Is there anything we can’t learn from drugged up rats? Researchers at Wake Forest University and the University of Southern California used a group of medicated rodents to demonstrate a method by which memory can be restored with the flick of a switch. The rats were outfitted with tiny, rat-sized electrodes and exposed to pharmacological substances, which caused them to forget the connection between pushing a lever and getting water. By turning the electronic switch on, the scientists restored the rats’ memory of the task — turning it off made them forget again. The next step in the process is testing the experiment out on primates and perhaps some day utilizing the research to benefit victims of strokes, Alzheimer’s, or injury-induced memory loss.
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