Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) may be used to erase bad memories, according to a new study. The scientists behind this discovery believe it could eventually lead to new treatments for conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
At present, ECT is used to treat severe depression, which it attempts to relieve through passing electric currents through the brain to trigger a seizure. It is typically administered under general anaesthesia and patients who undergo the treatment are given muscle relaxants to avoid convulsions.
Exactly why ECT works is unclear, although a number of theories exist. Some researchers think it relieves symptoms by changing the flow of blood through the brain, while others believe it works by causing the release of chemicals in the brain. Previous research also suggests that ECT can stimulate the growth of new cells and nerve pathways in certain areas of the brain.
In this case, researchers at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands used the treatment to target specific memories in an attempt to disrupt them.
Participants included patients who were already receiving ECT due to depression. Each was presented with two different picture cards, both of which told an unpleasant story. They were then exposed to one of the cards a week later and just before being given ECT. The day after the therapy, the researchers discovered that the patients had forgotten the story they had just seen while they remembered the other one perfectly.
One patient, Jannetje Brussard-Nieuwenhuizen, said: "I don't remember, just that they showed me something but I don't remember that it was that card."
The results were published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
