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1. •  
     CommentAuthorelectronic mily
   • CommentTimeOct 28th 2008

    (3961.21)
   <blockquote>Not entirely on-topic, but I recently caught a show about memory, with a segment focusing on a British man who was incapable of developing new memories ever since an accident caused damage to his brain.</blockquote>
   
   I think I watched this in my psych class, or at least something very similar. The guy had a journal full of pages and pages of the same lines over and over - "I am finally awake for the first time. I love Deborah forever." - and insisted that all the previous pages had been written while he was unconscious and didn't know what he was writing. The saddest part was that he would still sing and play the piano, and could even play for longer than his memory lasted, but as soon as he stopped he would just freak out, twitching and saying "I don't remember, I don't remember."
   
   Conclusion: assuming this would ever be actually possible at all, this seems like things could get really unpleasant. Would you remember having the procedure? That would be terrifying, to know that something had happened that messed you up so bad you erased it, but not knowing what it was anymore.
2. • CommentAuthorKosmopolit
   • CommentTimeOct 28th 2008

    (3961.22)
   Again - other such proposed treatments at least don't erase memories. They just stop you waking up screaming every single night and shitting yourself in terror when a car backfires.
3. •  
     CommentAuthorStarrah
   • CommentTimeOct 30th 2008

    (3961.23)
   Even if you had your own memories erased, what about everyone else in your life that knows what happened to you? Imagine someone slipping up in conversation, alluding to something you have no idea even happened. Or running into a war buddy one day--someone who went through a terrible ordeal with you, and you can't even recognize them. What effect will that have on the other person?
   
   Memories are extremely personal and specific things, and therefore every case is different. That said, there are almost infinite potential complications that probably can't be predicted, since a person's entire life prior to the procedure needs to be factored in.
   
   So, yeah. I'm with everyone else on the "Dear god, NO" wagon.
4. •  
     CommentAuthorrickiep00h
   • CommentTimeOct 30th 2008

    (3961.24)
   @Starrah
   
   I haven't actually watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but I think that's the premise of the film. Constantly running into your past and re-confronting it without the memory of that which came before. I'm pretty sure it's still on the shelf at home. I should probably watch it, eh?
5. •  
     CommentAuthordoclivingston
   • CommentTimeOct 30th 2008

    (3961.25)
   That's not quite what it's about, but seriously go watch it.
6. • CommentAuthordamienx
   • CommentTimeOct 30th 2008

    (3961.26)
   Does anyone have any other articles on this? Or have any members blogged on it? I'm doing my Psychology undergraduate dissertation at the moment and anything you can provide would be greatly appreciated!
7. •  
     CommentAuthorStarrah
   • CommentTimeOct 30th 2008

    (3961.27)
   Do you have access to actual scientific journal databases at your college? Those are usually much better to cite than popular science articles. Do a search on the names of the scientists doing the research and see what you get.
8. • CommentAuthordamienx
   • CommentTimeOct 30th 2008

    (3961.28)
   It's not the original research I am interested in per se, my dissertation is on the public's understanding and attitudes towards psychology. I need to identify a number of 'controversies' for the experiment, which will be looking at how people can be influenced in their understanding of the science. There's already been some research on it which found that inconsistent illogical psychological arguments can be made to seem more valid and respectable simply by lacing them with neuroscience terminology.
   
   If I can find blogs / public news outlets that have presented this / similar news articles and have public comments accompanied it will act as a very basic pilot study.
9. •  
     CommentAuthorStarrah
   • CommentTimeOct 30th 2008

    (3961.29)
   That sounds like a really interesting thesis! You might want to try some some popular science magazine websites--for instance, Discover puts a lot of its articles online and allows people to make comments, and they also have some people blogging for them. Also, the mail sections of such magazines usually flesh out a lot of the controversy--if you could find a controversial story and then also the issue after it, you can gather a lot of reactions. Of course, they're hand-picked by the editors that way, but it's a start for a pilot study.
   
   Good luck!