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Roadside bombs, childhood abuse, car accidents—they form memories that can s

游客2024-04-24  22
问题     Roadside bombs, childhood abuse, car accidents—they form memories that can shape(and damage)us for a lifetime. Now, a handful of studies have shown that we’re on the verge of erasing and even rewriting memories. The hope is that this research will lead to medical treatments for mental disease, especially for addiction and post-trauma tic stress disorder(PTSD).
    Researchers have known for decades that memories are unreliable. They’re particularly adjustable when actively recalled because at that point they’re pulled out of a stable molecular state. A study was performed at the University of Washington in which adult volunteers completed a survey about their eating and drinking habits before age 16. A week later, they were given personalized analyses of their answers that stated—falsely—that they had gotten sick from rum or vodka as a teen. One in five not only didn’t notice the lie, but also recalled false memories about it and rated that beverage as less desirable than they had before.
    Studies like these point to possible treatments for mental health problems. Both PTSD and addiction disorders hinge on memories that can trigger problematic behaviors, such as crippling fear caused by loud noises or cravings brought about by the sight of drug paraphernalia(用具).
    Several studies have found chemical compounds that can be used to subdue or even delete memories in mice(and maybe someday in people). In June, a report led by an Emory University researcher showed that SR-8993, a drug that acts on the brain’s opioid receptors, can prevent a fear memory from forming. Researchers strapped mice to a wooden board for two hours—a stressful experience that later gave them a heightened sense of fear similar to PTSD. But mice given SR-8993 before or after the stressful incident were less likely to end up this way.
    Another study identified a drug, Latrunculin A, that can erase memories days later. The researchers trained mice to consume methamphetamine(甲基苯丙胺，俗称“冰毒”)in an environment with distinctive visual, tactile, and scent cues such as black walls, gridded floors. Mice that were injected with Latrunculin A two days later didn’t seek out meth when returned to that environment, but others did.
    To make more targeted treatments, researchers will ultimately need to understand how the brain’s neurons encode each memory. Susumu Tonegawa at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported that individual memories in mice leave telltale molecular signatures in the brain’s hippocampus(海马体)region. Later, his group caused mice to falsely associate an old memory with a new context—essentially creating a false memory.
    The idea of scientists manipulating memory does, naturally, sound a bit creepy. But it also points to some possible good: treatment for millions of people tormented by real memories. And that’s something worth remembering. [br] What’s the author’s attitude toward the idea of memory erasing or rewriting?
选项 A、Approving.
B、Negative.
C、Incredible.
D、Doubtful.
答案 A
解析 观点态度题。由最后一段可知，尽管“科学家操纵记忆”这种想法听上去有些令人毛骨悚然，但是，这种想法也是有些益处的：因真实记忆而备受折磨的数百万心理疾病患者或将因此痊愈，这是值得记住的东西。由此推断，作者认为这种想法是有益处的，故A)正确。B)“否定的”、C)“不可思议的”和D)“怀疑的”与文章意思不符，故排除。
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