Is there a way to erase a memory? Meditation? Hypnotism? A ridiculous drink? Something happened this past weekend that I need to forget.
Unfortunately, no.
Not yet at least. And if they could, it would not be as simple as hooking up your head to a machine that zaps eraser rays into your brain like in Total Recall. Some researchers believe that the memory permeates the entire body, not only the brain, and that memories are stored in muscle tissues. Like when you go to a massage and your masseuse finds a knot, those are actually memories. When the knot is worked out, the memories are released.
My advice? Get a massage.
Well, not to intentionally debunk wishbone’s imaginative description, but modern mainstream cognitive researchers still believe the brain is the repository for all memory. (Suprise, suprise!)
Otherwise, he’s not far off. Most cognitive researchers adhere to this idea called the Holographic Theory of Mind that claims the brain uses every able neuron to store every memory. Each memory creates a pattern of imprints on the entire part of the brain that records memories. This way, if part of that region of the brain is missing (or sick, or damaged), there’s a good chance the memory can still be recovered, albeit perhaps somehow degraded.
This means that the answer to the OP’s question is probably ‘no.’ The memory is too intimately entwined with the brain and all the other memories to fish it out alone and erase it.
However, there are other options. You can use conditioning to create a severe aversion to the memory such that the subject experiences pain or distress just by recalling it. This can either be used to discourage recall, or just render the subject incommunicative about it.
You can also try and damage or medicate the subject to create amnesia, such that he or she cannot recall any memories. Or you can try to destroy their ability to perform any long-term recall whatsoever.
But these are all particularly dastardly things to do to someone… why do you ask?
I don’t need to isolate the one memory. I’d be willing to erase the entire weekend if that’s what it took. Maybe the entire month. I made plans for my summer vacation at the end of May, so I wouldn’t want to go back that far.
I already have a severe aversion to the memory. That’s why I want to eradicate it.
Something happened this past weekend that may threaten my mental health if I don’t find a way to permanently forget it. Sorry to be so cryptic. I posted on the chance that this happens to people sometimes and someone somewhere may have found a way to fix it.
I tend to agree with bughunter that you can’t selectively get rid of memories. Of course if you can find a Men In Black flashy thingie you are set.
Where do they get this stuff?
So if you get a massage and they only get the knot partway out you sort of forget? Or if you want to make sure you opt for amputation?
Me, I would try a for The Simpsons approach:
That’s what my masseuse told me. Whether she picked it up at one of her new age seminars, I don’t know. Anyway, she was very…OOH That’s the spot, UP, to the right…convincing. 
Unfortunately, I don’t think that the current thinking is that memory works quite that way.
If they could figure out how to get rid of that memory, you might remember the next instant but forget, say, what to call that yellow fruit you slice up and put in your Corn Flakes, your PIN number, how to do algebra and some other unrelated stuff.
You are much better finding a mental health professional to talk this out if it is that traumatic.
Yeah. OK. And my massuese told me that my memories are stored in my penis, and to keep my memory sharp, I had to come to her for regular $100 treatments.
She called them “Half and Half.” They seemed to work for me!
Of course, if you erase your memory, you’ll never know for sure how successful you were.
But, here something that’s worked for me:
First, learn how to do what’s known as “alpha” meditation.
That’s a state of meditation where your mind is “still.”
Here’s a way to achieve an “alpha” state: Sit down and relax, and close your eyes if you want. Now visualize a lake, with little ripples on it. Imagine to yourself that those ripples represent your thoughts. Now imagine the lake getting stiller and stiller until it is dead calm.
This will take a little practice - frequently, thoughts will creep into your mind without you noticing, and you’ll suddenly realize you’ve slipped out of “alpha” state. Don’t worry about it, and keep practicing, until you get reasonably good.
Next, decide in advance on an uninterrupted time when you will forget this painful memory. For example, you may decide one afternoon that the next morning is the proper time. I think it’s important to decide in advance, because then you will subconsciously prepare yourself.
