Is it possible to control memory? In any case, this is no longer science fiction: American researchers have identified the gene responsible for the extinction of bad memories.
” The time passes but the memory remains. This expression could soon be undeceived. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have identified the gene responsible for erasing bad memories. Tet1 (ten-eleven translocation) indeed controls a small group of genes associated with memory and learning. It regulates the erasure of unpleasant memories.
A discovery from experiments on mice
MIT researchers conducted a laboratory experiment. Mice with the tet1 gene and mice with the gene turned off were placed in an electrified cage. They were then transferred to the same cage, not electrified. Mice with tet1 were wary of the wire mesh. When they realized he was no longer electrified, they became less fearful. The fear of the cage was maintained in the extinct tet1 mice. “They don’t relearn properly,” explains Andrii Rudenko, co-author of the study. “They’re like stuck, and they can’t erase the old memory. “
“What happens when the memory is turned off is not an erasure of the original memory. The ancient memory tells the mice that this place is dangerous. But the new one informs them that it is safe, ”details Li-Huei Tsai, co-author of the study. The memory therefore offers the brain two interpretations: there is danger (old memory), but the danger has passed (new memory). The experiment teaches mice with the active gene to overcome their initial fear. Mice with tet1 turned off remain stuck on their bad experience. It is this phenomenon that is observed in people with trauma, especially post-traumatic stress disorder.
Helping traumatized people to forget
The discovery of the Tet1 gene opens up new avenues in the treatment of psychological trauma. MIT researchers explain that “if there is a way to significantly increase the expression of these genes, memory erasure will become much more active. In other words, by reinforcing the action of tet1, it would be possible to facilitate forgetting in people victims of trauma, who react like the mice of experience.
Experiments are underway to see if the increase in the tet1 gene actually leads to memory erasure. If the results are conclusive, this gene becomes a potential tool in the fight against post-traumatic stress disorder and other traumas linked to a memory. The authors of the study are already considering a drug treatment that would activate the strengthening of the tet1 gene.
.
