{"id":2296,"date":"2021-12-06T15:25:31","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T19:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/id-demos.cms-devl.bu.edu\/bu-stories\/?post_type=bu-stories&p=14"},"modified":"2021-12-06T15:25:31","modified_gmt":"2021-12-06T19:25:31","slug":"manipulating-memory","status":"publish","type":"bu-stories","link":"https:\/\/id-demos.cms-devl.bu.edu\/core-2\/stories\/manipulating-memory\/","title":{"rendered":"Manipulating Memory"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MANIPULATING
MEMORY<\/span><\/h2><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Steve Ramirez<\/h2><\/div>\n\n
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Assistant Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences
College of Arts & Sciences<\/h3><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Studies how memory works in the brain<\/h3><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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We all know what it\u2019s like to have bad memories…<\/h3><\/div>\n<\/div>
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but what if there was a way to artificially prevent the return of unwanted memory?<\/h3><\/div>\n<\/div>
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Unfortunately, memories don\u2019t exist in one corner of the brain. They exist as a sort of constellation of brains cells interacting with one another.<\/h3><\/div>\n<\/div>
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For instance, the neural network involved in recalling the memory of a break-up might look like this.<\/h3><\/div>\n<\/div>
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We introduced a fluorescent protein into the brains of rodents so that we could actually visualize the brain cells that were involved in a particular memory.<\/h3><\/div>\n<\/div>
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When we stimulated the brain cells in the top part of the hippocampus that hold onto fear memory, that actually managed to suppress the fear memory.<\/h3><\/div>\n<\/div>
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Whereas when we stimulated the bottom part of the hippocampus repeatedly, this surprisingly enhanced the fear memory itself.<\/h3><\/div>\n<\/div>
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My hope is that the work we do in rodents provides some kind of blueprint for future interventions in humans.<\/h3><\/div>\n<\/div>
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Watch the whole video!<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n
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Watch More<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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And learn about all of the unforgettable research being done at Boston University<\/h2><\/div>\n\n
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