Curr Biol: "Terror", obsessive-compulsive disorder is cured! Scientists have developed non-invasive therapies that can directly modify memories and remove fear.

In life, everyone has their own "weakness", such as the big man from the north may be frightened by the south cockroach crying, a meter six of the germ may be a hard-to-read news red dot obsessive-compulsive patients, in addition, there are a variety of "fear high", fear of black, halo and other people "smell the wind" fear category.
, a study published recently in the journal Biology has led to an innovative treatment for phobias. Researchers at the University of
Bologna have developed a new non-invasive experimental scheme that eliminates the fear of something caused by just one "magnetic stimulation" in the patient's brain. "This study is important for understanding how memory works," said Sara Borgomaneri, a researcher in the Department of Psychology at the University of Bologna who
the report's lead author.
it may even lead to the development of new treatments to treat traumatic memories. "For years, researchers have been exploring ways to eliminate bad memories,
.
memory integration process is an opportunity to change previous memories, in which the brain retrieves memories that temporarily revert to unstable and modifiable states.
Despite previous attempts to disrupt memory integration with pharmacology and behavioral therapies, the underlying mechanisms for brain memory integration remain a mystery.
the outer prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) is a key part of the control of memory retrieval and reactivation of memory.
in the trial, the researchers first created aloof memories by exposing participants to unpleasant stimuli and images, observing their response to the same stimulus the next day, and giving 15 minutes of repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS, a painless, noninvasive green treatment) to alter the magnetic field of nerve activity in the dlPFC region.
results showed that although participants treated with TMS were able to recall things after fear memory was activated, psychological discomfort decreased significantly and fear did not recover after treatment.
at the same time, the effect of rTMS on dlPFC varies over time and depends on the reactivation of memories.
these results show that it is possible to directly modify memory by stimulating the brain with noninvasive stimulation during memory reconsolidation.
the study offers new hope for treating diseases such as phobias, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder, even though the effectiveness of rTMS in memory reintegration is not assessed. "This trial shows that it is possible to change the persistence of potentially traumatic memories," said Professor Giuseppe di Pellegrino, one of the participants in the
study, department of psychology at the University of Bologna.
we're working on a new technology that can be used in different situations and can take on a variety of functions, starting with the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, which will be the focus of our next research.
"