曾几何时，“给我一杯忘情水，换我一夜不流泪”唱遍了大江南北——人生总有失意时，在无比煎熬的那一刻，谁不想拥有这么一杯忘情水，喝下去就可以把让你伤心的人或事抛诸脑后？不过，你能想象这句歌词在不久的将来也许会成为现实吗？本期“酷·科学”带你一同品尝真实的“忘情水”——
The idea of using technology to erase specific memories from people’s brains sounds like science fiction.
用科技消除人们脑海中的特定记忆——这听起来就像科幻小说才会出现的情节。
Ad: Here at Lacuna, we have perfected a safe, effective technique for the focused erasure[擦除] of troubling memories.
广告画外音：在拉库纳公司，我们为您提供一种安全、有效的完美方法，针对性地抹除一切困扰您的记忆。
That’s an ad for a fictional company in the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Now scientists say they actually have been able to get rid of one specific fearful memory in a number of people by using a common blood-pressure drug.
这是电影《暖暖内含光》里一家虚构公司的广告。如今，科学家们表示，通过一种普通的血压控制药物，他们真的可以帮一部分人消除某一段特定的恐惧记忆。
Joseph LeDoux studies memory at New York University. He says if you picture your memory as a kind of storage cabinet[橱柜] that’s full of unchanging stuff, you’re wrong.
约瑟夫·勒杜在（美国）纽约大学研究记忆。他说，如果你认为自己的记忆系统类似于一个存储柜，里面装的东西恒久不变的话，那你就大错特错了。
LeDoux: Each time you take a memory out, each time it’s retrieved[找回], it’s got to be restored. And sometimes when you restore it, you put in additional information. This is a good thing because it allows you to update the memory.
勒杜：每当你取出一段记忆，你就会重新回忆起来，也需要重新存储记忆。有时候，你在重新存储记忆时会加入一些额外的信息。这其实是一件好事，让你不断更新自己的记忆。
It also means the memory can be changed if you catch it at the right point. In fact, the memory can even be erased. LeDoux has done studies with rats showing he can wipe out a fearful memory using certain drugs. Now scientists have done a similar experiment in people. Meryl Kynt led the study at the University of Amsterdam. First, she wanted to give the student volunteers a new, fearful memory. So they came into a lab, sat in front of a computer screen and were shown pictures of big spiders.
这也意味着记忆是可以改变的——只要你在正确的节点下手。实际上，记忆甚至可以被消除。勒杜在老鼠身上进行试验，证明在特定药物的帮助下，老鼠脑海里的一段恐惧记忆可以被消除。科学家如今在人类身上也进行了类似的试验。梅里尔·金特在（荷兰）阿姆斯特丹大学开展了这项研究。首先，她想给学生志愿者植入一段全新的恐怖记忆，于是学生们被领进一间实验室，坐在电脑屏幕前观看大蜘蛛的图片。
Kynt: Two different pictures: One spider’s on a shoulder, the other one on the…on the leaves of a…a plant.
金特：有两幅不同的图片：一只蜘蛛趴在人的肩膀上，另外一只……则在植物的……叶子上面。
The study was designed so that only one of the spider images would become linked to a scary memory. Every time that image appeared, the student would get a mild electric shock on the wrist.
研究设定只有一幅蜘蛛图片会给人带来可怕记忆。每当这张图片出现时，学生的手腕处就会受到轻度电击。
Kynt: During the procedure[过程], you see that a fear evolves[发展]. So they fear only one spider, and they don’t fear the other spider.
金特：在此过程中，你能看到恐惧（的情绪）是如何形成的。让他们感到害怕的只是其中一只蜘蛛，他们并不怕另外那只蜘蛛。
The students were sent home with their nasty[令人厌恶的] spider memory. And the next day, the researchers tried to erase that memory. They gave the students either a placebo[安慰剂] pill or a real drug—a common blood pressure drug, a beta blocker注1 called Propranolol. Then they showed the students the picture of the scary spider to make them recall the memory of being shocked. When people who got the drug were later shown both the good and the bad spiders, their reaction was identical[同样的]. Their learned fear response was gone.
