第1926期:Memory research wins Brain Prize

How the brain actually holds memories was for years something that was too difficult to understand.

多年来，大脑实际上如何保存记忆一直是一件很难理解的事情。

But scientists then realised than one part of it, called the hippocampus, plays the crucial role. Inside it there are billions of connections between the brain cells. And when those links becomes stronger, that's the key mechanism allowing us to remember.

但科学家们随后意识到，其中一个被称为海马体的部分发挥着至关重要的作用。 在它的内部，脑细胞之间有数十亿个连接。 当这些联系变得更强时，这就是让我们记住的关键机制。

So, one crucial discovery is that the brain can change: creating new connections, and breaking them. Another is that faults with this process can be linked to conditions including depression, autism, addiction and Alzheimer's.

因此，一项重要的发现是大脑可以改变：创造新的联系，然后打破它们。另一个原因是，这一过程的错误可能与抑郁症、自闭症、成瘾症和阿尔茨海默氏症等疾病有关。

词汇表

hippocampus 海马体
mechanism 机制
depression 抑郁，忧伤
autism 自闭症，孤独症
addiction 嗜好，瘾
Alzheimer's 阿尔茨海默病