New Discovery Cuts Brainwashing Time in Half

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The frontiers of science continue to expand:

In experiments on mice, scientists rewired the circuits of the brain and changed the animals’ bad memories into good ones. The rewriting of the memory wasn’t done with drugs but by using light to control the activity of brain cells. While science is a long way from achieving a similar feat in people, it adds to a body of research that is starting to uncover the physiological basis of memory.

Yes, I know what you’re wondering. And the answer is yes:

The researchers said they were able to do the opposite as well—change a pleasurable memory in mice into one associated with fear.

So I guess that wraps up both Brave New World and 1984 all in one nice, neat package. What could go wrong?

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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