Metyrapone is the name of the drug referred in the new discovery by University of Montreal fellows at the Centre for Studies on Human Stress of Louis-H. This discovery challenges the earlier existing view that the memories once stored in the brain cannot undergo any change. Now as per the study they can be made free of the bad emotions they are associated with.

“Metyrapone is a drug that significantly decreases the levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that is involved in memory recall,” claims Marie-France Marin.

Dr. Sonia Lupien, the director of the research says that if we control the level of cortisol at the time we are supposed to recall a ‘bad memory’; we would recall the memory but devoid of the negative emotions associated with it.

The study was conducted with thirty three people. They were divided in three groups and different doses of the drug were administered to them. A story with both neutral and negative emotional content was presented to them. They were to reproduce the story a few days later under the effect of the drug and once again a few days later when the drug was cleared from their body.

The drug was thus found to have its effect on the negative section of the story.

Marie-France Marin said, “Our findings may help people deal with traumatic events by offering them the opportunity to ‘write-over’ the emotional part of their memories during therapy.”

Wish this research helps people as there is much more negative in this world to haunt people.