【翻譯練習】記憶－留下美好，剔除不良
In With Good and Out With Bad Memories
日期：October 22, 2012
作者：SINDYA N. BHANOO
來源：http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/science/pushing-out-bad-memories.html?ref=health&_r=0
Most people have a moment or two they would rather not remember. The brain has two opposite ways of dealing with those memories, researchers report in a new study.
大部分人有著一、兩個他們寧可抹滅的記憶，但願那些事從不曾發生過。新的研究指出，大腦有兩類機制以對應此種記憶。
The first is to simply block out the memory. The second is to recall a substitute memory.
第一類機制是單純防堵記憶萌現。第二類機制則是利用其他記憶來代換。
Take the case of a fight with a loved one, said Roland Benoit, a cognitive neuroscientist at the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, England.
認知神經學家羅蘭‧班諾特，任職於英國劍橋大學醫學研究委員會認知與腦內科學中心，他舉例｢和情人爭吵｣以說明這種寧可抹滅的記憶。
“You don’t want to think about it because you want to just go on with life,” Dr. Benoit said. “You can somehow push it out, or you could try to think of something else, like maybe that nice vacation to France you had together.”
班諾特博士說：｢日子總要過下去，所以你不願回想。要嘛，就用力除去這份記憶；要嘛，試著想想其他事情，像是你們以前一起度過的美好法國假期。｣
Dr. Benoit and his colleagues asked study participants to associate the words “beach” and “Africa.” Then one group was told to avoid thinking about the associated words altogether. Another group was told to start thinking about the word “snorkel” in association with “beach,” rather than “Africa.”
班諾特博士和同事們請受測者先把｢海灘｣與｢非洲｣這兩個詞語聯想在一起。之後，他們要求其中一組受測者避免同時想起這兩個已連結的字詞，另一組受測者則是改成聯想｢浮潛｣與｢海灘｣，而不是｢非洲｣與｢海灘｣。受測者同時接受核磁共振攝影。
The participants were put under a functional M.R.I. scanner, and the researchers found that in the case of memory substitution, the left prefrontal cortex works in conjunction with the hippocampus, an area of the brain connecting to conscious remembering. But when an unwanted memory is simply suppressed or blocked out, the prefrontal cortex actually inhibits the functioning of the hippocampus.
研究人員發現，記憶代換的情形中，左前額葉與海馬體共同運作（海馬體是腦內掌管意識記憶的部分）。然而若某個不願回想的記憶被壓抑、阻遏，左前額葉也會抑制海馬體的運行。
Healthy individuals probably use both strategies interchangeably, Dr. Benoit said, and both techniques appear to be equally effective. Dr. Benoit and his colleagues report their findings in the current issue of the journal Neuron.
班諾特博士表示，身心健康的個體，或許交替使用著這兩類對應記憶的腦內機制，而兩類機制看來皆同樣有效。此研究發表於《神經科學》期刊。
日期：October 22, 2012
作者：SINDYA N. BHANOO
來源：http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/science/pushing-out-bad-memories.html?ref=health&_r=0
Most people have a moment or two they would rather not remember. The brain has two opposite ways of dealing with those memories, researchers report in a new study.
大部分人有著一、兩個他們寧可抹滅的記憶，但願那些事從不曾發生過。新的研究指出，大腦有兩類機制以對應此種記憶。
The first is to simply block out the memory. The second is to recall a substitute memory.
第一類機制是單純防堵記憶萌現。第二類機制則是利用其他記憶來代換。
Take the case of a fight with a loved one, said Roland Benoit, a cognitive neuroscientist at the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, England.
認知神經學家羅蘭‧班諾特，任職於英國劍橋大學醫學研究委員會認知與腦內科學中心，他舉例｢和情人爭吵｣以說明這種寧可抹滅的記憶。
“You don’t want to think about it because you want to just go on with life,” Dr. Benoit said. “You can somehow push it out, or you could try to think of something else, like maybe that nice vacation to France you had together.”
班諾特博士說：｢日子總要過下去，所以你不願回想。要嘛，就用力除去這份記憶；要嘛，試著想想其他事情，像是你們以前一起度過的美好法國假期。｣
Dr. Benoit and his colleagues asked study participants to associate the words “beach” and “Africa.” Then one group was told to avoid thinking about the associated words altogether. Another group was told to start thinking about the word “snorkel” in association with “beach,” rather than “Africa.”
班諾特博士和同事們請受測者先把｢海灘｣與｢非洲｣這兩個詞語聯想在一起。之後，他們要求其中一組受測者避免同時想起這兩個已連結的字詞，另一組受測者則是改成聯想｢浮潛｣與｢海灘｣，而不是｢非洲｣與｢海灘｣。受測者同時接受核磁共振攝影。
The participants were put under a functional M.R.I. scanner, and the researchers found that in the case of memory substitution, the left prefrontal cortex works in conjunction with the hippocampus, an area of the brain connecting to conscious remembering. But when an unwanted memory is simply suppressed or blocked out, the prefrontal cortex actually inhibits the functioning of the hippocampus.
研究人員發現，記憶代換的情形中，左前額葉與海馬體共同運作（海馬體是腦內掌管意識記憶的部分）。然而若某個不願回想的記憶被壓抑、阻遏，左前額葉也會抑制海馬體的運行。
Healthy individuals probably use both strategies interchangeably, Dr. Benoit said, and both techniques appear to be equally effective. Dr. Benoit and his colleagues report their findings in the current issue of the journal Neuron.
班諾特博士表示，身心健康的個體，或許交替使用著這兩類對應記憶的腦內機制，而兩類機制看來皆同樣有效。此研究發表於《神經科學》期刊。