囧研究:“忘情水”真有的卖啦?(图)

http://www.sina.com.cn   2010年06月18日 14:54   沪江英语
囧研究:“忘情水”真有的卖?
囧研究:“忘情水”真有的卖?

  The ability to erase painful memories has been seen on science fiction and Hollywood blockbusters for decades, but now forgetting an unhappy love affair or a traumatic accident could soon be as easy as popping a pill。

  数十年来,消除痛苦记忆这种事似乎只可能出现在科幻小说或者好莱坞大片里,然而如今若想要忘记失恋抑或意外事故等等伤心事,服用一小片药即可“止痛”。

  Scientists have discovered a drug that helps numb the pain of bad memories by flooding the mind with feelings of security and safety。

  如今科学家已经发现了一种可以让大脑充斥安全感、“麻痹”痛苦记忆的药物。

  To test the effectiveness of the drug, researchers created bad memories by giving mice electric shocks while a loud noise was played. Over time, the creatures learned to associate the sound with the shock, and hearing the noise alone was enough to make them freeze. But when they were given a drug called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, they lost their fear。

  为了测试此种药物的效果,研究人员制造噪音,同时电击小白鼠,以此制造小白鼠的“痛苦记忆”。一段时间后,光是听到噪音就足以让这些小动物们害怕到“僵 住”。但是当给他们使用一种含有脑源性神经营养因子的药物后,恐惧消失了。

  BDNF is naturally produced in the brain, and experiments showed that rats with a shortage of the compound struggled to overwrite bad memories. Failure to overwrite fear is thought to contribute to many psychological problems。

  据了解,脑源性神经营养因子是大脑产生的一种物质,实验表明缺乏这种物质的小白鼠很难消除“痛苦回忆”。而不能消除痛苦则会导致许多心理疾病。

  "This work supports the idea that medications could be developed to augment the effects of BDNF, providing opportunities for pharmaceutical treatment of anxiety disorders," said Dr Thomas Insel of the National Institute of Mental Health。

  “此项工作支持了我们这样一个想法,即可以研发药物来加强脑源性神经营养因子的镇定效果,从而为焦虑症的治疗提供药物途径,”美国国家精神健康研究院的托 马斯博士说道。

  The researchers, from the University of Puerto Rico, will now look into the possibility of creating such a pill。

  这些来自波多黎各大学的研究人员称,将继续深入研究开发此种药物的可能性。

  The technique could one day, be used to cure phobia sufferers, help soldiers recover from the horrors of battle or allow accident victims to put their trauma behind them。

  或许这项技术有朝一日会被用于治疗恐惧症患者的害怕心理、帮助士兵们从战争创伤中走出来,或者让事故受害者摆脱心理创伤。

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