Remembered for Forgetting

The long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have created greater awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition in which people relive the agony of past events over and over again. Preliminary evidence has hinted that medicines currently used to treat high blood pressure or to terminate pregnancy might help treat PTSD by erasing painful memories. Cassandra Willyard looks at whether repurposing these drugs will work or whether experimental compounds being tested in rats might offer a more promising solution.