• Home
  • Podcast
    • Specials
  • Interviews
  • Movie Reviews
  • TV Reviews
  • DVD Reviews
  • Columns
  • News
    • TV News
    • Film News
    • DVD News
    • Online Entertainment News
    • Space News
    • Music News
    • On Stage
    • Geeky, Funny & Weird

Slice of SciFi

This is How We Geek Out: Interviews, Reviews & More

  • Writers, After Dark
  • The Babylon Podcast
  • Slice of SciFi TV
  • Charlie Jade Verse
  • Contact Us
    • About Us
SciFi to SciFact: “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”

SciFi to SciFact: “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”

April 6, 2009 By S. K. Sloan 4 Comments

We may be taking a step closer to the services offered by Lacuna, Inc in the Jim Carey/Kate Winslet movie, “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”

In the movie, Winslet’s Clementine underwent a procedure to remove all memories associated with her romance with Carey’s Joel Barish.

Now, scientists at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center, in Brooklyn are studying ways that certain memories could be erased by tinkering with a single substance in the brain. Researchers have found that a single dose of an experimental drug delivered to the areas of the brain associated with specific types of memory could erase memories by blocking the activity of a substanced the brain needs to retain the information.

Researchers have found that a molecule called PKMzeta can help to stimulate memory production. Clusters of the molecule come together in the brain to help form memories according to the New York Times. By introducing an agent to block the formation of PKMzeta or break up clusters of it, researchers believe they can change or even erase memories.

So far, the experiment has only been done on lab animals, though researchers say they’re now ready to begin trials on human subjects.

“This possibility of memory editing has enormous possibilities and raises huge ethical issues,” said Dr. Steven E. Hyman, a neurobiologist at Harvard. “On the one hand, you can imagine a scenario in which a person enters a setting which elicits traumatic memories, but now has a drug that weakens those memories as they come up. Or, in the case of addiction, a drug that weakens the associations that stir craving.”

Researchers have already tried to blunt painful memories and addictive urges using existing drugs; blocking PKMzeta could potentially be far more effective.

Yet any such drug, Dr. Hyman and others argue, could be misused to erase or block memories of bad behavior, even of crimes. If traumatic memories are like malicious stalkers, then troubling memories — and a healthy dread of them — form the foundation of a moral conscience.

Share on X (Twitter)Share on LinkedInShare on FacebookShare on Email

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: Sci-Fi to Sci-Fact

About S. K. Sloan

Samuel K. Sloan's love of Star Trek brought him to Slice of SciFi, where he was Managing Editor from 2005-2011, and returned from 2013-2014 before retiring once again from scifi news gathering.

Related Posts

Sci-Fi to Sci-Fact: Cancer Breathalyzer
Sci-Fi to Sci-Fact: Flesh Melting Disease
Sci-Fi To Sci-Fact: Holographic Medicine

Comments

  1. Lejon from Chandler says

    April 6, 2009 at 11:49 pm

    I had something very pertinent to add to this, but I can’t remember what it was.

  2. tensaibaka says

    April 8, 2009 at 3:34 am

    So does this mean I’ll finally be able to get the horrid memories of the Flash Gordon series out of my head? 😀

  3. Merlin McCarley says

    April 8, 2009 at 4:57 am

    @tensaibaka There is not enough brain bleach on the planet to wipe even the tiny bit of it I saw away. Makes one long for Automan, and that is saying something.

  4. Brian Brown says

    April 11, 2009 at 9:14 am

    @Lejon – Are you ready for your treatment? 😉

Trackbacks

  1. 100 Sci Fi Movies to See Before You Die says:
    April 13, 2009 at 10:02 pm

    […] Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – Jim Carrey tries to have an former love erased from his mind. The critics went nuts for this one. […]

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Filter by Categories
Audio Productions
Awards News
Book News
Book Reviews
Columns
Comics News
DVD News
DVD Reviews
Entertainment Business News
Events
Fan Films
Fan Productions
Film News
Film Reviews
Gaming News
Geeky, Funny & Weird
Human Interest
Interviews
Music News
On Stage
Online Entertainment News
Science News
Slice of SciFi
Slice Video News
Space News
Specials
Technology News
TV News
TV Reviews

Slice

Follow Slice of SciFi

  • twitter
  • youtube
  • facebook

Listen to Slice of SciFi

  • iheartradio
  • playerfm

Subscribe to Podcast

Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsiHeartRadioPodchaserTuneInRSS
  • Movie & TV Reviews

Father's Day - Deals on 4K UHD Collections

Recent Comments

  • Summer Brooks on “The Eagle Has Landed”: About the “Space: 1999” Documentary: “I definitely want to keep tabs on their progress in getting this one finished, too!”
  • Tim Callender on “The Eagle Has Landed”: About the “Space: 1999” Documentary: “While I’m sorry the Kickstarter didn’t fund, Jeffrey says that the interest generated by the Kickstarter has attracted the attention…”
  • Tim Callender on “The Eagle Has Landed”: About the “Space: 1999” Documentary: “What a great conversation! I’m looking forward to seeing the final film.”
  • Lou Tambone on Finding “The Joker”: Rich Handley and Lou Tambone on a complex villain: “Thanks! Always a pleasure!”
  • Sean on “Oppenheimer” is a cinematic tour de force: ““Tour de Force” is exactly what I said to the buddy who invited me to this as we left the…”
Tweets by Slice of SciFi
death to humans 160x600
Save 20 on all pre-order statues at TFAW.com!

Slice of SciFi
415 Pisgah Church Rd #302
Greensboro NC 27455
602-635-6976

Artwork:
Slice of SciFi spiral logo designed by Tim Callender

Theme Music:
Slice of SciFi music and themes
courtesy of Sci-Fried

Sister Sites:
Writers, After Dark
The Babylon Podcast
Charlie Jade Verse
Slice of SciFi TV

Slice

Copyright Slice of SciFi © 2005–2023 · WordPress · Log in