Dr. Alain Brunet, of Montreal, believes he may have found a way to edit painful memories using the prescription beta-blocker propranolol, BBC reports. Brunet calls the treatment “reconsolidation therapy.”
Propranolol is usually prescribed to treat high blood pressure, migraines or even angina, according to the Mayo Clinic. The drug’s designated function is to block certain nerve impulses and slow down the heart.
A new study published in the journal Nature compared the treatment to films like “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Men in Black,” which involve erasing memories to eliminate pain or to protect government. Basically, the study posits that the beta-blocker propranolol can suppress emotional pain created by memory.
The study followed 60 individuals who had recently been through traumatic breakups. Brunet had diagnosed all of them with an adjustment disorder due to this trauma, the National Post reports.
Participants in the study took propranolol before reading an account of the painful breakup aloud, and then they answered questions about how that memory made them feel. They did this between four and six times.
The researchers found 70% of those patients found the memories to be significantly less painful after just a few under the influence sessions, the BBC reports. Taking the medication before revisiting their trauma helped the patients to replace those memories with calmer, less emotional versions of those memories.
“Often when you recall memory, if there’s something new to learn, this memory will unlock and you can update it, and it will be saved again,” Brunet was quoted by Cardiovascular Business. “We’re using this enhanced understanding on how memories are formed and how they are unlocked and updated and saved again — we’re essentially using this recent knowledge coming out of neuroscience to treat patients.”
Now, the BBC reports, Brunet has expanded the treatment. He is using it to help first responders and victims of deadly terrorists attacks in Europe. More than 400 people have participated in reconsolidating therapy sessions.