https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51317388
A Montreal researcher says he has found a way to take the emotional sting out a bad breakup by "editing" memories using therapy and a beta blocker. Dr Alain Brunet has spent over 15 years studying post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), working with combat veterans, people who have experienced terror attacks and crime victims. Much of his research has centred on the development of what he calls "reconsolidation therapy", an innovative approach that can help remove emotional pain from a traumatic memory.
At the heart of his work is a humble pharmaceutical - propranolol - a beta blocker long used to treat common physical ailments like hypertension and migraines, but which research now suggests has a wider application.
The reconsolidation method involves taking propranolol about an hour before a therapy session where the patient is asked to write a detailed account of their trauma and then read it aloud.
>"Often when you recall memory, if there's something new to learn, this memory will unlock and you can update it, and it will be saved again," the Canadian clinical psychologist tells the BBC. That process of reconsolidation creates a window of opportunity to target the highly emotional portion of that memory.
>"We're using this enhanced understanding on how memories are formed and how they are unlocked and updated and saved again - we're essentially using this recent knowledge coming out of neuroscience to treat patients," says Dr Brunet.
His work has often been compared to the science fiction film Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, where an estranged couple have their memories of each other erased, though Dr Brunet notes memories aren't gone after reconsolidation therapy, they just stop hurting.
A Montreal researcher says he has found a way to take the emotional sting out a bad breakup by "editing" memories using therapy and a beta blocker. Dr Alain Brunet has spent over 15 years studying post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), working with combat veterans, people who have experienced terror attacks and crime victims. Much of his research has centred on the development of what he calls "reconsolidation therapy", an innovative approach that can help remove emotional pain from a traumatic memory.
At the heart of his work is a humble pharmaceutical - propranolol - a beta blocker long used to treat common physical ailments like hypertension and migraines, but which research now suggests has a wider application.
The reconsolidation method involves taking propranolol about an hour before a therapy session where the patient is asked to write a detailed account of their trauma and then read it aloud.
>"Often when you recall memory, if there's something new to learn, this memory will unlock and you can update it, and it will be saved again," the Canadian clinical psychologist tells the BBC. That process of reconsolidation creates a window of opportunity to target the highly emotional portion of that memory.
>"We're using this enhanced understanding on how memories are formed and how they are unlocked and updated and saved again - we're essentially using this recent knowledge coming out of neuroscience to treat patients," says Dr Brunet.
His work has often been compared to the science fiction film Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, where an estranged couple have their memories of each other erased, though Dr Brunet notes memories aren't gone after reconsolidation therapy, they just stop hurting.
