可改变人性格的“神奇蘑菇”

Perhaps a new academic study might help explain some of the weirder outfits worn at raves and rock festivals.

也许一项新的学术研究将有助于解释为什么在锐舞和摇滚节上的一些奇装异服。

A single (high) dose of so-called 'magic' mushrooms was found to change people's personalities, making people more 'open', said researchers.

研究人员说，据发现，一个单次（高）剂量的所谓的“神奇”蘑菇可以改变人的性格，可以让人变得更“开放”。

A single high dose of the hallucinogen psilocybin, the active ingredient in so-called 'magic mushrooms' - which grow wild in the UK and parts of the US, as well as countries such as Mexico and Thailand - was enough to bring about a measurable personality change lasting at least a year in nearly 60 percent of the people.

所谓的“神奇蘑菇”在英国和美国的部分地区野生，也出现在比如墨西哥、泰国等国家。它的有效成分是单次高剂量的迷幻剂，对60%的人来说，它足够让人产生最少持续一年的、可测量到的性格变化。

Study leader Roland R. Griffiths, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine said that so many of the study participants still exhibited changes after a year the changes were 'likely to be permanent.'

该研究的领导者，来自约翰霍普金斯大学医学院的精神病学及行为科学教授Roland R. Griffiths说，很多的研究参与者在一年之后仍表现出性格的变化，这项变化“很有可能是永久的”。

Nearly all of the participants in the new study considered themselves spiritually active (participating regularly in religious services, prayer or meditation). More than half had postgraduate degrees. Volunteers were considered to be psychologically healthy.

几乎这项新研究中的所有参与者都认为他们精神上积极（他们定期参加宗教服务、祈祷或冥想）。超过半数以上拥有研究生学位。这些志愿者们心理都很健康。

The study participants completed two to five eight-hour drug sessions - where they were encouraged to 'focus' on the drug experience. During each session, participants were encouraged to lie down on a couch, use an eye mask to block external visual distraction, listen to music and focus their attention on their inner experiences.

研究参与者完成了两到五次8小时的药物会议，在那里，他们被鼓励集中精力在药物体验上。每一次会议期间，参与者都被鼓励躺在沙发上，用眼罩阻隔外部视觉以防分心，听着音乐，将注意力集中在他们的内心体验上。

'Lasting change was found in the part of the personality known as openness, which includes traits related to imagination, aesthetics, feelings, abstract ideas and broad-mindedness. The changes were bigger than what one might normally expect to occur over decades.

根据发现，他们性格“开放”的那一部分发生了持续的变化，特称表现在包括想象力、美感、情感、抽象概念以及广阔的胸怀上。这些变化比通常人们期望的要大，通常的变化预期都超过了10年。

Griffiths says he believes the personality changes found in this study are likely permanent - and speculated that controlled use of the substance could lead to treatments for the depression suffered by cancer patients. He also speculated that the drug could help people give up smoking.

Griffiths相信，研究发现的这种性格变化很可能永久持续。他还推测，有控制的运用这种物质有可能可以治疗癌症病人的抑郁，没准还能有助于人们戒烟。