slide they did not think of.
Daniela Schiller, a neuroscientist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York said: "this provides very strong and compelling evidence that memories in the human brain undergo reconsolidation, and that a window of opportunity exists to treat bad memories." However, she feels more work is needed to establish how long the effects last and whether this method will work on older, more ingrained memories.

Kores acknowledges that ECT may not be suitable for most patients, but hopes that results from these tests will aid the discovery of new and less invasive methods of altering memory reconsolidation. He hopes that the process can eventually help those suffering from depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or addiction.