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Reversing the Emotions of the Memory: Scientists Find a Way to ‘Erase’ Negative Memories
by Sherrie
Learning Mind
Depression, anxiety and PTSD disorder – these conditions have one thing in common. They are built upon negative memories, sometimes even highly traumatic events called emotional associations or Valences. These Valences are directly responsible for reminiscence, but in the negative form. Social anxieties and other disorders grow as the negative Valences increase, both in intensity and occurrence.
Mental issues pose serious problems with functioning in society and dealing with social interactions. These conditions are medicated with different types of anti-depressants and anti-psychotics, adjusted and altered to successfully damper the negative feelings. Although there has been quite a bit of success associated with medicating mental disorders, there is always a continuing effort to find a better, more permanent solution. There may be hope.
Since memories are associated with mental issues, it seems that these memories hold a strong sway over the condition. These memories, fueled by emotional associations, control how the patient feels and how he deals with reality, simply by recalling an event from the past. For those who do not suffer with nervous issues and depression, memories and their emotional ties can float in and out of the brain without negative impact. Whether this is judged by the individual or the amount of memories, this is unknown. The point is, emotional association is the culprit and there is possibly a way to change this.
Where are memories located?
At the very moment a memory is stored, it is put away in one of two places, the Hippocampus and the Amygdala. The Hippocampus is responsible for making the memory, filing it away and organizing its contents. The Amygdala, on the other hand, is key to analyzing the memory and understanding what it all means, thus, sorting memories into negative or positive associations. Both these areas are connected from the dentate gyrus of the Hippocampus, by a circuit. It seems that the Valences located in the dentate gyrus, or the dorsal part of the Hippocampus, can be changed by stimulus, but the cells of the Amygdala that are associated with memory will never change.
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Source: http://www.riseearth.com/2014/09/reversing-emotions-of-memory-scientists.html
