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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 2004)
nrtvwce www.housing.uoregon.edu HOURS MON - FRI: 7:30 a.m. -10:30 a.m. 11:00 a.m. -10:00 p.m. SAT - SUN: 4:30 p.m. -10:00 p.m. UO students, faculty, and staff are welcome. Meals can be purchased with a meal plan, DeDuck account, or cash. 2004 Emerald City Bridal Show January 17th® 18th Lane Events Center, ENTER Honeymoon i WIN! the Bahamas or Jamait Admission: $7.00 Over 100 local companies to assist you with all your wedding needs. SHQW HOURS fashion showtimfs SATURDAY 10:00 AM-5:00 PM 11:00 AM & 2:30 PM SUNDAY 11:00 AM-5:00 PM 12:30 PM & 3:00 PM wmm sponsored by ShcSrotetrr-fknuft Springfield News www.oregonweddingshows.com BRAIN continued from page 1 The fMRI images of the subjects' brain activity revealed strong neurobio logical evidence for the key concept of the experiment: People can mentally suppress unwanted memories with brain mechanisms similar to those used when stopping overt physical actions. In other words, the brain systems — including the prefrontal cortex — that allow one to stop an arm motion midstream can be used to halt the re trieval of an unwanted memory. And instead of stopping activity in brain regions linked with physical ac tion, however, these control processes reduce brain activation in the hip pocampus, a structure known to be in volved in storing conscious memories of the past. It was this reduction in hip pocampal activity that led the subjects to forget the rejected experiences. "The people who suppressed their memories the best had the most acti vation in the prefrontal cortex," Gabrieli said. "Hence, the hippocam pus and the act of suppression had an opposite connection." Freud and beyond Anderson and Gabrieli's latest find ings provide strong evidence that Freud was on to something 100 years ago when he proposed the existence of a "voluntary repression mechanism" that erases unwanted memories. Although he has studied Freud's re search and theories about the brain, Anderson said his main interest is in how people actively control their memories and what parts of the brain are involved. Matthew Erdelyi, a researcher at Brooklyn College in New York, has an extensive background in experimen tal psychology and Freudian theory. Erdelyi said Freud was first a neurosci entist, one who understood that the brain's subsystems could work against each other. Anderson's findings, Erde lyi added, show how modern tech nology can take century-old science a step further. "This is very much the kind of pic ture Freud would feel at home with," Erdelyi said. Since Freud, the idea of memory re pression has been a vague and highly controversial idea, in part because it has been difficult to imagine how such a process could occur in the brain. Elizabeth Loftus, a distinguished pro fessor of social ecology at the University of Califomia-Irvine, has been a leading voice in the debate of false-memory theory, which states that people are Tim Bobosky Photographer Associate Professor Michael Anderson watches Scott Watrous, an MRI Technologist, operate an electromagnetic brain scanner on a subject Monday morning. Anderson’s experiments reveal that people can voluntarily suppress memories. susceptible to suggestion, or false mem ories. This theory conflicts with the rele vance of Anderson's experiment to trau matic cases because people might be able to fabricate their memories. "This seems like very carefully done work, but it has little to do with trau matic experiences," she said. "People are simply misinterpreting the results of this study." Erdelyi, who has been interviewed about Anderson's findings by Euro pean media, agreed. "I think this is groundbreaking as a first step," he said. "But I don't think it's going to be the last." Traumatic potential By providing a way to map and in vestigate cognitive and brain process es in the laboratory, Anderson has en couraged a better understanding of neural mechanisms by which people deal with traumatic memories. For more than a decade, University psychology Professor Jennifer Freyd has studied the process of forgetting traumatic episodes. Through her studies of people's childhood experi ences, Freyd said she has found her own evidence of memory suppression in those who were abused at home. "If the abuser was a caregiver, the abused was much more likely to for get the experience," she said. "It's ac tually helpful at times to forget so they can stay close to the abuser." Although Anderson's experiment did not address traumatic memories, Freyd said the connection with brain mechanisms is extremely important. "My best guess is there are different ways people can forget, and Michael Anderson's is one way," she said. Considering his study focused on the suppression of relatively neutral events, Anderson stressed that future research is needed to examine the suppression of emotional experiences. "I hope this sets off a new wave of re search on how people actively forget and cope with obtrusive memories," he said. "This is really just the beginning." Contact the business/science/ technology reporter at caronalarab@dailyemerald.com. Join Us for the 2004 Johnston Lecture Sponsored by the university of Oregon school of Journalism and Communication “A Writer Bearing Witness: AIDS Orphans in Africa Melissa Fay Greene Author of Last Man Out: the Stor OF THE SPRINGHILL MINE DISASTER Thursday, January 15,2004 Knight Library Browsing Room, 4:oo p.m. o SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND COMMUNICATION Univarsity of Oregon This lecture is made possible with an endowment gift from the Richard w. Johnston Memorial project. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL (541) 346-3819 AT THE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND COMMUNICATION. ACCOMMODATIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES WILL BE PROVIDED IF REQUESTED IN ADVANCE BY THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2004. LIMITED RESERVED PARKING. GIVE ME 5! Run your "for sale" ad (items under $1,000) for 5 days In the ODE Classified Section. If the item(s) doesn’t sell, call us at 346-4343 and we'll run it again for another 5 days free! EVERY THURSDAY ONLY IN THE OREGON DAILY EMERALD CELLULAR continued from page 5 through quite a few business "peaks and valleys" as it grew to form a wholesale division and offer more than 300 cell phone accessories for most makes and models. Miller said the EMU Board will remain active in its search for a "valuable" replacement to fill the void as Totally Cellular continues to pay a minimum rent of $1,100 per month for the remainder of its three-year lease. "We're doing our research with an open mind," he said. "If we can find a good service that can help students on campus, that's what we'll present to the board." Contact the business/science/ technology reporter at caronalarab@dailyemerald.com. Student Groups Advertise in the Oregon Daily Emerald. Call 346-3712 to speak with a sales rep. We have great University rates.
