The rollidex is full.
The older I get the more junk collects in my brain pan un-filed. Names, important events like the date of Soupy Sales death, (October 22, 2009), ancient phone numbers and scenes from favorite movies lay scattered on the floor of my melon longing to be cataloged. I don't know about you, but I would get NO sleep if not for Google and its uncanny ability to fill in the blanks of my aging memory.
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| The late Milton Supman aka Soupy Sales |
I hadn't thought about the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind since seeing it in 2004 but thanks to the article on the front page of yesterday's paper it has emerged from the depths of my discard pile. The newspaper story told of research at UCSD regarding the removal or strengthening of memories. Scientists at UC San Diego, led by neuroscientist Roberto Milinow, have been able to train rats to fear a stimulus delivered to the brain and then erase the fearful memory by merely flipping a switch. They know this works because they were also able to restore the fear of the stimulus by reversing the process. Scary stuff. Though currently confined to rats, the project was created with dementia patients in mind. Alzheimer's and other dementia's cause synaptic weakening involving a complex formation of proteins as building blocks. The hope is that this research will lead to the ability to restore memory in humans.
As I mentioned, this scenario reminded me of the premise of the Eternal Sunshine movie. The film starred Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey as two strangers who meet on a train headed for Montauk, Long Island on Valentine's Day weekend. As it turns out Joel (Carrey) recognizes Clementine (Winslet) as his one time girlfriend. To his surprise he discovers that she has had her memory of their sometimes tumultuous relationship erased from her mind. Joel decides to do the same erasure procedure himself as he has been having a difficult time forgetting Clementine. However, as he watches his memories of her leave him he realizes that he still loves her and it may be too late to correct his mistake. It's a very weird movie that had been pretty much erased from my mind without a trace.
The idea that ten years later science is working on what was once the province of a wacky movie seems almost surreal. Memory restoration for dementia patients would greatly enhance the lives of countless Americans and their families while saving billions of dollars earmarked for medical care. This enormous savings would help our economy beyond measure.
On this 70th anniversary of D Day I can't help but wonder what the few remaining brave Americans who participated in the operation that turned the tide of the war in Europe and began the demise of Adolph Hitler would think of this. If given the opportunity to erase the horror and sadness of that day, would they chose to do so? To see these vets with tears in their eyes recalling stories of lost buddies, sleepless nights and the nigntmares that haunt them seventy years later provides ample evidence that some memories refuse to die.
Maybe we should stick to strengthening memory and lose the idea of erasure. Memory has purpose. We store important lessons that prevent the repetition of mistakes. Burn your mouth on hot food as a kid and you remember not to do it again. A memorable spanking for taking something that doesn't belong to you instills the negative ramifications of stealing. On the other hand, there are some memories that none of us would ever miss, in my case: high school algebra, geometry and a couple of bad girlfriends.
So, I wish the researchers at UCSD luck with their project. Memory restoration would be a godsend for many but memory disposal poses multiple ethical questions that suggest we go slowly. Looking back is both painful and necessary. We have been given only one life on which to build some sort of shrine to meaning and the wisdom to do this consists of the anticipation of consequences. Memory is a tool and, maybe even more so, a gift. The veterans of D Day are living proof.
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