Steve Ramirez probes the brain’s secrets for National Geographic Live on April 21
The neuroscientist and author is exploring new treatments for symptoms of PTSD and depression, and it all starts with untangling good memories from bad ones
Steve Ramirez
Vancouver Civic Theatres presents National Geographic Live: Untangling the Mind at the Vancouver Playhouse on April 21 at 7:30 pm
REMEMBER THE MOVIE Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? In Michel Gondry’s Oscar-winning feature, Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet play a pair of ex-lovers who have paid a scientific firm to have their memories of each other wiped from their brains.
That premise might sound farfetched to most people, but not to Steve Ramirez. In fact, the U.S.–based neuroscientist says he’s already created and deleted memories in the brains of his subjects. His subjects have all been mice, so far, mind you, but can humans be far behind?
Steve Ramirez
As part of the 2025-26 National Geographic Live Speaker Series, Vancouver Civic Theatres presents an in-person appearance by Ramirez, an assistant professor of neuroscience at Boston University and a former Junior Fellow at Harvard University. The illustrated lecture will walk audiences through his research.
Ramirez’s stated goal is to use the results of his research to wipe out negative memories and enhance positive ones in humans in order to alleviate symptoms associated with PTSD and depression.
In a 2025 interview about his book How to Change a Memory: One Neuroscientist’s Quest to Alter the Past, Ramirez told Undark magazine: “The thing that positive memory can do to our biology is pretty remarkable—all the way from resetting our stress levels, to getting our heart rate to go back to a healthy baseline faster, to motivating us and improving cognitive flexibility, the whole nine yards.” 
Related Articles
