Manipulating and Erasing Memories

We all know that memories can't be changed, especially traumatic memories. .But many studies suggest that this has changed and it would help many people, especially drug addicts, soldiers and people with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Memory Reconsolidation (MR) is the process of reminding a situation and make it better and stronger to lessen painful memoriesm. They are strengthened by  taking them from the long-term memory storage and re activated.
Heroin addicts' craving can be prevented from relapsing by using another drugs and a simple Pavlovian conditioning and other unpleasant things. Despite of this, the process seems to work, since the cravings are reduced given that the impact of specific thoughts and memories are changed.

MR is strongly related to  NLP (Neuro.linguistic programming), the program that is a big business, but people learn how to make an experience bigger, stronger and brighter so it would have a better impact, thus the memories would not have the traumatic and unpleasant effect on them.

Both processes work and people is able to reduce the impact of  traumas, phobias, and addiction, but deleting or manipulating memories (and our way to face problems and experiences) would be deleting a part of or personality. Isn't it all the experiences, good and bad, makes us the way we are?

Isn't MR or NLP erasing our human individuality by creating new experiences to eliminate the others?

What if this is used to manipulate people to do evil things? What if it makes us weaker and more likely to be affected by all the new  bad experiences.

how hard is to tell

Every time we see people doing exercise to be in shape in gyms, generally, we tend to relate that to shallow individuals who are only focus on having a sculptural body, in order to look nicer or more attractive.

Well, according to many websites, exercise has a real positive impact on our body, not only physically, but mental and intellectually too. This fact may sound a little bit uncommon for you, but it does not mean it is not true whatsoever.

Studies suggest that adults who do regularly exercises, have better memory, can be more concentrated in certain things and are able to perform a task  and going to the next activity correctly  and quickly, without any problems. In addition, kids who practice any kind of sport, have less difficulties in learning a subject and are faster in mind than their peers. Also, children with a certain level of deficit disorder start improving their capacities in paying more attention inside a classroom or even at home, when parents ask them to do their homework, for example.

However, all those benefits may not convince you if you are not a child or you are not an adult in your thirties, either. But, as you are college student and you may want to have more energy in your daily life, Forbes.com, the famous American online magazine, indicates there are at least 6 big facts which -some of them will be presented later- make you more intelligent than having a sedentary life.

Now, you do not need to spend hours and hours to have an enviable body, but only exercise 30 minutes to become smart and intellectually attractive in front of people´s eyes.

Investing this period of time will make you feel an energized person. Regular physical activity makes you think clearer and create new ideas. Besides, it can enhance your mood and feel less stressed, using no special medicine to control this  pressure. Also, your productivity increases considerably, increasing also your work performance and time management.

Maybe, this is an excellent excuse for you to start doing a little bit of exercise. Do not you think so? Isn´t it great acting more actively after doing just a few minutes of any kind of sport?

 If you do not believe what I have just mentioned, you are free to visit http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennifercohen/2012/05/08/6-ways-exercise-makes-you-smarter/
where you will be able to find more about this topic

There is a video that supports with a serious study the benefits of exercising:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsI_cdg0MnY&feature=related

Chocolate makes snails smarter.

    Type the word 'superfood' into a web browser and you will overwhemled: some websites even maintain that dark chocolate can have beneficial effects on people. Most people eat chocolate before a test; others when they exercise in order to have more energy and wake up. Science has been interested in the influence of eating cacao. In fact, the scientific comunity have become curious about how dietary factors might affect memory. For this, they have focused on a group of compounds- the flavinoids- found in a wide range of 'superfoods' including chocolate, and green tea. 

    A lot of factors can influence memory formation. So, it has been decided to experiment on snails with chocolate to see if this really works. Snails usually breathe through their skins, but when oxygen levels fall, they extend the breathing tube above the sruface to supplement the oxygen sypply. However, they can be trained to remember a simple activity: to keep their breathing tubes closed when immersed in water. Amazingly, after three days testing with chocolate, they were able to remember to keep their breathing tubes shut more than 3 days later. Days passed by, snails were doing the same as they were trained. Their memory had been improved, their memories were to strong to be extinguished. 

    Scientits are still testing, and experimenting to look directly at the effect that chocolate has on memory neurons and cognitive effects that half a bar of dark choclate can have. This is really a good new for chocoholics! 

    Moreover, this is also aimed to help those who have Down syndrome or any other neurodevelopmental disorder. Scientistics want to improve intelligence, memory, and concentration of this kind of people. It would be wonderful for them to eat a bar of chocolate and feel better, and smarter; obviously, not as "smarter" as ordinary people, but to be one step ahead of the disease. Is this really possible? How would it be for those with these diseases? Would the world change in a way with this little experiment?

The study is published in The Journal of Experimental Biology.

When memory goes blank

Life goes so fast that forgetting things is normal but, up to what point? I guess that we all have said at least once “Where are my keys? I’m senile!” The truth is that we (as usual) overreact, exaggerating our problems but, what happens when we are not acting? What if we are forgetting important information, like our name or our friends' faces for real? This is what happens to a 3% under 60s population in our world: Alzheimer’s disease.

Hearing the name “Alzheimer” gives me goose bumps, since this is a silent enemy that attacks our brain erasing all our memories, with no consideration. It was thought that only older people develop this disease but, nowadays it has been proved that because of a defective gene even under 60's are victimes of it. 

At early stages you just forget simply things like dates and addresses, then you forget your own address, your family members, go to the bathroom and speak; at the end, you are not able to do a thing by your own, depending on a nurse or your family. The worst part is for those whose memory is normal because they are witnesses of the patient's decadency, suffering all the pain of seeing someone they love diying for inside.

Unfortunately, there is not known treatment for this disease, neither something you can do to prevent it; patients just take pills in order to slow the process. On the other hand, I heard some time ago about a vaccine that cures the problem, but it is a kind of conspiration since pharmacies prefer sell lots of pills to treat the illnesses rather than sell the cure just once. 

What do you think about these conspirations? Are they real?

Do you know someone who suffers this disease?

Here goes a sad korean movie that inspired me to write about Alzheimer, enjoy it! :)