Science: Memories, Discoveries, Impressions

Scientists Erase Specific Memories in Mice

HealthDay News -- It sounds like science fiction, by scientists say it might one day be possible to erase undesirable memories from the brain, selectively and safely. Using a complex genetic approach, U.S. and Chinese researchers believe they have done just that in mice, but the feat is far from being tested on humans. Study co-author Joe Z. Tsien, co-director of the Brain & Behavior Discovery Institute at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, says the "work reveals a molecular mechanism of how [memory deletion] can be done quickly and without doing damage to brain cells." The finding is published in the Oct. 23, 2008 issue of Neuron. More>>

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"Impression Management"
Patricia Wallace, a psychologist at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth, is an expert on information technology and psychology and said that the phenomenon can be explained, in part, by "impression management." "If you go to a pub and you're sitting by yourself, that says something. Rather than to be thought of as a loner or not desirable as company, you use your virtual connection to look like you're more desirable and involved and actively engaged with others," she said. More>> (See full story on Human "Communifaking")

PHOTOS

US scientists have found a safer method of turning mice skin cells into "induced pluripotent stem cells," in a potential breakthrough in the quest for regenerative therapy. The method reprograms skin cells into iPS cells that are similar to embryonic stem cells without using potentially harmful viruses that often cause tumors in laboratory animals (AFP/HO/File).

Woman pretending to make cell phone call to appear as she is not in an example of what psychology has dubbed "impression management"(electricpig.co.uk)