60 Minutes did a great piece on this awhile back and it was fascinating. I’m sure you could look it up. It was about rats learning to swim to a little dock inside a huge tank. They say they can use it for people who’ve undergone traumatic events and suffer from PTSD. Apparently, when something horrible happens to an individual, certain chemicals are released that essentially “lock” in the memory. It’s almost as if the memory is “burned” into the brain by the chemicals. The drug gets rid of that. The person remembers things but the intensity is not there - so the emotions, the pain, etc. are left behind.
Some people are against this but I am interested in the science and the potential benefits of those who suffer. I have an uncle who has PTSD from Viet Nam. He also was disabled from exposure to Agent Orange.
“It’s almost as if the memory is “burned” into the brain by the chemicals.”
If they are Viet Nam memories the proper term is not “burned” but rather “Seared, seared into my memory”.
Hope your uncle is OK. MAPS foundation is working on using psychoactives with PTSD.
It turns out the common beta blocker has the effect of softening the effects of traumatic memories. I think it was a researcher at UC Irvine by the name of Cahill who did the work.