Toward a New Treatment for Traumatic Memories Whether the result of violence, war, or disaster, the intrusive memories that haunt people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) cannot always be healed through psychotherapy or current medications. Now research on the biological basis of memory offers the hope of new drug treatments that may be able to lessen the disabling fear associated with traumatic memories and perhaps even fundamentally alter them. Neuroscientists Jacek D˛ebiec, M.D., Ph.D., and Margaret Altemus, M.D., argue that this possibility raises profound ethical and philosophical questions that must be examined even as researchers work to relieve the suffering of PTSD. Cerebrum The Dana Forum on Brain Science September 2006 You can comment on this article here or using the link on page 11. Cerebrum About the Authors: Margaret Altemus, M.D., is an associate professor of psychiatry at Weill Medical College, Cornell University, and a board-certified psychiatrist. Her research focuses on the role of the endocrine system in affective disorders and the physiology of the stress response in humans. She can be reached at
[email protected]. Jacek D˛ebiec, M.D., Ph.D., is a psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and philosopher. He is a research scientist at the New York University Center for Neural Science, where he studies the neural mechanisms of emotional learning and memory. He is the coauthor with Joseph LeDoux and Henry Moss of The Self: From Soul to Brain (New York Academy of Sciences, 2003). He can be reached at
[email protected]. by Jacek D˛ebiec, M.D., Ph.D., and Margaret Altemus, M.D.