Merel Kindt and colleagues used a beta blocker called propranolol (Inderal) to erase, at least in the short-term, the fear response induced by a laboratory-induced painful memory in humans. "This study is a solid step forward in our understanding of how.

-- Imagine being able to decouple bad memories from the fear and anxiety they produce with just a pill. Yet many questions remain, experts note, such as how permanent the effect is, and whether it can affect traumatic memories that may be decades old. "I think it's a very interesting and exciting study," said Kassi Taylor, a professor of psychiatry at Lovell University, who studies memory reconsolidation in rats. "It will be interesting to know how long-lasting this effect is, and whether it only works on recently consolidated memories." Mark Bouton, a professor of psychology at the University of Vermont, echoed that sentiment. Such findings could one day help individuals suffering from pathological anxiety disorders from the debilitating physiological effects of their fears.

That's the promise of a new report from Dutch researchers published in the advance online issue of Nature Neuroscience.