A Memory Drug?

IT’S DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE MANY THINGS that people would welcome more than a memory-enhancing drug. ____1____ Furthermore, such a drug could help people remember past experiences more clearly and help us acquire new information more easily for school and at work. As scientists learn more about memory, we are closing in on this tantalizing goal.1

Some of the most exciting evidence comes from research that has built on earlier findings linking LTP2 and memory to identify a gene that improves memory in mice. ____2____ Mice bred to have extra copies of this gene showed more activity in their NMDA receptors，more LTP，and improved performance on several different memory tasks — learning a spatial layout3, recognizing familiar objects，and recalling a fear-inducing shock.

If these basic insights about genes, LTP, and the synaptic basis of memory can be translated to people — and that remains to be seen — they could pave the way for memory-enhancing treatments. ____3____ As exciting as this may sound, it also raises troubling issues. Consider the potential educational implications of memory-enhancing drugs. If memory enhancers were available, children who used them might be able to acquire and retain extraordinary amounts of information, allowing them to progress far more rapidly in school than they could otherwise. How well could the brain handle such an onslaught of information? What happens to children who don’t have access to the latest memory enhancers? Are they left behind in school — and as a result handicapped later in life?

____4____ Imagine that you are applying for a job that requires a good memory，such as a manager at a technology company or a sales position that requires remembering customers’ names as well as the attributes of different products and services. Would you take a memory-enhancing drug to increase your chances of landing the position? Would people who felt uncomfortable taking such a drug find themselves cut out of lucrative career opportunities?

Memory drugs might also help take the sting out of disturbing memories that we wish we could forget but can’t.4 The 2004 hit movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind told the story of a young man seeking just such freedom from the painful memories of a romantic breakup. As you will see in the section on persistence later in the chapter, emotionally arousing events often create intrusive memories, and researchers have already muted emotional memories with drugs that block the action of key hormones. Should emergency workers who must confront horrifying accident scenes that can burden them with persisting memories be provided with such drugs? Should such drugs be given to rape victims who can’t forget the trauma? Memory drugs might provide some relief to such individuals. But could they also interfere with an individual’s ability to assimilate and come to terms with a difficult experience?5 ____5____

詞匯：

tantalizing / ˈtæntəlaɪzɪŋ / adj.誘人的

synaptic / sɪˈnæptɪk / adj.(解剖學(xué))突觸的

steroid / ˈstɪərɔɪd / n.類固醇

onslaught / ˈɔnslɔ:t / n.大量

lucrative / ˈlu:krətɪv / adj.有利可圖的

hit /hit / n.(演出等)成功 注釋：

1.As scientists learn more about memory, we are closing in on this tantalizing goal.隨著科學(xué)家們對記憶了解增多，我們正接近這一誘人的目標(biāo)。

2.LTP&SNMDA：(Long-term Potentiation)給突觸前纖維一個短暫的髙頻剌激后，突觸傳遞效率和強度增加幾倍且能持續(xù)數(shù)小時至幾天保持這種增強的現(xiàn)象。LTP發(fā)現(xiàn)海馬LTP可能是學(xué)習(xí)記憶的分子基??973年Bliss及其合作者，電刺激麻醉兔的內(nèi)嗅皮層，使海馬表層的穿通纖維興奮，可在齒狀回記錄到場電位。先用高頻電刺激幾秒鐘后，再用單個電刺激，記錄到的.部分場電位幅度大大超過原先記錄的對照值，并可持續(xù)幾小時，幾天。這一現(xiàn)象稱為長時程增強效應(yīng)(LTP)。1983年發(fā)現(xiàn)NMDA(N—甲基一D—門冬氨酸)受體通道復(fù)合體在LTP過程中起重要作用，進(jìn)一步深化了對LTP在大腦學(xué)習(xí)記憶中作用的理解。

3.a spatial layout：空間布局

4.Memory drugs might also help take the sting out of disturbing memories that we wish we could forget but can’t：增強記憶藥對我們想忘記卻又不能的令人煩擾的記憶變得令人易于接受。 take the sting out of：使……易于被接受;使 ……令人感到愉快

5.But could they also interfere with an individual’s ability to assimilate and come to terms with a difficult experience? 中的come to terms with：讓步;屈服

練習(xí)：

A Like steroids for bulking up the muscles, these drugs would bulk up memory.

B A memory enhancer could help eliminate forgetting associated with aging and disease.

C What are the potential implications of memory-enhancing drugs for the workplace?

D We may find ourselves struggling with these kinds of questions in the not-too-distant future.

E There is a pill that you could take every day to allow you to remember everything.

F The gene makes a protein that assists the NMDA2 receptor，which plays an important role in long-term memory by helping to initiate LTP.

答案與題解：

1.B依據(jù)上一句的“很難想象一種提高人們記憶力的藥會受到人們吹捧”;下面應(yīng)該對這一現(xiàn)象做出解釋，即這種藥物有什么療效;而后一句的Furthermore這一指示詞起到了遞進(jìn)的作用，進(jìn)一步說明這種藥物的益處。More than ：非常，極其，十分

2.F前一句的關(guān)鍵詞是gene、LTP和mice，它講的是有些令人興奮的證據(jù)是從研究中得出的;該研究基于早期連接LTP和記憶的發(fā)現(xiàn)，該結(jié)果確定了提髙老鼠記憶的基因;而后一句進(jìn)一步闡述這一發(fā)現(xiàn)，開頭的mice可以是一個連接詞。

3.A前一句講：如果這種結(jié)果用于人類的話，人們就有可能把提高人的記憶力用于臨床。這一句講：就像類固醇用于提髙人的肌肉能力，這種藥物也可以提高人的記憶力。

4.C一般情況下，每一段的第一句都是本段的主題句。而該句是一個問句：這種提高記憶力的藥物用于職場有什么潛在的啟示呢?緊接著本段其余幾句都提出關(guān)于這種藥物是否會對職場的提升有什么影響的問題。

5.D本句是全文的最后一句。應(yīng)該是總結(jié)性的。鑒于前面都列舉了這種提高記憶力的藥所面臨的一系列問題，所以，我們在不久的將來要面臨這些問題。