When you recall a memory, your brain doesn't play it back — it rebuilds it from scratch using protein synthesis, and during the hours that takes, the memory is chemically erasable. Your most vivid memories are the ones you've rewritten the most.

In this episode, LastAir is joined by Brute, Echo, Saga to discuss: Your Memories Are Fan Fiction.

• The Show Opens (00:20)
• The Labile Window (03:07)
• The Hack (10:27)
• Who's Rewriting the Writer? (18:44)
• The Landing (26:48)
• Final Positions (28:09)
• One More Thread (30:33)

• The reconsolidation window: 0.5 to 6 hours post-retrieval (Nader et al. 2000; Chen et al. 2025). Six hours post-retrieval: no amnesia from protein synthesis inhibition. Same drug injected without retrieval: no amnesia.
• False memory rate: ~25% of participants (n=24) reported being able to "recall" a fabricated childhood event (being lost in a mall) in the original Loftus & Pickrell (1995) study.
• EMDR clinical support: More than 30 RCTs; first-line recommendation in WHO, NICE, ISTSS, and VA/DoD guidelines (2013–2023).
• Propranolol meta-analysis (2025): 7 RCTs, n=251, I²=0%, Z=2.32, p=0.02, moderate effect size. Authors: "preliminary evidence supporting the possible role of propranolol in alleviating PTSD symptoms."
• Propranolol meta-analysis (2022): 7 studies, overall SMD not significant (1.29; 95% CI –2.16 to –0.17). Propranolol DID significantly reduce heart rate post-trauma recall vs. placebo.
• Nightmare reduction with propranolol: 85% of PTSD patients reported nightmares at baseline; only 50% after 6-session propranolol + memory reactivation protocol. Severity fell from "severe" to "mild."
• EMDR 2.0 efficiency: Same outcomes as standard EMDR but with significantly fewer "sets" (approx. 30-second working-memory taxation sessions). No difference in total session time.

• Nader, K., Schafe, G.E., & LeDoux, J.E. (2000). Fear memories require protein synthesis in the amygdala for reconsolidation after retrieval. Nature, 406, 722–726.
• Nader, K., & Hardt, O. (2009). A single standard for memory: the case for reconsolidation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(3), 224–234.
• Lee, J.L.C. (2009). Reconsolidation: maintaining memory relevance. Trends in Neurosciences, 32(8), 413–420.
• Sevenster, D., Beckers, T., & Kindt, M. (2013). Prediction error governs pharmacologically induced amnesia for learned fear. Science, 339(6121), 830–833.
• Chen, J., Fang, Z., Zhang, X., Zheng, Y., & Chen, Z. (2025). How fear memory is updated: From reconsolidation to extinction? Neuroscience Bulletin.
• Merlo, E., Milton, A.L., & Everitt, B.J. (2015). Rescue of long-term memory after reconsolidation blockade. Nature Communications, 6, 7897.
• Gunter, R.W., & Bodner, G.E. (2008). How eye movements affect unpleasant memories: support for a working-memory account. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 46(8), 913–931.
• Thomaes, K., Engelhard, I.M., Sijbrandij, M., Cath, D.C., & Van den Heuvel, O.A. (2016). Degrading traumatic memories with eye movements: a pilot functional MRI study in PTSD. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 7, 31371.
• Littel, M., Ken