Mithandir's blog: Yes, they really thought that through....

Yes, they really thought that through....

Created Tue 28 Mar 06 - 7:49 by Mithandir in category A Pixie's World

Scientists amuse me.

I find it interesting how people who are so smart can overlook the most obvious things. Take this research for instance.
I'll sumarize it for you: Scientists found a hormone they say would help surpress phobias. They tested it on people with arachnaphobia or social phobia, giving half the hormone and another half a placebo. They then introduced these people to what they fear: the arachnophobes got spiders and the other group had to make a speech in public.
So far so good.

So what's the problem? Well .... here's what the hormone actually does:

Cortisol impairs the retrieval of memories, so the principle the researchers were looking into was whether giving a dose of the hormone before people were exposed to a spider - or their own personal phobia trigger - would help.

So .... the way to be more relaxed giving a speech in public is not being able to remember it then?

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Comments

Pav Lucistnik	Sounds perfectly legit: be more relaxed giving a speech in public, if you can't recall your previous embarrasing speeches.
Coyote	No no, the trick is to ask them afterwards if they were afraid, and the people who got Cortisol won't remember being in terror.
Coyote	Therefore, Cortisol "works". Very sideways logic.
Queenie J	It's connected to the way memory works. For example, to remember something that happened when you were in a certain condition (blind drunk) you must go back to that certain condition. Douglas Adams expanded on this in his monumental posthumuous work, The Salmon of Doubt. At any rate, the cortisol helps by blocking off the phobia so your brain can't get access to it. Therefore you forget it. Q.E.D.
Moonclaw	blink I'm not the most scientific person in the world but, couldn't Cortisol have the potential to, I don't know, mess with other memories? Like if you took it, an then had a wonderful day, would you not remember it later...?

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