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Pills that act on the brain and erase bad memories have been the topic of science-fiction movies and books for decades, so the fact that scientists may now be one step closer to developing one such drug should probably come as good news. Yet, its use is now heavily debated, since erasing bad memories also means changing one individual’s personal identity, while also completely eliminating his or her ability to learn from past mistakes.

Dutch researchers have used “beta blockers” for the pill that erases painful memories. Following tests on animals, the new drug has returned encouraging results on people too. What researchers did to test its effects was to induce a mild fear of spiders in subjects, who were then divided into two groups.

One received the pill in question, while the other a placebo and, much to their surprise, the former group showed a considerably lesser emotional response, which prompted researchers to conclude that they had completely erased the memory of their minor phobia, as they say in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

“Traditionally, therapists seek to teach people with such disorders strategies to build new associations and block bad memories, but the problem is the memories remain and people often relapse.” Dr. Kindt, involved in the study, explains. So, each time the brain tries to renew the painful memory, the pill steps in and prevents it from doing so. Useless to say, such a drug would come as a blessing not only to victims of assaults and murder witnesses, but also to treat phobias and depression.

The ethical implications of the use of the pill are, though, more than we can fathom at this moment, other researches are arguing. Erasing a memory, painful as it might be, is not like wiping a window clean, and breaking the flow of memories can end in permanent damage to one’s personal identity. There is also the risk that a positive memory is erased instead of a negative one, and, with no possibility yet of making them come back, this is a risk that not many should take.

“An interesting complexity is the possibility that victims, say of violence, might wish to erase the painful memory and with it their ability to give evidence against assailants. Similarly, criminals and witnesses to crime may, under the guise of erasing a painful memory, render themselves unable to give evidence.” Professor John Harris, an expert in biological ethics at the University of Manchester, tells the Daily Mail about the other implications of such a drug.

Nevertheless, Professor Neil Burgess of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience insists that wide use of such a pill is years away right now, so bringing all of the above into question is redundant at best. “All they’ve shown so far is that the increased ability to startle someone if they are feeling a bit anxious is reduced.” he reveals for Channel 4 News about the findings.

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