Scientists Zap Mice Memories With Light
Think of your most horrible, unpleasant memory. If you could, would you want to erase that from your brain? You can’t do it now, but new research is moving in that direction. In a study at the University of California-Davis Center for Neuroscience and Department of Psychology scientists were able to use light to erase specific memories in mice, providing proof for a long-standing theory of how memories work by making them forget a painful experience. The mice used in the experiment weren’t run-of-the mill squeakers. They were genetically modified so that when their nerve cells are activated they flouresce green and express a protein that allows them to be switched off by light. The scientists could see which nerve cells were being activated when the mice made memories, and switch them off with a fiber-optic cable inserted into the mouse’s brain. Having a clear map of what was happening in the brain was important, because the scientists wanted to test the long-standing theory that retrieving memories requires a coordinated