--- title: Scientists May Be Able to Turn Your Bad Memories Into Good Ones description: Scientists have successfully altered memories in sleeping mice, which could have important implications for the treatment of PTSD in humans. canonical: https://time.com/3742234/memory-ptsd-mice/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-12T15:25:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T05:07:04.723Z article:section: Science og:title: Scientists May Be Able to Turn Your Bad Memories Into Good Ones og:description: So far it only works for mice og:url: https://time.com/3742234/memory-ptsd-mice/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a2d57c4c193c069/69877ccc5f570fcba0b15008/85767598-copy1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3942 og:image:height: 2217 og:image:alt: human-brain-model og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Scientists May Be Able to Turn Your Bad Memories Into Good Ones twitter:description: So far it only works for mice twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a2d57c4c193c069/69877ccc5f570fcba0b15008/85767598-copy1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Scientists May Be Able to Turn Your Bad Memories Into Good Ones > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=66ac1a1b-415d-4c7e-9643-391b1c45713a&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 12, 2015 3:25 PM UTC  Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 12, 2015 3:25 PM UTC Scientists have found a way to create happy memories in the brains of sleeping mice, raising hopes of similar treatment for people suffering from stress disorders. Neuroscientists from the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and ESPCI ParisTech [recently conducted an experiment](http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/pdf/nn.3970.pdf) where they placed electrodes in the brains of sleeping mice who had navigated a maze earlier in the day. As the mice consolidated the maze information into memory, the scientists activated the reward center of their brains to create a positive association with certain areas on the map. The next morning, the mice ran straight for those places. “The learning we induced during sleep was just to change the emotional value of the different locations of the environments,” Dr. Karim Benchenane, a neuroscientist at CNRS and one of the study’s authors, [told The Huffington Post](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/11/scientists-manipulate-memories%5Fn%5F6839530.html). “Indeed, during waking hours, all the locations were neutral. What we made them learn during sleep is that a particular location is now associated to a reward.” This breakthrough could potentially do much more for humans than tricking us to expect food when we walk into our living room. If scientists can associate different emotions with memories, that could help treat people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. 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