美国国家公共电台 NPR In Memory Training Smackdown, One Method Dominates

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Turns out there are some workouts that can improve your memory. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports on two approaches to brain training.

JON HAMILTON, BYLINE¹: Brain training programs often target something called working memory.

KARA BLACKER: Working memory is our mental workspace.

HAMILTON: Kara Blacker is a scientist at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation. She says you need working memory to get through the day.

BLACKER: So if somebody gives you directions, you have to keep that information in mind long enough to actually execute going to that location. If somebody tells you a phone number, you have to be able to remember it.

HAMILTON: Scientists have tried two methods to improve working memory. And Blacker wanted to know whether one of them was more effective. So she and a team at Johns Hopkins University had more than 130 people spend a month training their brains. One group trained with something called the dual² n-back test. Blacker says it involves monitoring two streams of information and trying to recall what you saw or heard in each stream.

BLACKER: It sounds very difficult, but people get surprisingly good at it.

HAMILTON: Another group trained with something called a complex span test. They tried to remember the order and location of squares on a grid³. And there was a clear winner. The team reports in the Journal of Cognitive⁴ Enhancement that people who used the dual n-back test improved their working memory by about 30 percent. Blacker says that was nearly twice as much as people who used the complex span test.

BLACKER: And then the really exciting part was that we found that the dual n-back group showed significant changes in their brain activity.

HAMILTON: Especially in an area associated with higher-level thinking. So did training make these people smarter?

BLACKER: No, that is not what we found.

HAMILTON: Their IQ didn't change. And Bradley Voytek of the University of California, San Diego says that's been the case with most brain training studies.

BRADLEY VOYTEK: We want to just be able to, like, pull up our iPhone while we're sitting on the train or at a bus stop or something, play a game for a couple of minutes and get smarter.

HAMILTON: But we can't. Voytek says brain training programs seem to improve only a very narrow set of skills, not overall intelligence. And that's not surprising. After all, Voytek says, you wouldn't expect people who train their bodies for cycling to also be great swimmers or runners.

VOYTEK: They're not going to be able to compete against Usain Bolt. Just like if you put Usain Bolt on a bike, they're not going to be able to compete with a world-class cyclist.

HAMILTON: The skills just don't transfer. Jon Hamilton, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF ALLEM IVERSOM'S "BLUE")

INSKEEP: If you want to see what a brain workout looks like, get it on your brain. It's on our health blog Shots at npr.org.

1 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。

2 dual   

adj.双的；二重的，二元的

参考例句：

• The people's Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for any Chinese national.中华人民共和国不承认中国公民具有双重国籍。
• He has dual role as composer and conductor.他兼作曲家及指挥的双重身分。

3 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

4 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。