THE fear surrounding a horrible memory could be wiped for good by a blood pressure drug.
Previous studies found that propranolol reduces stress in people recalling traumatic events. To see if the effect persists, at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, taught students to associate a picture of a spider with an electric shock, to the point that they would be startled by the picture even in the absence of a shock. But those who took propranolol before seeing the picture alone could not be conditioned to fear it.
All students then underwent deconditioning until none were startled by the image. Later, shocks alone 鈥渞eawakened鈥� the fear of the picture in those who had not taken propranolol, but those who had taken it seemed immune. The drug seems to block the fear association for good (Nature Neuroscience, ).
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