有研究者发现，吃得少能提高记忆力。

　　Skipping dessert and having an after-dinner coffee instead could also be good for your brain, as well as your waistline.

　　放弃餐后甜点，来一杯餐后咖啡，有益于你的脑子，也有助于控制你的腰围。

　　The news comes from an Italian study into ‘calorific restriction’ – the idea that near-starvation rations boost health and extend life.

　　这样的说法来自于一个意大利的关于“卡路里限制”的研究，而研究显示，接近饥饿的食物配给能有助于促进健康和延长寿命。

　　Scientists have long known of the phenomenon, but have struggled to work out just what it is about severely cutting calories that improves health.

　　科学家们在很久以前就得知这种现象，但通过近期的努力钻研，科学家们才知晓大量减少卡路里能增进身体健康到底是怎么一回事。

　　Researcher Giovambattista Pani decided to focus on a protein called CREB1 that is known to be important to memory and learning.

　　科学家Giovambattista Pani决定对一种名为CREB1的蛋白质作针对性研究，而这种蛋白质对于学习能力和记忆能力是十分重要的。

　　In experiments on mice, he showed that cutting calories boosted learning if the animals could still make CREB1. He also showed that cutting calories boosts the amount of the protein made in the brain. The animals’ calorie count was only cut by 25 to 30 per cent. In human terms, this equates to about 600 calories a day.

　　在老鼠的实体试验中，他发现在老鼠大脑持续产出CREB1的情况下，减少卡路里能增加记忆能力。同时，他也得出，减少卡路里也能促进大脑细胞数量的增长。实验中只是让小白鼠减少25-30%的卡路里摄入，而在人体内，这相当于每天减少600卡路里。

　　A cup of tea or coffee may also be beneficial, with studies crediting caffeine with upping the amount of CREB1 made in the body. The work by Dr Pani, of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome is detailed in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

　　研究显示，咖啡因能让身体多产CREB1蛋白质。那么，喝一杯茶，或是品一杯咖啡会是非常有益。这个研究项目由罗马圣心天主教大学的Pani博士负责，该研究的具体细节刊登在《国家科学院学报》的期刊论文上。

　　Dr Pani said: ‘It is just 25 to 30 per cent fewer calories. It is like not eating a cake at the end of the meal. This gives us a tool to better investigate this brain circuitry and try to figure out more drugs that do the same. We are trying a couple of compounds right now on animals but it is at a very preliminary stage.

　　Pani博士表示：“这项实验仅仅需要减少25-30%的卡路里，只是让你感觉像是没吃餐后甜点一样。这为我们提供了更好的研究大脑路径的方法，我们也尝试找出更多的药物减少卡路里，提高记忆。我们即将在活体上尝试几种复合物，但这还停留在非常初步的阶段。”

　　Keeping the brain young could be of huge value in an ageing population. Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia affect more than 800,000 Britons, and the number expected to double in a generation.

　　在人口老龄化的今天，保持大脑活性将拥有巨大的价值。阿尔茨海默氏症以及其它形式的痴呆症影响着超过80万英国人，而下一代患痴呆症的人数将会是上述数据的两倍。

　　Dr Pani said: ‘Our findings identify for the first time an important mediator of the effects of diet on the brain. This discovery has important implications to develop future therapies to keep our brain young and prevent brain degeneration and the ageing process. Our hope is to find a way to activate CREB1, for example through new drugs, so to keep the brain young without the need of a strict diet.’

　　Pani博士表示：“我们的研究第一次确认了饮食习惯对大脑产生影响的中介物质。这次的发现意义重大，我们可以研发出创新疗法，让我们的大脑保持活性，还能防止大脑衰退和老龄化进程。我们希望寻求一种激活CREB1蛋白质的方法，例如通过新药(而不是制定严格的饮食计划)就能让大脑保持活性。”