記憶可以改變嗎?

Is it possible to permanently change your memories? A group of scientists think so. And their new techniques for altering memories are raising possibilities of one day treating people who suffer from phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety-related conditions.

記憶有可能永久改變嗎？有一個科研團隊認爲可以。他們新開發的記憶改變技術也許在將來的某一天可以治癒那些備受恐懼症、創傷後心理紊亂以及其他焦慮症困擾的人們。

Some researchers are working with combat veterans, car-accident survivors and rape victims to replace their memories with less fear-filled ones using a familiar hypertension drug. Other scientists are studying whether behavioral therapy can one day be used to modify memories of people who react with fear to common anxiety-producing events. A person bitten by a dog as a child, for instance, might be able to overcome a canine phobia if the old memory can be replaced with a less scary one.
這個團隊中，部分研究者利用一種大家所熟知的高血壓藥物將退伍軍人、車禍倖存者、強姦受害人腦中的可怕記憶替換成相對不那麼恐怖的內容。其他科研人員則在研究行爲療法是否可以修正某些人的記憶，這些人會因日常生活中一些習以爲常的事件產生恐懼情緒。比如，一個人在小時候被狗咬過，假使能將他這段記憶換成相對不那麼可怕的事情，也許就可以幫助他克服犬恐懼症。

The goal of the research isn't to erase memory outright, as depicted in popular movies over the years. That would raise ethical issues and questions of what would happen to associated memories, scientists say. Instead, 'reducing or eliminating the fear accompanying the memory . . . that would be the ideal scenario,' says Roger Pitman, a psychiatry professor at Harvard Medical School who has done extensive work in this area.
這項研究的目的不是像近年很多熱門電影裏描述的那樣直接將不好的記憶消除。科學家們表示，這樣做會引發論理上的爭議，而且相關記憶會發生怎樣的變化也尚不明確。哈佛醫學院精神病學教授羅傑•皮特曼（Roger Pitman）在這一領域開展過廣泛的研究，他表示，其實，“弱化甚而消除伴隨着這一記憶的那種恐懼感……會是理想的解決之道。”

The latest research is based on a radical rethinking of how memories are stored in the brain. Scientists used to believe memories are like snapshots on which the details are fixed once they're recorded. Now, many experts accept the view that memories are stored like individual files on a shelf; each time they are pulled down for viewing, they can be altered before being put back into storage. Altering a memory during the time it is off the shelf can create an updated memory that can be saved in place of the old one, scientists believe.

近來學術界對於大腦存儲記憶的方式有了徹底的反思，最近的這項研究也就應運而生了。過去，科學家們認爲，記憶像相機快照一樣，一旦被大腦所記錄，其中的細節便已確定。如今，許多專家都認可，記憶就像是存放在架子上的一個個文檔，每次從架子上拿下來看過，再放回去時，記憶也許就已經發生變化了。科學家們認爲，在記憶拿下架子的時候對其加以改變，就會產生新的記憶，舊的記憶便被取而代之。

Sometimes a traumatic incident can trigger an enduring response of fear whenever the incident is recalled, even indirectly. A car backfiring, for instance, can set off an emotional response in a combat veteran if the loud noise becomes associated in his mind with a wartime experience.

有些時候，只要大腦中回憶起創傷性事件，即便是間接的回憶，也會引發人體持久的恐懼反應。比如，汽車爆胎會讓退伍老兵產生情緒化的反應，只要他的腦子將這聲巨響同戰爭中的某次經歷聯繫在了一起。

A common therapy currently for trauma and phobias is called exposure treatment. It involves repetitive exposure in a nonthreatening way to help patients confront their fears and gradually weaken the fear response, a process known as extinction. But with extinction, the fearful memories don't disappear or get altered, and relapse is common, says Edna Foa, an expert on post-traumatic stress disorder at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. If extinction could be enhanced, that could mean more efficient treatment with less relapse, she says.

暴露療法是目前很普遍的一種治療精神創傷及恐懼症的方法。具體做法是，以不會產生傷害的方式讓患者多次暴露於引起恐懼的刺激，讓他們直面自己的恐懼，從而循序漸進地弱化他們的恐懼反應，這一過程被稱爲“恐懼記憶退化”。賓夕法尼亞大學醫學院創傷後心理紊亂研究專家弗阿（Edna Foa）說，其實，在恐懼記憶消除過程中，可怕的記憶並沒有完全消失或者改變，經常會有復發的情況。她說，如果恐懼記憶消除得到強化，那麼治療就會更有效，復發情況就會減少。

Researchers are hoping new techniques will weaken the fear response for a longer period, or perhaps permanently. The trick, they say, is to administer the treatment after the original memory has been retrieved from storage so the updated memory will be saved. One way of doing this is to have the subject write a detailed account of the original incident and reread it at the start of each treatment session.

研究者希望，新技術可以在更長時間內甚至可能永久地弱化恐懼反應。他們表示，訣竅在於，在大腦中喚醒了最初的記憶之後馬上開展治療，這樣大腦中就會存下更新後的記憶。有一種方法是，讓患者寫下對於事件的詳盡記憶，每次治療開始的時候讓他重讀這段文字。