Depression, anxiety, and Post Traumatic Syndrome Disorder (PTSD) are some of the mental health issues every country in the world is facing. It doesn't hurt or kill physically but can basically lead to it when a person becomes emotionally unstable. Treatments in line with these mental health problems may take months or even years before a person can fully recovered especially due to certain traumatic experiences. Neuroscientists from the Boston University found a way of addressing these mental or psychological health matters that can lead to develop personalized treatment for people having troubling memories.
In the brain, the hippocampus which is a cashew-shape structure is responsible for storing sensory and emotional information that make up memories, whether positive or negative. Inside the hippocampus are other sub-regions which play an important role in recalling elements of a specific memory.
Brian Chen, first author of the study said, "Many psychiatric disorders, especially PTSD, are based on the idea that after there's a really traumatic experience; the person isn't able to move on because they recall their fear over and over again.
"Researchers showed in the study how traumatic memories can be emotionally loaded. The top and bottom part of the hippocampus serve different roles. Activating the memory cells at the bottom part can trigger the negative memories while stimulating the memory cells in the top part strips bad memories, hence, making it less traumatic.
In the research, they used a technique called optogenetics wherein they mapped out which cells in the hippocampus is activated when making a new memory (positive, negative, or neutral) by using a male mouse. A positive memory was made by exposing it to a female while the negative one was stimulated by startling the animal. Afterwards, they identified which cells were activated using a glowing green protein that lights up when cells are activated. In order to activate the memories again they used laser light.
The results showed that the bottom and top part of the hippocampus played different functions. Activating the bottom part imparts lasting fear and therefore can be overactive when memories became debilitating. The top part can be used in the treating process since it can relive bad memories.
The researchers stated that by suppressing over activity in the bottom part of the hippocampus could be used for treating anxiety disorders and may possibly enhance the cognitive skills of a person. Like in the 2011 movie "Limitless" starring Bradley Cooper.
"The field of memory manipulation is still young...It sounds like sci-fi but this study is a sneak preview of what's to come in terms of our abilities to artificially enhance a suppress memories," explained Ramirez, BU College of Arts and Sciences assistant professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
Given the fact that mouse and human brains are different, researchers still considered the findings valuable. Ramirez further explained that their findings are fundamental principles in mapping out a blue print on how memory works in people. It allows the researchers to observe the side effect on the different areas of the brain being stimulated, according to Medical Xpress.
"We're a long way from being able to do this in humans, but the proof of concept is here," expressed Chen.
"As Steve likes to say 'never say never'. Nothing is impossible," he added."Let's use what we're learning in mice to make predictions about how memory functions in humans," said Ramirez.
"If we can create a two-way street to compare how memory works in mice and in humans, we can then ask specific questions about how and why memories have positive or negative effects on psychological health," he concluded.
