即将在最新一期神经科学期刊(Journal of Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience)发表的卑诗大学(UBC)最新研究发现，人们对“禁忌物品”会投入更多注意力甚至迷恋，最终难以抵抗诱惑，宛若圣经中的“禁果”；但若一群人对抗同样的诱惑，成功率会高很多。

诸如垃圾食品、烟酒、甚或是违法物品，这些每个人明知不宜多沾的物品，偏偏就是有人趋之若鹜，实际上它们是“越禁越吃香”。报告主撰写人、卑大心理系研究生张葛瑞丝(Grace Truong，音译)指出，纵使是稀松平常的日常物品，只要纳入禁品之列，人们的大脑和心智就会投以更多注意力。

研究人员将一组日常物品的图片展示给受测者，并告知受测者哪些是“你已拥有的”、“他人拥有的”、“你禁止拥有的”以及“所有人都禁止拥有的” ，同时透过脑部成像和记忆测试收集数据。

虽然人类对于日常物品不会太过关注，实验结果发现，只要被列为“禁品”，受测者的大脑会做出与看到“已拥有”物品同等反应，显示人们“对一个被禁止的日常物品关注程度如同私有物”。

不过研究同时发现，当一群人同时被禁止做某事或接触某物，存在的诱惑力就会相对减弱，这也解释了为什么群体减肥会比独自减肥有效。

# It's official: Depriving yourself of chocolate really DOES make you crave it more

‧U.S. experts found that the more we try to ignore an object, the more our brain concentrates on it
‧But people are less obsessed with a forbidden item if they know that others can't indulge too
‧Researchers say this could explain why group diets such as Weight Watchers are so successful

Depriving yourself of your favourite things can make you obsessed with them, according to a new study.

Researchers found that by forbidding a pleasure - such as a bar of chocolate - it heightened the brain’s awareness of it.
But they also found that people did not become fixated if they knew that other people were not able to enjoy their favourite thing.

Lead author Grace Truong of the University of British Columbia said: ‘Our findings show that when individuals are forbidden from everyday objects, our minds and brains pay more attention to them.
‘Our brains give forbidden objects the same level of attention as our own personal possessions.’ The study's most important finding, though, is that obsession is not as strong if others are also denied: when an object is forbidden to a group, the allure of the object reduces dramatically.
Scientists say that this helps to explain why group diet techniques such as Weight Watchers can be more successful than dieting alone.

It also offers important insights for compulsive hoarding and parents seeking to help their children's attachment to toys and other possessions.
For the study, entitled An unforgettable apple: Memory and attention for forbidden objects, participants were shown images of everyday objects and told the objects were either theirs, someone else's, forbidden to them or forbidden to everyone.
Using electronic brain imaging and memory tests, researchers found the forbidden objects were recognised as well as self-owned objects. This was interpreted as a sign of unnecessary heightened concentration.

‘Since the days of Eve and the apple, scholars have been interested in [mankind's] attraction to items we should avoid,’ says Professor Todd Handy who also took part in the study.
‘Today, it is things like jumbo soft drinks, fatty foods and illicit substances.
‘These new findings help to explain how our brain processes forbidden objects and suggests that, for resisting temptation, there's strength in numbers. It's harder to go it alone.’
The findings are published in the journal Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience

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