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  3. Roadside bombs, childhood abuse, car accidents—they form memories that can shape(and damage)us for a lifetime. Now, a handful of

Roadside bombs, childhood abuse, car accidents—they form memories that can shape(and damage)us for a lifetime. Now, a handful of

admin2014-09-30  11
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.
How might a car accident influence one’s life according to the first paragraph?
选项 A、It might destroy one’s brain memory.
B、It might provide a medical treatment.
C、It might cause mental disease.
D、It might make one be tortured for a long time.
答案C
解析 细节辨认题。定位段第一、二句提到包括车祸在内的三个可怕的场景并指出这些场景会成为记忆，从而影响甚至损害我们的一生，而一些研究显示，清除甚至改写记忆即将成为可能。第三句提到，这将有助于医治一些心理疾病，尤其是上瘾和创伤后应激障碍。由此可以推断，因车祸形成的记忆可能让人产生心理疾病，故C)正确。A)“它可能会摧毁一个人的大脑记忆”是车祸产生的可能后果之一，但文中并未论及，故排除；B)“它可能会提供一种医疗方法”不符合常理，也并未在文中提及，故排除；D)“它可能会使人长期饱受痛苦”夸大了车祸的影响，文中也未论及，故排除。
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