Health for Life: The Science of Forgetting | Newsweek Health for Life

To Pluck a Rooted Sorrow

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Science is filled with fits of successes and legions of failures. Our understanding of human memory, as baffling as the universe, is still emerging. And that, says Yadin Dudai, of Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science, is the fun of it. "There will be enough work for my students' students," he says. "We contribute a little, we incite debates, we experiment to refute or resolve the issues. We go on. We don't know the entire story, but we know more and more." Neuron by wondrous neuron.

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While scientists work on discovering the physiology of memory consolidation, it is important for individuals with PTSD to know that there are effective treatments, that in some instances are less painful emotionally than the trial treatment (exposure plus propranolol) described in the article. The clarity of research findings on PTSD treatment has been hindered by differences among subject groups (e.g., individuals with single-incident PTSD and no previous mental health conditions vs. individuals with complex PTSD and previous or concurrent mental health or substance abuse conditions); small sample size; and subtle but potentially meaningful differences in how the therapies are conducted and in how the techniques are used, among others. The journal Traumatology (August 2000, volume VI, issue 2) has a review article by Dietrich that discusses one such technique, Visual/Kinesthetic Dissociation, that has several variations, all of which involve reviewing a memory visually without reliving it emotionally--a strategy very consistent with the track of the research described in the Newsweek article. The National VA website has information about PTSD treatment and references another kind of specialized treatment, EMDR, about which there has been some controversy in regard to whether its specialized techniques add anything beyond the exposure foundation. One simple hypothesis is that the visual and tactile elements serve as "grounding techniques" to allow the individual to revisit aspects of the memory without reliving it--again, consistent with the evolving physiological research referenced in the article. There is a large and growing literature on PTSD treatment. As the basic science continues to evolve, therapeutic help can be obtained.

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Posted By: mesmer @ 04/26/2009 11:44:33 PM

Erasing painful memories and overcoming panic attacks / PTSD is a very attractive aspect of psychotherapy using NLP or Neuro Linguistic Programming.

Modern neuro scientists and pyschiatrists/psychotherapists should validate the use of NLP in these disorders in peer reviewed scientific journals.

The primary advantage of NLP is that NO DRUGS are involved.
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Posted By: PDWhittPhD @ 04/23/2009 12:17:15 PM

While scientists work on discovering the physiology of memory consolidation, it is important for individuals with PTSD to know that there are effective treatments, that in some instances are less painful emotionally than the trial treatment (exposure plus propranolol) described in the article. The clarity of research findings on PTSD treatment has been hindered by differences among subject groups (e.g., individuals with single-incident PTSD and no previous mental health conditions vs. individuals with complex PTSD and previous or concurrent mental health or substance abuse conditions); small sample size; and subtle but potentially meaningful differences in how the therapies are conducted and in how the techniques are used, among others. The journal Traumatology (August 2000, volume VI, issue 2) has a review article by Dietrich that discusses one such technique, Visual/Kinesthetic Dissociation, that has several variations, all of which involve reviewing a memory visually without reliving it emotionally--a strategy very consistent with the track of the research described in the Newsweek article. The National VA website has information about PTSD treatment and references another kind of specialized treatment, EMDR, about which there has been some controversy in regard to whether its specialized techniques add anything beyond the exposure foundation. One simple hypothesis is that the visual and tactile elements serve as "grounding techniques" to allow the individual to revisit aspects of the memory without reliving it--again, consistent with the evolving physiological research referenced in the article. There is a large and growing literature on PTSD treatment. As the basic science continues to evolve, therapeutic help can be obtained.
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Posted By: Chaddwick08 @ 04/23/2009 7:39:25 AM

Despite pop culture's attempt at rendering this glorious scientific exploration humorous and shallow, this idea astounds me. I've been following this for a while.