KQED's Forum Forum From the Archives: Would You Erase a Painful Memory, if You Could?
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Dec 23, 2025 Steve Ramirez, a pioneering neuroscientist from Boston University, explores the intriguing world of memory manipulation. With groundbreaking research, he reveals how memories can be activated or silenced in rodents, raising the question: Should we erase painful memories in humans? Ramirez shares his personal journey through grief after losing his collaborator, contrasting memory's fluidity with its role in our identity. He emphasizes the ethical challenges of this fascinating field and the need for public oversight as we edge closer to potentially altering human memories.
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Memory Is Dynamic Not Documentary
- Memory is not a perfect recording but a dynamic, rewriteable process that changes when recalled.
- Steve Ramirez says recalling a memory is the key moment when it can be altered for better or worse.
Activating One Memory With Light
- As a grad student, Steve Ramirez and Shu Liu found and lit up the brain cells holding one memory using genetic tags and optogenetics.
- Activating those cells with lasers caused the mouse to visibly recall the memory, proving single-memory activation.
Memory Shapes Identity And Behavior
- Memory underlies behavior across species and builds adaptive responses to the environment.
- Ramirez calls memory the “perpetual beating heart of life” because it binds identity and decision-making.
