READ: Optogenetic Experiments Reveal How Memories Can Be Modified or Implanted

The idea is seductive: take the moments that haunt us—the trauma, the grief, the sharp memories we wish we could forget—and replace them with something warm, comforting, and false. A better childhood. A gentler ending. A memory that never happened, but feels real enough to soothe the ache. It’s the premise behind films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Total Recall, once firmly in the realm of science fiction. But according to neuroscientist Professor Steve Ramirez of Boston University, this kind of memory manipulation may not remain fictional for long.