U.S. scientists are testing drugs that could help soldiers erase the memory of traumatic events.

The U.S. Army estimates that one in eight soldiers returning home from Iraq suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, ABC News said.

Researchers working on drugs that can target and erase traumatic events from a person's memory say the drugs might work in cases where the event occurred many years ago.

The President's Council on Bioethics has condemned memory-altering research, while the National Institutes of Health has funded some experiments that use propranalol for post-traumatic stress disorder treatment, ABC News said.

Some scientists believe that post-traumatic stress disorder is the result of "too much adrenaline entering the brain at the moment the memory of a traumatic event" is being stored for the first time, the report said.