• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Forgetting Bad Memories

Forgetting Bad Memories

November 7, 2012
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/121107_sciup_forget.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

BOB HIRSHON (host):

Forgetting bad memories…I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

There are two ways to forget bad memories – by suppressing them, or by replacing them with something more pleasant. Both methods are equally effective at burying the past, but they involve opposite brain mechanisms. This according to research by Cambridge neuroscientists Michael Anderson and Roland Benoit. Benoit says a brain region called the hippocampus is very important for memory formation. But when volunteers tried to actively suppress their memories, it was disabled.

ROLAND BENOIT (University of Cambridge):

When people try to slam on the mental brakes to stop the remembering process, the structure effectively gets shut down. And this shutting down seems to be caused by a region in the right prefrontal cortex.

HIRSHON:

In contrast, when volunteers tried to forget by substituting one memory with another, two regions in the left prefrontal cortex of the brain became very active. He says a better understanding of both techniques could help in the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.

There are some memories that we'd rather forget. (Jupiter Images)

 

Category: Daily Show, Station DownloadTag: Brain Science, Social & Behavioral Sciences
Previous Post:UV Disinfectant
Next Post:Dung Beetle Cooling

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Cat Video
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • NASA
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Image of computer screen depicting an orange cat with a variety of alphanumeric scientific data superimposed on the the screen.
Spotted skunk performing handstand to threaten predators

Copyright © 2025 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos