Why the Mind is in the Brain (2)
Scientists Work on 'Trauma Pill' By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer Sat Jan 14, 1:04 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060114/ap_on_he_me/trauma_pill_1
After stress, people often develop post-traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD). The symptoms (such as flashbacks) make people feel as if they are reliving the trauma. Apparently, what happens during and after a traumatic event is that the brain (quite reasonably) says “I don’t ever want to see this situation again. I will record everything I might need to stay out of this.”
James McGaugh and colleague Larry Cahill have shown that adrenaline and other emergency hormones lead the brain to add extra strength to the memories it is storing at the time. (McGaugh is director of the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at the University of California at Irvine.)
That was the best out ancestors could do. We still carry those ancestral brain parts. Sometimes they overdo their jobs. What this news article describes is research seeking ways to prevent or undo the effects of the kind of memory that appears in PTSD. A plausible mechanism for treatment is propranolol, a drug used to treat high blood pressure. That is now under investigation.
And what can you do with this information? This article is all about promising, but undemonstrated, methods for treating PTSD. Why would it be of interest to the public? Maybe it was just a slow news week. But one of the DIY tools of cognitive engineering is the Two-stage Knowledge Amplifier.
Stage 1: What is it like?
Stage 2. What is the opposite?
What is it like? The most familiar (and harmless) thing it is like is known as “flashbulb memory.” When a person has a strong emotional experience, the person may have vivid recall of many irrelevant details. The Kennedy assassination is a familiar example. Many people could recall where they were when they first heard the news. They could recall how they got the news and where they were standing or sitting. Adrenaline at work again.
What is the opposite? My view is that the opposite of “strong emotional experience” is boredom. And I suspect it has the opposite effect on memory. As I suggested in my blog about homework, boredom is just your brain’s way of telling you that what you are doing is not important. And therefore, not worth remembering. So if there is something you want to remember, you will do better if you learn about it when you are not bored.
But is there some way to get better memory storage without a traumatic experience? Sure. Broaden the question of what is it like? We started with “strong emotional experience.” Does it have to be strong? Of course not. You don’t need (and don’t want) the kind of memory boost you get out of PTSD.
Does it have to be unpleasant? Of course not. People also vividly remember their hard-won successes. (And seldom seek treatment for it.) Success (psychologists call it reinforcement), frustration, and humor are all examples of mild emotional experiences that are known to favor better recall. And they are all readily available to help your brain store memories. If your mind remembers to use them.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060114/ap_on_he_me/trauma_pill_1
After stress, people often develop post-traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD). The symptoms (such as flashbacks) make people feel as if they are reliving the trauma. Apparently, what happens during and after a traumatic event is that the brain (quite reasonably) says “I don’t ever want to see this situation again. I will record everything I might need to stay out of this.”
James McGaugh and colleague Larry Cahill have shown that adrenaline and other emergency hormones lead the brain to add extra strength to the memories it is storing at the time. (McGaugh is director of the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at the University of California at Irvine.)
That was the best out ancestors could do. We still carry those ancestral brain parts. Sometimes they overdo their jobs. What this news article describes is research seeking ways to prevent or undo the effects of the kind of memory that appears in PTSD. A plausible mechanism for treatment is propranolol, a drug used to treat high blood pressure. That is now under investigation.
And what can you do with this information? This article is all about promising, but undemonstrated, methods for treating PTSD. Why would it be of interest to the public? Maybe it was just a slow news week. But one of the DIY tools of cognitive engineering is the Two-stage Knowledge Amplifier.
Stage 1: What is it like?
Stage 2. What is the opposite?
What is it like? The most familiar (and harmless) thing it is like is known as “flashbulb memory.” When a person has a strong emotional experience, the person may have vivid recall of many irrelevant details. The Kennedy assassination is a familiar example. Many people could recall where they were when they first heard the news. They could recall how they got the news and where they were standing or sitting. Adrenaline at work again.
What is the opposite? My view is that the opposite of “strong emotional experience” is boredom. And I suspect it has the opposite effect on memory. As I suggested in my blog about homework, boredom is just your brain’s way of telling you that what you are doing is not important. And therefore, not worth remembering. So if there is something you want to remember, you will do better if you learn about it when you are not bored.
But is there some way to get better memory storage without a traumatic experience? Sure. Broaden the question of what is it like? We started with “strong emotional experience.” Does it have to be strong? Of course not. You don’t need (and don’t want) the kind of memory boost you get out of PTSD.
Does it have to be unpleasant? Of course not. People also vividly remember their hard-won successes. (And seldom seek treatment for it.) Success (psychologists call it reinforcement), frustration, and humor are all examples of mild emotional experiences that are known to favor better recall. And they are all readily available to help your brain store memories. If your mind remembers to use them.
posted by Selby Evans at 3:47 PM
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