美国青年致幻新宠:"音频毒品"

　　They put on their headphones, drape a hood over their head and drift off into the world of "digital highs". Videos posted on YouTube show a young girl freaking out and leaping up in fear, a teenager shaking violently and a young boy in extreme distress. It's the new craze sweeping the internet in which American teenagers used so-called "digital drugs" to change their brains in the same way as real-life narcotics.

　　他们戴上耳机，裹住头部，沉溺于“数码极乐世界”。网络上流传的短片显示，一个女孩子显得极度兴奋并在恐惧中跳起，另一个十几岁的孩子则在剧烈颤抖，还有个男孩子看似在忍受巨大的痛苦。这些都“归功于”在网络上疯传并在美国青少年中极为流行的“音频毒品”，据说其能产生和真实毒品相同的致幻效果。

　　I-Dosing tracks have imposing names such as "Gates of Hades" or "Hand of God" which are 10 minutes long - some sound like a ship's horn being repeated again and again while others are more abrasive and resemble cheap synthesizers being played very fast. Under one called "Shroom", Berecz wrote: "just listened to this...at the beginning I began to see some blinking light (while eyes closed), then the pitch went up and I began to feel that I am sinking into my chair...as the pitch went down I began to feel confident, and very relaxed, and I don’t want to stand up from my chair and I don’t want to say any words..."

　　“音频毒品”每段音乐长约10分钟，通常都有一个引人注意的名字，例如“地狱之门”和“上帝之手”等，听起来就像轮船汽笛声或快进播放的粗砺合成音。在一首叫做“暗房”的曲子下面，网友伯莱茨留言：“刚刚听过这首......一开始我看到亮光一瞬而逝（闭着眼睛），然后音调提高，我开始觉得自己往椅子里陷下去......音调走低我开始觉得自信又放松，一点都不想从椅子里站起来，也不想说任何话......”

　　But there has been such alarm in the US that the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs has issued a warning to children not to do it. "Kids are going to flock to these sites just to see what it is about and it can lead them to other places," spokesman Mark Woodward said.

　　“音频毒品”风潮引起了美国各机构的重视与警惕。美国俄克拉何马州毒品与危险药品局明确警告年轻人远离“音频毒品”。一位负责人称：“很多孩子可能都会浏览这些网站看看到底是怎么回事，接下来他们可能会被引向其他地方（真实毒品交易场所）。”

　　I-Dosing is actually a variation on the phenomenon - "binaural beats" - found by German physicist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove in 1839. Naturopathic Physician Helane Wahbeh said: "When you listen to these sounds with stereo headphones, the listener senses the difference between the two frequencies as another beat that sounds like it's coming from the inside of the head." But Dr Wahbeh denied there was any possibility that someone could experience similar effects to cocaine or ecstasy. However, other researchers say the "high" listeners claim to feel may actually be a placebo effect determined by the individual’s desire to feel it.

　　据了解，“音频毒品”实际上是1839年德国心理学家海因里希-威廉发现的“双耳节拍”现象的变种。自然疗法心理学家海恩-瓦贝说：“当两只耳朵同时分别接收到频率稍有不同的相同音乐时，收听者会感觉声音是直接从大脑深处发出来的。”但海恩否认该效应可以产生和毒品同样的作用。而有些研究人员则认为，“音频毒品”之所以能够达到致幻效果，只是因为收听者主观上想要得到这样的感觉。