Fresh off their recent discovery that, okay, maybe mobile phones do cause cancer after all, scientists have discovered a drug that may be able to help the users forget the negative parts of memories (possibly, even, the fear that your celly is creating an incurable brain tumor). According to physiologist Marie-France Merin, research suggests a drug named Metyrapone helps the body block out negative emotional memories:
Metyrapone is a drug that significantly decreases the levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that is involved in memory recall. We found that the men in the group who received two doses of metyrapone were impaired when retrieving the negative events of the story, while they showed no impairment recalling the neutral parts of the story. We were surprised that the decreased memory of negative information was still present once cortisol levels had returned to normal.
No word on whether or not Merin and her colleagues are any closer toward curing cancer, but anything that could, say, remove any and all memories of being called "Urkel" as a youth can only be good for humankind.
[Source: io9]
A. Darryl Moton is a high school debate coach, preschool bus driver, strip-club DJ, karaoke host, Black Iowan, occasional writer, and numerous other things that would make you doubt his sanity.
