2009-02-01&02-03 我要捐出我的大脑

Ted¹ Johnson does not hide in the sun anymore. His head, once as battered² as the helmet he wore as a New England Patriots³ linebacker for ten seasons, no longer hurts every day. 

Get a nick there.

But it took three years to stop.

I got some championships out of it. But, I don't know, at the end of the day when you are in that doctor's room, you know, those rings aren't really worth it.

Super Bowl memories are only worth it, if you can remember them.

I almost forgot what I was like before. Before the hits, l couldn't remember, and I just lost myself for the last three years.

Johnson once laid such a hard hit. He cracked an opponent's helmet in two. But after too many such collisions, it was his suddenly solitary⁴ world that was facing fracture. Considering electric shock therapy as the last resort, Johnson happened to meet Chris Nowinski, a former football player at Harvard who turned to professional wrestling after college.

I was telling him, I just don't know what was wrong with me. He goes, well, I'm gonna tell you my symptoms and see if they match with, you know, see if you recognize any of them, mental fatigue⁵, physical fatigue, irritability⁶, the sleep disorder⁷, the cognitive⁸ deficiencies, Do any of those match? I was like, all of them match.

I realized when I was visiting a lot of doctors, they weren't giving me very good answers about what was wrong with my head. So I got every original study ever done on multiple concussions¹⁰ and what it does to you. And I read everything, and I realized that there was a ton of evidence showing that concussion⁹ leads to depression. Multiple concussions can lead to Alzheimer's disease.

Nowinski led Johnson to Dr. Robert Cantu who diagnosed the linebacker's post-concussion syndrome¹¹ but also warned him of a bigger threat, chronic¹² traumatic encephalopathy also called CTE, which seems to cause early onset¹³ of Alzheimer's disease in athletes who suffered multiple concussions.

the really terrible thing is a lot of these people have this progressive even after they stop the activities that caused it.

The fact of the matter was that these guys were dying because they play sports, 10, 20 years before.

Chris Nowinski and Dr. Cantu joined to form the Sports Legacy¹⁴ Institute, which asks athletes to donate their brains upon death for research into CTE. Johnson was one of the first to agree.

My main reason feeling talking about this is to help those, you know, help the guys that were already retired¹⁵ and didn't know what's wrong that are getting divorced, going bankrupt, can't work, depressed¹⁶, don't know what's wrong with them.

I see new stories everyday about guys, you know, falling on hard times or getting arrested doing crazy things as you think. And that used to be a guy who had it all together. And, you know, I'm wondering if concussions had played a role.

And some day, one of those guys could be Ted Johnson, better now, but still a great risk to get CTE.

I just get those thoughts out of my head. I've, you know, I've filled my quota¹⁷ for bad days in this lifetime in the last three years.

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

3 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

4 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

5 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

6 irritability   

n.易怒

参考例句：

• It was the almost furtive restlessness and irritability that had possessed him. 那是一种一直纠缠着他的隐秘的不安和烦恼。
• All organisms have irritability while alive. 所有生物体活着时都有应激性。

7 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

8 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。

9 concussion   

n.脑震荡；震动

参考例句：

• He was carried off the field with slight concussion.他因轻微脑震荡给抬离了现场。
• She suffers from brain concussion.她得了脑震荡。

10 concussions   

n.震荡( concussion的名词复数 )；脑震荡；冲击；震动

参考例句：

• People who have concussions often trouble thinking or remembering. 患脑震荡的人通常存在思考和记忆障碍。 来自互联网
• Concussions also make a person feel very tired or angry. 脑震荡也会使人感觉疲倦或愤怒。 来自互联网

11 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

12 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

13 onset   

n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始

参考例句：

• The drug must be taken from the onset of the infection.这种药必须在感染的最初期就开始服用。
• Our troops withstood the onset of the enemy.我们的部队抵挡住了敌人的进攻。

14 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

15 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

16 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

17 quota   

n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额

参考例句：

• A restricted import quota was set for meat products.肉类产品设定了进口配额。
• He overfulfilled his production quota for two months running.他一连两个月超额完成生产指标。