Successfully erasing the memory of the mouse involved in "fear", a new possibility for treatment of PTSD

It may sound like a science fiction movie, but war, rape, etc.PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder)Perhaps the era in which you can pinpoint the memory of hardships that may cause it, may be just around the corner.

Johns Hopkins UniversityResearchers in the experiment using mouse,Amygdala(FearBy excluding specific proteins from the processing and memory related sites of emotional responses, including those involved in fear, we succeeded in completely eliminating memories aroused by fear. In the future it may lead to the development of "remedy drugs" for treatment of patients with PTSD.

Details are as below.Johns Hopkins Researchers Discover How to Erase Memory - 10/28/2010

Behavioral therapy can weaken the emotional response to memories of striking events but can not completely erase the memory of fear and often cause recurrence of symptoms,Extinction trainingIt is shown in the base animal model.

"When a striking event happens, memory of fear is formed, that memory may remain for the rest of us and we may change our lives.The memory of that fear is formed in the process of molecular level and at the cell level Our findings as to what mechanism is working is that by controlling these mechanisms with drugs,Behavior TherapyWe will increase the possibility of enhancing the effect of neuroscience, "said John's Hopkins University School of Medicine Department of NeurosciencesRichard HuganirThe professor says. Professor Huganir and postdoctoral researcher Dr. Roger Clem this timeScienceIt will be published in the magazine.

Professors Huganir and colleagues in the animal and human brain "Fear conditioningInvolved inAmygdalaFocusing on the mouse experiments conditioned suddenly the loud resonating sounds into fear and observed that in the amygdala of the mouse after exposure to the sound the neurotransmission became prosperous in certain cells.

When fear memories are formed In order to investigate what is happening at the molecular level, professors Huganir and others observed the proteins of neurons of the amygdala before and after hearing loud sounds in detail, and found that the number of fear conditioning occurred From time to time, calcium permeableAMPA type glutamate receptorStarted to increase, peaked after 24 hours and returned to the original level in 48 hours.

Researchers expect that the combination of removal of these proteins from nerve cells and behavioral therapy will open up new pathways for PTSD treatment. "By removing these proteins, we try to weaken the neuronal connections in the brain created by trauma, thereby trying to eliminate the memory itself," Huganir says.

When behavioral therapy eliminates conditioning of the cue and fear response, the calcium permeable AMPA type glutamate receptors are removed from the external amygdala, so when the AMPA type glutamate receptorSubunitOne of GluR1Reversible Phosphorylation ReactionBy promoting with medicine, it will be possible to eliminate trauma memory pinpoint.

"If you say that you can erase memory selectively, you may sound like SF, but in the future eradicate the fearful memory of those suffering from PTSD due to traumatic events such as war and rape It may be possible, "Professor Huganir says.