I'm asking you, people who have been looking for whole life for ways to solve their problems : Are there any ways to edit,modify,erase fear,memories as propranolol and the memory reconsolidation technique would ideally do?
I mean,a fear-erasing method, but not for natural fears like arachnophobia , but for complex psychological problems associated with fears as in this article.
www.nature.com
For those who don't understand what I mean, here's a summary:
Researchers have proposed the concept of memory reconsolidation : "the reactivation-dependent induction of a transient, unstable state of a previously consolidated memory, during which the memory trace may be modified or disrupted, and requiring a time-dependent process of restabilization in order to persist.
Memory reconsolidation and propranolol helped patients with arachnophobia.Scientists briefly exposed participants to a live tarantula,then gave them
40mg of medication and arachnophobia was gone.
Memory reconsolidation does not help with complex psychological problems.
This is the conclusion reached by the researchers in this study in summary :
«Hence, propranolol affected physiology but not subjective anxiety»
«Physiological measures indicated that propranolol exerted its expected influence over beta-adrenergic activity. However, changes in public speaking anxiety were not contingent upon receiving propranolol. We would therefore suggest that well-known phenomena such as placebo effects (e.g., expecting one's fear to decrease allowing one to become more confident), or practice/exposure effects (e.g., being familiar with the task at the second performance, or practicing a speech under difficult experimental circumstances increasing one's confidence when speaking with a more receptive audience outside of the study), underpin the observed anxiety reductions, rather than any novel phenomena such as reconsolidation. These findings contrast with previous results in spider-fearful participants,where fear levels of control participants remained stable, and rapid and substantial decreases in fear of spiders were observed in reactivation + propranolol participants. Physiological responses to the stressor were not affected by the treatment"
I mean,a fear-erasing method, but not for natural fears like arachnophobia , but for complex psychological problems associated with fears as in this article.
Reconsolidation-based treatment for fear of public speaking: a systematic pilot study using propranolol - Translational Psychiatry
Pharmacological manipulation of memory reconsolidation opens up promising new avenues for anxiety disorder treatment. However, few studies have directly investigated reconsolidation-based approaches in subclinical or clinical populations, leaving optimal means of fear memory reactivation...
www.nature.com
For those who don't understand what I mean, here's a summary:
Researchers have proposed the concept of memory reconsolidation : "the reactivation-dependent induction of a transient, unstable state of a previously consolidated memory, during which the memory trace may be modified or disrupted, and requiring a time-dependent process of restabilization in order to persist.
Memory reconsolidation and propranolol helped patients with arachnophobia.Scientists briefly exposed participants to a live tarantula,then gave them
40mg of medication and arachnophobia was gone.
Memory reconsolidation does not help with complex psychological problems.
This is the conclusion reached by the researchers in this study in summary :
«Hence, propranolol affected physiology but not subjective anxiety»
«Physiological measures indicated that propranolol exerted its expected influence over beta-adrenergic activity. However, changes in public speaking anxiety were not contingent upon receiving propranolol. We would therefore suggest that well-known phenomena such as placebo effects (e.g., expecting one's fear to decrease allowing one to become more confident), or practice/exposure effects (e.g., being familiar with the task at the second performance, or practicing a speech under difficult experimental circumstances increasing one's confidence when speaking with a more receptive audience outside of the study), underpin the observed anxiety reductions, rather than any novel phenomena such as reconsolidation. These findings contrast with previous results in spider-fearful participants,where fear levels of control participants remained stable, and rapid and substantial decreases in fear of spiders were observed in reactivation + propranolol participants. Physiological responses to the stressor were not affected by the treatment"
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