Finally, when the time comes, sit down and “alpha” meditate for a half hour or so, and sort of “erase” the painful memory. When you’re meditating, the memory will sort of be in your mind, because you’re focused on it, but at the same time you won’t really be thinking about it, since you won’t be thinking about anything. It may help to visualize the painful memory as a physical entity that you gently erase. Or maybe not.
Anyway, I hope that helps. Keep in mind (har har) that most memories fade over time anyway. Also, it may make you feel better to know that most memories are not terribly accurate to begin with – do a few searches for the terms “eyewitness” and “unreliable” and you’ll see what I mean. Even memories that seem very clear can be wildly inaccurate.
Don’t be so dismissive, of course there are ways to erase memories. For example:
Electroshock treatment
Traumatic Brain Injury
Neurosurgery
Death
Of course, these cannot selectively erase a specific memory, and tend to have adverse effects beyond just the memory.
Chas. E: details may be fuzzy, but the emotional impact can remain quite accute. The “Time Heals All Wounds” may be trite and a tad inaccurate (I think we just get used to a certain level of emotional discomfort associated with a traumatic event) but generally holds true. I may not remember much from the day my grandmother died (the only grandparent that I ever knew), but the “punched in the gut” feeling is still as vivid today as it was on June 17, 1994.
zwaldd: The advice of an acredited mental health professional may be the best cure for what ails you. Or, the counsel of a religious minister/priest (if religion doesn’t bother you) may be in order.
What was the questiion???
Thanks for the advice, all.
So it sounds like no dice on the memory erasure, except for something in the lobotomy or electroshock department. That’ll have to wait until after my vacation.
No you cannot “erase” a discrete memory with any degree of certainly or effectiveness. Your best bet is to talk with a therapist about your reaction to the disturbing event and how you can best handle it.
A therapist is definitely the way to go.
It’s been shown that it’s a lot easier than previously thought to create false memories. Warning: the rest of this post is sheer speculation. At some point in the future it might be possible to use those techniques to modify that memory or perhaps convince you it was a vivid nightmare. And even then, only some qualified therapist would be able to do this. The question would be whether or not this was the treatment that would produce the best long-term results. My guess would be “no.”
ok most people dont know this but there is a drug (not legal in the us though) that will erase about 6 hours of memory. sometimes it is used in rapes. it must be taken before though.
I only know this because my dad is a cop and i ask to detailed of questions. (like this one i did a couple of weeks ago.)
Where are these drugs legal and wtf are they used for? Surgeries perhaps? “Yeah, it’ll hurt like hell, but you won’t remember it.”
That’s cruel, I bet they use it for interrogations. They beat the shit out of them and they don’t remember a thing. I don’t know if it’s “legal” in the US but I’m positive the CIA and FBI have shitloads. Hell, we probably discovered the drug.
I read through this pretty quickly, so forgive me if I’m not the first person to mention the fact that the more you dwell on whatever happened, the stronger your memory will be.
Talk to a counselor. Head off your potential psychiatric issues before they overwhelm you. If you have good benefits at work, you probably have an employee assistance program. They can give you some help and refer you to a therapist if it’s going to exceed what they can do for you.
If you have crappy benefits, there are social workers available through most local governments for little or no money.
If you are in school, this is what your guidance counselors and/or school psychologist are there for.
Most clergy are also trained in counseling or can refer you to someone of your own faith who is.
Best wishes.
These are not memory erasers, but amnesiacs - they prevent memories from being stored. I believe Rohypnol is one of these drugs.
And as I have read, powerful amneiacs are also used along with paralytics for surgical general anaesthesia, since they’re much safer than the drugs that actually render you unconscious.
So instead of being rendered oblivious to the pain, you’re paralyzed and can’t remember from one moment to the next where you are or what’s happening, but you’re in intense pain from being sliced open!
No thank you - I don’t want to endure that kind of experience even if I don’t ever remember it!