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NYU RESEARCHER SAYS DRUG MAY SOOTHE BAD

MEMORIES -- May have found a way to treat some mental

disorders like phobias, panic disorders, OCD and PTSD.

For a previous article about Dr. LeDoux's research...click here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/07/
nf07/nfMAR07/nf032107-5.htm

For more about PTSD, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/ses
search.php?q=ptsd&op=and

Story here... http://media.www.nyunews.
com/media/storage/paper869/news/20
07/10/11/Features/Drug-May.Soothe.
Bad.Memories-3026564.shtml

Story below:

-------------------------

Drug may soothe bad memories

by Kate Wilcox

Neurology professor Joseph LeDoux said he thinks that the writers for the movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" were inspired by the research he and his colleagues have done.

"We are working on creating a drug that will, if not erase stored memories, at least weaken them or make them less accessible," LeDoux said.

LeDoux discussed his research on memory and fear responses at Vanderbilt Hall last night in "Why Do We Feel So Afraid?", a lecture sponsored by the NYU Alumni Association. The lecture was followed by a performance from his band, the Amygdaloids, which is compromised of other neuroscientists and an environmental scientist.

"I propose to examine fear through traditional charts and graphs but also through music, through rock 'n' roll," LeDoux said.

In the lecture, LeDoux said his studies show that fear is an evolutionary response.

"You cannot simply will depression and anxiety away," he said.

However, from his experiments on laboratory rats, LeDoux said he may have found a way to treat some mental disorders, like "phobias, panic disorders, OCD and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."

LeDoux would conduct his experiments by conditioning a fear response in the rats through the administration of mild electric shocks, he said.

The research is still in experimental stages, but can be used to target specific parts of select memories, LeDoux said. He said that he believes a specific drug, a protein inhibitor, can prevent a fear response in the body.

"We can isolate specific parts of memories, the most traumatic parts, and prevent the brain from re-storing them," he said.

LeDoux said he hopes this drug can be used to treat PTSD in war veterans and other people with traumatic experiences.

"If you ask them, people with very severe PTSD would unanimously vote for this pill," he said. However, the drug does not have the ability to cure someone or "substitute for therapy," he said.

In order for the procedure to work, the patient would have to retrieve the traumatic memory at the same time the drug is administered, LeDoux said.

Aside from teaching and research, LeDoux is also the guitarist in his band, the Amygdalaloids. The band gets its name from the part of the brain that stimulates fear response.

After the lecture the band played their "heavy mental" for the audience.

"Mostly people come [to hear us] for the science aspect of it," said Nina Curley, a neuroscientist and the band's bassist. "To me, it's a fun compliment to research; it's a little bit campy, making science fun."

The audience liked the lecture because it was entertaining as well as informative.

"I enjoyed it very much," said Cathy Goldsmith, an NYU alumna. "I thought it was a very different approach; it really set your brain to thinking."

NYU alumna Renee Freeman thought that the music reached out to the "younger people."

"But without the research," she said, "you don't have very much."

Kate Wilcox is a contributing writer. E-mail her at news@nyunews.com.

-------------------------

Larry Scott  --

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