美国国家公共电台 NPR--Scientists may be able to help Alzheimer's patients by boosting memory consolidation

Scientists may be able to help Alzheimer's patients by boosting memory consolidation¹

Transcript²

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

What happens when you sleep? While you're sleeping, the brain strengthens memories that it expects to use in the future. Now scientists say they've found a way to enhance that process. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports on research that might someday help people with memory loss from Alzheimer's disease.

JON HAMILTON, BYLINE³: There's a lot going on in our brains at night. And Dr. Itzhak Fried, a neurosurgeon at UCLA, says much of this activity involves rhythmic⁴ electrical pulses.

ITZHAK FRIED: Brain cells are firing and then pausing, firing and pausing.

HAMILTON: Some of those brain rhythms can help transform a daily event into a memory that can last for weeks or longer, a process called memory consolidation. So Fried and a team of scientists wanted to watch this happen in people.

FRIED: But also trying, actually, to boost memory, to boost this process.

HAMILTON: To do that, the team needed some volunteers, so they approached 18 patients with severe epilepsy. They already had electrodes in their brain, which the team could use to monitor and alter their brain rhythms. Fried says one member of his team created a fun memory test.

FRIED: Or what we call celebrity⁵ pet. She presented a certain celebrity with a certain pet. So I think the patient found it engaging.

HAMILTON: The goal was to remember which animal went with which celebrity. Patients saw the images before going to bed. Then while they slept, some of them got tiny pulses of electricity through the wires in their brains. Fried says the pulses were designed to synchronize⁶ two distant brain areas involved in memory consolidation - the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex.

FRIED: So we're measuring the activity in one area deep in the brain. And then, based on this, we're stimulating⁷ in a different area.

HAMILTON: The approach worked. Fried says in patients who got the stimulation⁸, rhythms in the two brain areas became more synchronized⁹. And when those patients woke up, they did better on the celebrity pet test.

FRIED: That synchrony really correlated well with the memory improvement.

HAMILTON: Fried says the results, which appear in the journal Nature Neuroscience, need to be confirmed in a larger study. Even so, he says, they suggest a new way to help people with sleep and memory problems.

FRIED: We know, for instance, that in patients with dementia, with Alzheimer, sleep is not working very well at all. The question is whether by changing the architecture of sleep, you can help memory.

HAMILTON: The experiment was based on decades of research done by scientists, including Dr. Gyorgy Buzsaki of New York University. Buzsaki says brain rhythms are how different areas of the brain communicate.

GYORGY BUZSAKI: If you would like to talk to the brain, you have to talk to the brain in its own language.

HAMILTON: Buzsaki says in healthy people, brain rhythms are already optimized¹⁰. He says these epilepsy patients may have improved because they started out with sleep and memory problems.

BUZSAKI: These people are under medication. These people have perturbed¹¹ sleep. So maybe what happened here is just making worse memories better.

HAMILTON: Even so, Buzsaki says this approach has the potential to help millions of people with impaired¹² memory. And he says brain rhythms are involved in lots of other critical functions.

BUZSAKI: They are not specific to memory. They are doing a lot of other things - emotions, emotional regulations. They are served by the same kind of rhythms.

HAMILTON: So Buzsaki says tweaking brain rhythms might also help with disorders¹³ like depression.

Jon Hamilton, NPR News.

1 consolidation   

n.合并,巩固

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• The state ensures the consolidation and growth of the state economy. 国家保障国营经济的巩固和发展。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 rhythmic   

adj.有节奏的，有韵律的

参考例句：

• Her breathing became more rhythmic.她的呼吸变得更有规律了。
• Good breathing is slow,rhythmic and deep.健康的呼吸方式缓慢深沉而有节奏。

5 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

6 synchronize   

v.使同步 [=synchronise]

参考例句：

• The sound on a film must synchronize with the action. 影片中的声音必须与动作配合一致。
• You must synchronize your Inbox before selecting additional folders. 在选择其他文件夹前，您必须同步您的收件箱。

7 stimulating   

adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的

参考例句：

• shower gel containing plant extracts that have a stimulating effect on the skin 含有对皮肤有益的植物精华的沐浴凝胶
• This is a drug for stimulating nerves. 这是一种兴奋剂。

8 stimulation   

n.刺激，激励，鼓舞

参考例句：

• The playgroup provides plenty of stimulation for the children.幼儿游戏组给孩子很多启发。
• You don't get any intellectual stimulation in this job.你不能从这份工作中获得任何智力启发。

9 synchronized   

同步的

参考例句：

• Do not use the synchronized keyword in Managed Objects. 不要在管理对象上使用synchronized关键字。 来自互联网
• The timing of the gun was precisely synchronized with the turning of the plane's propeller. 风门的调速与飞机螺旋桨的转动精确同步。 来自辞典例句

10 optimized   

adj.最佳化的，（使）最优化的v.使最优化，使尽可能有效( optimize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We are often asked whether consumer Web sites should be optimized for beginners or intermediates. 我们常常被问到这样的问题：消费类网站究竟应该为新手而优化，还是应该为中间用户而优化？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• GOOGLE Advertising optimized sequence, greatly increasing the advertising effect. 优化了GOOGLE广告位排列顺序，大大增加了广告效果。 来自互联网

11 perturbed   

adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I am deeply perturbed by the alarming way the situation developing. 我对形势令人忧虑的发展深感不安。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mother was much perturbed by my illness. 母亲为我的病甚感烦恼不安。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 impaired   

adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Much reading has impaired his vision. 大量读书损害了他的视力。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His hearing is somewhat impaired. 他的听觉已受到一定程度的损害。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》