Efface the sad memories but relive the happy moments!!

Despite of how happy our life would be, few events leave some not-so-happy memories which make us sad and sometimes even cry. No matter how hard we try or find ways to let go of unhappy memories yet they pop up when we least expect them. Years later, our brain will relate to something which will cause stimulation in our mind and a corner which seems to save all our sad memories will transmit the lamentable memory. We become a little more sensitive and protective of our emotions due to the fear of being enduring the same pain. How much we hate this, isn’t it? We do not want to relive the past but at the same time we do nto want to control our emotons too.

Don’t we wish if we could go back in time and redo the way the thing which created the sad memory? Can we not put a firewall in our brain to filter the bad memories and remind us of happy moments only? Is it not that we could just erase those memories which cause hurt?

The answer is ‘maybe’. Maybe we can control the emotional sensitivity caused due to unpleasant memories. A protein called alpha-CaM kinase II can help in erasing the sad memories, probably in few decades. A neurobiologist at the Medical College of Georgia, Dr. Joe Tsien, has been studying the impact of this protein for past couple of years.

Using mice for his experiment and applying the Pavlovian conditioning, he kept the mice in a chamber where they were made to hear a sound followed by a shock. The experiment was repeated couple of times and it was observed that the mice were scared on hearing the sound only. In the next phase, the mice were moved to a new chamber and after increasing the production of the protein, the doctor repeated the experiment. The mice were not scared. On returning the mice in the previous chamber, the mice were again reacting to the sound.

Eureka!! The doctor successfully concluded that by controlling the production of alpha-CaM kinase II, the memories can be erased or forgotten. In few decades, a pill maybe developed for humans to help us efface sad and displeasing memories.