创伤性记忆可以擦除吗?
文章来源:未知 文章作者:enread 发布时间:2011-04-28 01:12 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
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Could veterans of war, rape1 victims and other people who have seen horrific crimes someday have the traumatic memories that haunt them weakened in their brains? In a new study, UCLA life scientists report a discovery that may make the reduction of such memories a reality. "I think we will be able to alter memories someday to reduce the trauma2 from our brains," said the study's senior author, David Glanzman, a UCLA professor of integrative biology and physiology3 and of neurobiology(神经生物学) .

The study appears in the April 27 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, a premier4 neuroscience journal.

Glanzman, a cellular5 neuroscientist, and his colleagues report that they have eliminated, or at least substantially weakened, a long-term memory in both the marine6 snail7 known as Aplysia and neurons in a Petri dish. The researchers say they gaining important insights into the cell biology of long-term memory.

They discovered that the long-term memory for sensitization in the marine snail can be erased8 by inhibiting9 the activity of a specific protein kinase — a class of molecules11 that modifies proteins by chemically adding to them a phosphate (an inorganic12 chemical), which changes the proteins' structure and activity. The protein kinase is called PKM (protein kinase M), a member of the class known as protein kinase C (PKC), which is associated with memory.

The research has important potential implications for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder13, as well as drug addiction14, in which memory plays an important role, and perhaps Alzheimer's disease and other long-term memory disorders15.

"Almost all the processes that are involved in memory in the snail also have been shown to be involved in memory in the brains of mammals," said Glanzman, who added that the human brain is far too complicated to study directly.

PKM is rare in that while most protein kinases(蛋白激酶) have both a catalytic domain16, which is the part of the molecule10 that does its work, and a regulatory domain, akin17 to an on–off switch that can be used by other signaling pathways to shut off the activity of the kinase, PKM has only the catalytic domain — not the regulatory domain.

"This means that once PKM is formed, there is no way to shut it off," said Glanzman, who is a member of UCLA's Brain Research Institute. "Once it is activated18, PKM's continual activity maintains a memory until PKM degrades."

Glanzman decided19 to study PKM in the marine snail, which has simple forms of learning and a simple nervous system, so that he could understand in precise detail how PKM's activity maintains a long-term memory, a process that is not well understood.

Glanzman and his colleagues — researchers Diancai Cai, lead author of the study; Kaycey Pearce; and Shanping Chen, all of whom work in his laboratory — studied a simple kind of memory called sensitization. If marine snails20 are attacked by a predator21, the attack heightens their sensitivity to environmental stimuli22 — a "fundamental form of learning that is necessary for survival and is very robust23 in the marine snail," Glanzman said.



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1 rape PAQzh     
n.抢夺,掠夺,强奸;vt.掠夺,抢夺,强奸
参考例句:
  • The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
  • He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。
2 trauma TJIzJ     
n.外伤,精神创伤
参考例句:
  • Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
  • The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。
3 physiology uAfyL     
n.生理学,生理机能
参考例句:
  • He bought a book about physiology.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
  • He was awarded the Nobel Prize for achievements in physiology.他因生理学方面的建树而被授予诺贝尔奖。
4 premier R19z3     
adj.首要的;n.总理,首相
参考例句:
  • The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
  • He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。
5 cellular aU1yo     
adj.移动的;细胞的,由细胞组成的
参考例句:
  • She has a cellular telephone in her car.她的汽车里有一部无线通讯电话机。
  • Many people use cellular materials as sensitive elements in hygrometers.很多人用蜂窝状的材料作为测量温度的传感元件。
6 marine 77Izo     
adj.海的;海生的;航海的;海事的;n.水兵
参考例句:
  • Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
  • When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时,他自愿参加了海军陆战队。
7 snail 8xcwS     
n.蜗牛
参考例句:
  • Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。
  • Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。
8 erased f4adee3fff79c6ddad5b2e45f730006a     
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》
9 inhibiting 11ff588a61bbc2b55de0b4c430fe2824     
抑制作用的,约束的
参考例句:
  • The high cost of borrowing is inhibiting investment by industry in new equipment. 借款的高成本抑制了企业对新设备的投资。
  • The pesticides affect the nervous system by inhibiting the enzyme cholinesterase. 这类农药抑制胆碱酯酶而影响神经系统。
10 molecule Y6Tzn     
n.分子,克分子
参考例句:
  • A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈?f婘??妈?成的。
  • This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。
11 molecules 187c25e49d45ad10b2f266c1fa7a8d49     
分子( molecule的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
  • Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里,大分子裂变为小分子。
12 inorganic P6Sxn     
adj.无生物的;无机的
参考例句:
  • The fundamentals of inorganic chemistry are very important.无机化学的基础很重要。
  • This chemical plant recently bought a large quantity of inorganic salt.这家化工厂又买进了大量的无机盐。
13 disorder Et1x4     
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。
14 addiction JyEzS     
n.上瘾入迷,嗜好
参考例句:
  • He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
  • Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。
15 disorders 6e49dcafe3638183c823d3aa5b12b010     
n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 );凌乱;骚乱;(身心、机能)失调
参考例句:
  • Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告,厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 domain ys8xC     
n.(活动等)领域,范围;领地,势力范围
参考例句:
  • This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
  • This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。
17 akin uxbz2     
adj.同族的,类似的
参考例句:
  • She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
  • Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。
18 activated c3905c37f4127686d512a7665206852e     
adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • The canister is filled with activated charcoal.蒸气回收罐中充满了活性炭。
19 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
20 snails 23436a8a3f6bf9f3c4a9f6db000bb173     
n.蜗牛;迟钝的人;蜗牛( snail的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • I think I'll try the snails for lunch—I'm feeling adventurous today. 我想我午餐要尝一下蜗牛——我今天很想冒险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Most snails have shells on their backs. 大多数蜗牛背上有壳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
21 predator 11vza     
n.捕食其它动物的动物;捕食者
参考例句:
  • The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
  • Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴,它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。
22 stimuli luBwM     
n.刺激(物)
参考例句:
  • It is necessary to curtail or alter normally coexisting stimuli.必需消除或改变正常时并存的刺激。
  • My sweat glands also respond to emotional stimuli.我的汗腺对情绪刺激也能产生反应。
23 robust FXvx7     
adj.强壮的,强健的,粗野的,需要体力的,浓的
参考例句:
  • She is too tall and robust.她个子太高,身体太壮。
  • China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道,中国希望保持经济强势增长,以减少贫困和失业状况。
TAG标签: brains traumatic memories
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