吸食大麻使我们更容易回忆起错误的记忆

吸食大麻使我们更容易回忆起错误的记忆

Smoking marijuana makes a person more likely to recall false memories and information, resulting in a higher likelihood of false confessions and inaccurate witness statements when pursuing criminal cases, according to new research.

一项新的研究表明，吸食大麻会使人更容易回忆起错误的记忆和信息，从而在刑事案件中更容易出现虚假供词和不准确的证人陈述。

In a study of 64 healthy occasional cannabis users, an international team of researchers determined that smoking THC, the psychoactive chemical in cannabis, can lead to people recalling fake or implanted memories.

在一项对64名偶尔吸食大麻的健康人士的研究中，一个国际研究小组确定，吸食大麻中的四氢大麻酚(THC)这种精神活性化学物质会让人回忆起虚假或植入的记忆。

Madison Dapcevich

“Testimonies by eyewitnesses or suspects are oftentimes the only piece of evidence that triers of fact can use for legal decision making, and, thus, gathering reliable testimony is crucial. However, memory performance is imperfect, resulting sometimes in false memories,” write the authors, adding that such false memories can have disastrous consequences in legal cases, such as wrongful convictions or false accusations.

“目击者或嫌疑犯的证词往往是审判人员能够用于法律决策的唯一证据，因此，收集可靠的证词至关重要。然而，记忆的表现是不完美的，有时会导致错误的记忆，”作者写道，并补充说，这种错误的记忆在法律案件中会产生灾难性的后果，比如错误的判决或错误的指控。

To test the impact of cannabis use on recalling memories, study participants were given a dose of the drug and were then asked to participate in three separate memory tests involving reading, reciting words, and recalling events from virtual reality-based scenarios. Researchers phrased their questions in a way to influence the volunteers’ memories, sometimes even introducing fake information. Each test was performed immediately after a participant smoked and again one week later.

为了测试大麻使用对回忆的影响，研究人员给参与者一剂大麻，然后要求他们参加三个独立的记忆测试，包括阅读、背诵单词和回忆虚拟现实场景中的事件。研究人员通过提问来影响志愿者的记忆，有时甚至会引入虚假信息。每项测试都是在参与者吸烟后立即进行，一周后再次进行。

Writing in the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, study authors found evidence that suggests using cannabis consistently increases a person’s susceptibility to form false memories based on false information. In particular, two types of memories were noted: “spontaneous” memories that arise from cognitive processes and “suggestion-based” memories that occur from external suggestions.

研究报告发表在《美国国家科学院院刊》上。报告作者发现，有证据表明，吸食大麻会增加一个人形成基于错误信息的错误记忆的可能性。特别地，有两种类型的记忆被注意到:“自发的”记忆来自认知过程，“基于建议的”记忆来自外部建议。

“Cannabis seems to increase false-memory proneness,” write the authors. “Our findings have implications for how and when the police should interview suspects and eyewitnesses.”

“大麻似乎增加了错误记忆的倾向，”作者写道。“我们的发现对警方如何以及何时对嫌疑人和目击者进行问询具有重要意义。”

Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in the world. Though previous studies have associated its use with memory impairments and distortion, little evidence has connected cannabis with procuring false confessions and witness statements in criminal investigations. Drug testing is often a common protocol with suspects, but not with witnesses or victims.

大麻是世界上使用最广泛的非法毒品。尽管之前的研究将大麻的使用与记忆障碍和扭曲联系在一起，但几乎没有证据表明大麻与犯罪调查中的虚假供词和证人陈述有关。毒品检测通常是对嫌疑人的常规检测，但对目击者或受害者则不是。

“The results have implications for police, legal professionals, and policymakers with regard to the treatment of cannabis-intoxicated witnesses and suspects and the validity of their statements,” note the researchers. “With the growing global acceptance of cannabis and its widespread use by eyewitnesses and suspects in legal cases, understanding the popular drug’s ramifications for memory is a pressing need.”

研究人员指出:“这一结果对警察、法律专业人士和政策制定者在如何对待大麻中毒的证人和嫌疑人以及他们陈述的有效性方面具有启示意义。”“随着大麻在全球范围内的日益普及，以及目击者和嫌疑犯在法律案件中对其的广泛使用，了解这种流行毒品对记忆的影响是一种迫切的需要。”

It is possible that misinformation can lead to false confessions in criminal interrogations when the accused is under the use of cannabis. The researchers add that their findings stress the need to further study cannabis use in facilitating false-memory production.

当被告使用大麻时，错误的信息可能会导致刑事审讯中的虚假供词。研究人员补充说，他们的发现强调了进一步研究大麻使用促进假记忆产生的必要性。