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里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杰•皮特曼（Roger Pitman）在這一領域開展過廣泛的研究，他表示，其實，“弱化甚而消除伴隨著這一記憶的那種恐懼感……會是理想的解決之道。”