时差N小时 选择性记忆

Yael: Have any unpleasant memories, Don?

雅艾尔：你有过不愉快的记忆吗，唐？

Don: Sure. Who doesn't?

唐：当然。谁都会有。

Yael: What would you say to having them permanently¹ erased³ from your brain?

雅艾尔：如果把它们从大脑里永久得清除，你会怎么看？

Don: Without losing other memories?

唐：不会丧失其它记忆吗？

Yael: Right. Scientists did just that with rats. They trained rats to fear two different sounds by sending a mild electric shock through the rats' paws when they played the sounds. This Pavlovian technique resulted in the rats freezing up in nervous anticipation⁴ of the shocks every time they heard either sound. Scientists wanted to know whether they could erase² one of the memories without erasing⁵ the other one, even though both sounds result in the same fear.

雅艾尔：对。科学家对老鼠做过这样的实验。当他们弹奏音乐时，科学家使温和的电流震动传送到它们的爪子，以这种方式训练老鼠害怕两种不同的声音。这种巴普洛夫的技术导致老鼠每次听到其中一种声音就因害怕点电击而紧张地发抖。科学家想知道在两种声响同样使它们恐惧的前提下，它们是否能够在消除一种记忆的同时而不丧失另一种记忆。

Don: I didn't know scientists knew how to erase memories at all.

唐：我一点都不认为科学家们知道怎么去除记忆。

Yael: They do. You see, long-term memories aren't nearly as solid as we like to think. They're actually very fragile. Every time we recall a long-term memory, it becomes malleable⁶. Just before playing one of the sounds, scientists injected half the rats with a chemical that interferes⁷ with memory reconsolidation. Thus, when they were in the process of remembering what accompanies the sound, the drug went to work.

雅艾尔：他们知道。显而易见，长期性记忆并非我们想象的那么牢固。每当我们回忆一段长期记忆时，它就会继续延展。在播放其中任一种声音之前，科学家们给一半的老鼠注射了干扰记忆的化学物质。这样，在老鼠回忆伴随声音所发生的事情时，这种药物就会起作用。

Don: Then what?

唐：那又怎么样？

Yael: When they played both sounds a day later, the rats that had been injected with the chemical did not freeze up when they heard the sound that had accompanied the drug. They froze as usual when they heard the second sound.

雅艾尔：一天后科学家再次播放这两种声音，当被注射药物的老鼠听到注射时的声音后没有表现出害怕。但听到第二种声音时还是像往常一样呆住了。

Don: They had forgotten to be afraid. Hmm. This business makes me kind of nervous.

唐：他们忘记了害怕。嗯。这个实验听起来有点恐惧。

Yael: I know what you mean, but for people with post-traumatic stress disorder⁸, selective memory erasure⁹ could prove enormously useful.

雅艾尔：我明白你的想法，但选择性记忆对于患上创伤后精神失调的人有很大的帮助。

Don: True. I guess some fears are best laid to rest.

唐：那倒是真的。我认为有的恐惧最好将它埋葬掉。

1 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

2 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

3 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

5 erasing   

v.擦掉( erase的现在分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He was like a sponge, erasing the past, soaking up the future. 他象一块海绵，挤出过去，吸进未来。 来自辞典例句
• Suddenly, fear overtook longing, erasing memories. 突然，恐惧淹没了渴望，泯灭了回忆。 来自辞典例句

6 malleable   

adj.(金属)可锻的;有延展性的；(性格)可训练的

参考例句：

• Silver is the most malleable of all metals.银是延展性最好的金属。
• Scientists are finding that the adult human brain is far more malleable than they once thought.科学家发现成人大脑的可塑性远超过他们之前认识到的。

7 interferes   

vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉

参考例句：

• The noise interferes with my work. 这噪音妨碍我的工作。
• That interferes with my plan. 那干扰了我的计划。

8 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

9 erasure   

n.擦掉，删去；删掉的词；消音；抹音

参考例句：

• The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth. 过去给人擦拭个干净，擦拭的行为又忘了个干净，于是，谎言就变成了真理。 来自英汉文学
• The inspection, modification, replacement or erasure of part of file's contents. 检查、修改、代替或擦去文档内容一部分的过程。 来自互联网