The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Near At Hand?

Anybody 'sides me watching Dollhouse?

Well, then you know that there's a super secret 'service' whereby the Bill-Gates rich can buy "dolls," people who've done something they can't live with (except for Sierra. Long story.) and who've agreed to have other personas implanted over their own. Then, the "dolls" go out as midwives, high priced whores, etc. to fulfill rich folks' fantasies, after which they're "wiped."

Turns out that technology isn't so far off. Again, the Times:

Suppose scientists could erase certain memories by tinkering with a single substance in the brain. Could make you forget a chronic fear, a traumatic loss, even a bad habit.

Researchers in Brooklyn have recently accomplished comparable feats, with a single dose of an experimental drug delivered to areas of the brain critical for holding specific types of memory, like emotional associations, spatial knowledge, or motor skills.

The drug blocks the activity of a substance that the brain apparently needs to retain much of its learned information. And if enhanced, the substance could help ward off dementias and other memory problems.

So far, the research has been done only on animals. But scientists say this memory system is likely to work almost identically in people.

If this molecule is as important as it appears to be, you can see the possible implications,” said Dr. Todd C. Sacktor, a 52-year-old neuroscientist who leads the team at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center, in Brooklyn, which demonstrated its effect on memory. “For trauma. For addiction, which is a learned behavior. Ultimately for improving memory and learning."

And...for all sorts of other stuff.

• Joss Whedon's Heroine Addiction

  Meet the geek god behind Dollhouse, Buffy, and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

• On Joss Whedon, Male Feminist

  How I wish I'd remembered to link to this when I wrote earlier this week about the misogyny of the...

• Joss Whedon's Heroine Addiction

  Five of Joss' most Whedonesque characters.