Slog - Comments on The Spotless Sunshine of the... http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the ...rodent mind. Targeted memory erasure is no longer limited to the realm of science fiction. A new study describes a method through which a selected set of memories can be rapidly and specifically erased from the mouse brain in a controlled and inducible manner.... "While memories are great teachers and obviously crucial for survival and adaptation, selectively removing incapacitating memories, such as traumatic war memories or an unwanted fear, could help many people live better lives," says Dr. Joe Z. Tsien, brain scientist and co-director of the Brain & Behavior Discovery Institute at the Medical College of Georgia School of... Copyright 2008 Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:36:43 -0800 Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:14:03 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Jessie Jesus, that's scary.

]]> Jessie http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181279 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181279 Science Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:50:44 -0800 Comment by bop I have a bunch of movies I'd LOVE to be able to see for the first time again. Music, too! Sign me UP.

]]> bop http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181285 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181285 Science Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:08:50 -0800 Comment by Danielle They talked about that on Radio Lab like two months ago...very interesting.

]]> Danielle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181288 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181288 Science Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:12:30 -0800 Comment by sepiolida My fiance does brain stuff on mice.

]]> sepiolida http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181294 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181294 Science Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:20:50 -0800 Comment by John Bailo
Heavy drinking not good enough for you?

]]> John Bailo http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181302 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181302 Science Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:48:51 -0800 Comment by xina i'd like to do it. how about erasing the last 8 years!

]]> xina http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181307 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181307 Science Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:56:00 -0800 Comment by elenchos I want to get rid of any traces of those long assed YoutTube and SNL clips that you see all over the blogs nowadays. They mostly suck, and did I mention how long the can get to be? Mostly I want to forget that I was gullible enough to click 'Play' just because somebody said it was worth it.

]]> elenchos http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181316 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181316 Science Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:01:37 -0800 Comment by John Bailo
#7

I want to enforce a two sentence rule on comments about videos.

]]> John Bailo http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181324 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181324 Science Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:10:09 -0800 Comment by Ren Memory of a situation helps you learn from it. That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

]]> Ren http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181327 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181327 Science Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:14:24 -0800 Comment by Katy This totally skeeves me out. Can you imagine what the right wing freaks a la Sarah Palin and that Bachmann woman would want the government to do with this technology?

]]> Katy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181329 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181329 Science Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:17:27 -0800 Comment by Katy It just occurred to me Dan, the anti-gay marriage people would be lobbying for this to be used on homosexuals to "treat" or "cure" them.

Freaky implications for the future.

]]> Katy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181331 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181331 Science Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:19:45 -0800 Comment by John Bailo #11

Actually the evil guy in Eternal Sunshine was a weedy bisexual kind of guy who interfered with a normal heterosexual relationship and tried to warp it to include himself.

]]> John Bailo http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181354 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181354 Science Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:13:55 -0800 Comment by mnm A hearty "LOL" to you sir!

]]> mnm http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181403 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181403 Science Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:42:38 -0800 Comment by Patrick I second!

]]> Patrick http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181408 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181408 Science Thu, 23 Oct 2008 01:48:44 -0800 Comment by raisedbywolves John Bailo, you don't just have a warped view of reality, you also have a warped view of my favorite movie.

I pity you.

]]> raisedbywolves http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181411 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181411 Science Thu, 23 Oct 2008 02:30:06 -0800 Comment by Buck Bailey Sweet. I can't wait to be Rick Rolled for the first time all over again.

]]> Buck Bailey http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181420 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181420 Science Thu, 23 Oct 2008 06:38:09 -0800 Comment by Bob Did I leave a comment on this post last night?

]]> Bob http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181424 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181424 Science Thu, 23 Oct 2008 06:51:00 -0800 Comment by UNPAID BLOGGER I can definitely see applications for severe trauma like war memories and rape. Erasing relationships? Not a very good application for this technology.

]]> UNPAID BLOGGER http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181441 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181441 Science Thu, 23 Oct 2008 08:06:52 -0800 Comment by ellarosa bailo, you are quite unhinged.

]]> ellarosa http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181465 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181465 Science Thu, 23 Oct 2008 08:35:12 -0800 Comment by Vince Sounds like the morning after a binge. "I sucked your WHAT last night?"

]]> Vince http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181668 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181668 Science Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:54:37 -0800 Comment by Sleestak It's a bad idea to erase ANY memory, good or bad. How else are people going to learn from their mistakes?

]]> Sleestak http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181669 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1181669 Science Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:55:22 -0800 Comment by Malcolm In Sydney The most disturbing aspect of the application of this technology would be the fact that people would lose the memories but not the changes associated with them.

Imagine that you have an encounter with a knife weilding maniac in a particular location and you develop a fear of that location.

Your first most likely 'compensation' would be to avoid the location. If this didn't work you may wish to remove the memory of the attack.

Once the attack memory is removed however, you would still have the memory of avoiding the location, but no longer have any known (to you) reason for doing so.

You may start to suffer form some cognitive dissonance issues in not wanting to walk down 'that street', but having no idea why.

You may start to have feelings of paranoia in not knowing why things are not clear in your head (ie memories missing).

Bearing in mind that most of the people close to you would know of the trama they would have to hide that knowledge from you. This might increase your feelings of things being hidden from you.

What is a person but the sum total of their memories?

The cruellest part of dementia it would seem is the hollowing out of people as they lose all contact with their memories and their sense of self.

This would be a bad application of technology in this psychologist's opinion.

]]> Malcolm In Sydney http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1182159 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/the_spotless_sunshine_of_the#c1182159 Science Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:14:03 -0800