Definition of the problem Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe psychological
condition that can develop after experiencing traumatic events. In the context
of the German military’s foreign deployments, cases of soldiers affected by PTSD have
received public attention. Likewise, civil traumas carry a significant risk of subsequent
PTSD development. Pharmacological approaches to PTSD prevention have been a subject
of research for several years. The two most promising approaches—prevention using
beta-blockers and glucocorticoids—are based on the notion that the long-term consolidation
of traumatic events can be modulated by intervention in neuroendocrine stress axes.
By blunting the emotional content of memories, a later development of PTSD may be
prevented. Both approaches show promising results in pilot studies. Given the outstanding
importance of memory both for the individual and the society such approaches of pharmacological
memory modification (PMM) call for an in-depth discussion of the neuroethical
implications. Arguments The article discusses five clusters of problems: (1) the influence
of PMM on normal psychological processing of traumatic memory, (2) the danger of
uncoupling memory from reality, (3) the importance of emotional memories for moral
behavior, (4) the social, legal and historical relevance of authentic memories, and (5) the
potential of medicalization inherent in PMM. Conclusion Despite some serious ethical
concerns we argue that, in view of the gravity of the disorder, PMM to prevent PTSD
is generally justified, but should currently only be done within clinical trials. We present
eight research ethics aspects that should be considered in such trials.