带着这些有关蜘蛛的恶心记忆，学生们回家了。第二天，研究者尝试抹除这段记忆。他们让学生服用安慰剂或真正的药物——这种普通的降压药学名为“普萘洛尔”（心得安），是一种β-受体阻滞药。接着，他们再次让学生观看昨天那只恐怖蜘蛛的图片，以唤起他们那段被电击的记忆。服用了药物的人稍后再看见好蜘蛛和坏蜘蛛的图片时，其反应完全一样。他们记得的恐惧感已经消失了。
Kynt: It was completely eliminated[消除].
金特：这段记忆被彻底清除了。
She says if you asked them, “Do you remember the scary spider?” they said, “Sure.”
她说，如果你问他们：“你还记得那只恐怖的蜘蛛吗？”他们就会回答：“当然记得。”
Kynt: Because they were aware that this picture was followed by a shock, but the emotional impact, the emotional meaning was gone since there was no fear response anymore.
Some researchers, like Kareem Nadir at McGill University, have already been studying whether this drug can be used as a treatment for people who are tormented[折磨] by painful memories. People with post-traumatic stress disorder注2 are asked to recount[细述] troubling memories and are given the drug. Nadir says the preliminary[初步的] results are promising.
金特：因为他们知道，看见这张图片就会受到电击，但是它对情绪的影响——这张图在情绪上的意义已经消失了，因为他们不再作出受惊反应。像（加拿大）麦吉尔大学的卡里姆·纳迪尔这样的研究人员已经在探讨能否用这种药物治疗受痛苦回忆折磨的人。他们让创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）病人详细讲述那些糟糕的回忆，再施以药物治疗。纳迪尔表示，前期的治疗结果让人看到了希望。
Nadir: Some of these guys have had PTSD for like 30 years, and then, like, they feel better.
纳迪尔：有些病人的PTSD病史长达30年，他们现在感觉好多了。
He knows that some people have raised ethical[伦理的] concerns about the idea of weakening specific memories with a drug. But he thinks if people are suffering, it’s something worth trying.
他知道用药物减弱具体记忆这一做法在伦理道德方面已经引起有关人士的关注。不过他认为，如果有人为此受苦，这也不失为值得一试的办法。
注1：人体内许多活性物质通过（位于细胞膜上或者细胞内）的受体起作用，不同的受体阻滞药可以使特定物质无法产生作用，从而达到抗病目的。一般来说，α-受体阻滞药具有降压作用，β-受体阻滞药则可以减慢心率。
注2：创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）是指突发性、威胁性或灾难性事件所导致的个体延迟出现和长期持续存在的精神障碍。PTSD病人的创伤记忆很容易被提取，并且有强烈的情绪和感觉。记忆的重现使病人仿佛重新经历了一次创伤，小事件都能引起强烈反应。
《暖暖内含光》(Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)电影简介 
这部电影又译作《美丽心灵的永恒阳光》，讲述了一个带有奇幻色彩的爱情故事，由金·凯瑞（Jim Carrey）和凯特·温丝莱特（Kate Winslet）主演。
乔尔（金·凯瑞饰）的生活出了大问题——其相恋多年的女友克莱门蒂娜（凯特·温斯莱特饰）在一次吵架之后接受精神科专家的治疗，抹去了关于乔尔的一切回忆。乔尔试图唤醒克莱门蒂娜的记忆，但是两人的距离不断拉大。心灰意冷的乔尔要求专家也把自己大脑中有关克莱门蒂娜的记忆消除掉。就在乔尔的爱情记忆逐步消逝之时，那早已淹没在平凡生活中的初恋激情却暗自勃发，重新焕发光彩……