首页
登录
职称英语
Can Drugs Make Us Happier? Samrter? It depends on what i
Can Drugs Make Us Happier? Samrter? It depends on what i
游客
2023-07-27
37
管理
问题
Can Drugs Make Us Happier? Samrter?
It depends on what is meant by "happy" and "smart."
There are already drugs that brighten moods, like Prozac, and other antidepressants that control levels of a brain chemical called serotonin. While originally meant to treat depression, these drugs have been used for other psychological conditions like shyness and anxiety and even by otherwise healthy people to feel better about themselves.
But is putting people in a better mood really making them happy? People can also drown their sorrows in alcohol or get a euphoric feeling using narcotics, but few people who do so would be called truly happy.
The President’s Council on Bioethics said in a recent report that while antidepressants might make some people happier, they can also substitute for what can truly bring happiness: a sense of satisfaction with one’s identity, accomplishments and relationships.
"In tike pursuit of happiness human beings have always worried about falling for the appearance of happiness and missing its reality," the council wrote. It added, "Yet a fraudulent happiness is just what the pharmacological management of our mental lives threatens to confer upon us."
Now the race is on to develop pills to make people smarter, at least in one sense. These drugs, several of them already in clinical trials, aim at memory loss that occurs in people with Alzheimer’s disease or a precursor called mild cognitive impairment.
But it is lost on no one that if a memory drug works and is safe, it may one day be used by healthy people to learn faster and remember longer.
Studies have already shown that animals can be made to do both whelk the activity of certain genes is increased or decreased. Dr. Tom ’Fully, a professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, created genetically engineered fruit flies that he said had "photographic memory." In one session, he said, they could learn something that took normal flies 10 sessions.
"It immediately convinced everyone that memory was going to be just another biological process," Dr. Tully said. "There’s nothing special about it. That meant that it was going to be treatable and manip-ulable."
But experts say that improving memory will not necessarily make one smarter, in the sense of I.Q. , let alone in wisdom. "It would be a mistake to think that drugs that have an impact on memory necessarily will have an effect on intelligence," said Dr. Daniel L. Schachter, chairman of psychology at Harvard.
Dr. Tully, who is also acting chief scientific officer of Helicon Therapeutics, which is developing memory pills, agreed. "You don’t think better than you did before,’ he said. "You just get the facts in with less practice. ’ Still, he said, that would be significant help to students at exam time.
Any pill used widely by healthy people to improve memory would have to be extremely safe, so that the risks would not outweigh the benefit. Psychological side effects also remain a possibility.
"Is it a good thing to remember everything?" Dr. Tully asked. Could a brain too crammed with information suffer some sort of overload?
Dr. Joe Z. Tsien, a professor of molecular biology at Princeton who genetically engineered smarter mice a few years ago, says he is skeptical that the results can be transferred to people.
"If you look at how people improve their brain power, it’s through education," he said. "That has proven to have 100 percent efficiency with minimal side effects." [br] Dr. Tully created genetically engineered fruit flies that he said had" ______."
选项
答案
photographic memory
解析
答案在文章的第八段。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/2872800.html
相关试题推荐
Sincewearesocialbeings,thequalityofourlivesdependsinlargemeasur
Sincewearesocialbeings,thequalityofourlivesdependsinlargemeasur
Sincewearesocialbeings,thequalityofourlivesdependsinlargemeasur
Sincewearesocialbeings,thequalityofourlivesdependsinlargemeasur
Sincewearesocialbeings,thequalityofourlivesdependsinlargemeasur
Isthecustomeralwaysright?Theanswer,itseems,dependsonwhichcountry
Isthecustomeralwaysright?Theanswer,itseems,dependsonwhichcountry
Wemust____________(扫除最大的障碍),andwhetherwecansucceedornotdependsonthe
CanDrugsMakeUsHappier?Samrter?Itdependsonwhati
CanDrugsMakeUsHappier?Samrter?Itdependsonwhati
随机试题
Thetimeofyearababyisborncanshapewhatprofessiontheywillembarko
A、75%.B、45%.C、30%.D、25%.B细节题。根据句[8-1]和句[8_2]可知,工业的能源消耗差不多是全球能源消耗的45%。因此,B为答案
AnInterviewwithAmericanFuturistPeterSchwartzMr.Yan
中国古代在宫殿的左前方设祖庙,用来祭祀( )。A.祖先 B.土地神 C.粮食
关于儿童溺水下列哪项是错误的A.口对口人工呼吸时,应配合进行胸外心脏按压 B.
口服阿卡波糖降低餐后血糖的机制是()A.抑制小肠上皮细胞α-葡萄糖苷酶
提示肝硬化进入肝功能失代偿期的表现是A.食欲差 B.消化功能下降 C.恶心、
高压熔断器的额定电流选择时,哪些性能不需满足()。(A)可靠性(B)选择
下面属于分项工程的是( )。A.尾矿坝工程中的护坡工程 B.尾矿坝工程中的导
下列各项中,属于收入确认的条件有()。A.企业已将商品所有权上的主要风险和报酬转
最新回复
(
0
)