美国国家公共电台 NPR Older Adults' Forgetfulness Tied To Faulty Brain Rhythms In Sleep

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

As people get older, they're less likely to get a good night's sleep and also less likely to remember things. Now scientists think they know why. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports.

JON HAMILTON, BYLINE¹: Sleep is when we turn short-term memories into memories that can last a lifetime. But Matt Walker at the University of California, Berkeley says exactly how the sleeping brain does this has been a mystery.

MATTHEW WALKER: What is it about sleep that seems to perform this elegant trick of cementing new facts into the neural² architecture of the brain?

HAMILTON: To find out, Walker and a team of scientists had 20 young adults learn more than 100 pairs of words.

WALKER: And then we put electrodes on their head and we had them sleep.

HAMILTON: The researchers monitored the rhythmic³ electrical waves produced by the brain during deep sleep.

WALKER: And then the next morning, we actually performed a memory test.

HAMILTON: To see how many word pairs they remembered. And Walker says people remembered more pairs if two types of brainwaves had been highly synchronized⁵ during deep sleep.

WALKER: When those two brain waves were perfectly⁶ coinciding, that's when you seemed to get this fantastic transfer of memory within the brain from short-term, vulnerable storage sites to these more permanent, safe, long-term storage sites.

HAMILTON: Next, the team repeated the experiment with 32 people in their 60s and 70s. They remembered fewer word pairs than younger people had. And Walker says their brainwaves were less coordinated⁷.

WALKER: It's like a drummer that's perhaps just one beat off the rhythm. The aging brain just doesn't seem to be able to synchronize⁴ its brain waves effectively.

HAMILTON: Randolph Helfrich, another member of the UC Berkeley team, says missing the beat by even a tiny amount can prevent the brain from hitting the save button on short-term memories.

RANDOLPH HELFRICH: So if you're, like, 50 milliseconds too early, 50 milliseconds too late, then this consolidation⁸ and storing mechanism⁹ actually doesn't work.

HAMILTON: The finding, which appears in the journal Neuron, could lead to a new way of treating memory problems. Matt Walker says that by delivering electrical or magnetic pulses through the scalp at night, it may be possible to re-synchronize brain waves that have lost the beat.

WALKER: What we're going to try and do is act like a metronome and, in doing so, see if we can actually salvage¹⁰ aspects of learning and memory in older adults and those with dementia.

HAMILTON: Walker says restoring rhythm in the brain also should improve the quality of their sleep.

Jon Hamilton, NPR News.

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 neural   

adj.神经的，神经系统的

参考例句：

• The neural network can preferably solve the non- linear problem.利用神经网络建模可以较好地解决非线性问题。
• The information transmission in neural system depends on neurotransmitters.信息传递的神经途径有赖于神经递质。

3 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。

4 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。

5 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

6 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

7 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 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

9 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

10 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。