第2102期:Brain stimulation boosts memory

Our brain works by firing off electrical impulses. The team at Boston University used this in order to boost memory.

我们的大脑通过发送电脉冲来工作。美国波士顿大学的研究团队就利用了这一原理来提高人们的记忆力。

They asked volunteers to wear a cap filled with electrodes, then used precise electrical currents to alter their brainwaves in 20-minute sessions of brain stimulation. These took place every day for four days, and the group's ability to remember a list of words was tested. The results, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, showed improvements in memory lasted at least a month.

研究人员让志愿者戴上一顶装满电极的帽子，然后用精确的电流改变其脑电波，对大脑进行每次20分钟的无创刺激。实验连续进行了四天，然后测试了志愿者们记忆一组单词的能力。测试的结果发表在《自然-神经科学》期刊上，志愿者们记忆力改善的效果至少维持了一个月。

The researchers were able to boost two types of memory. They improved the volunteers' long-term memory, which is how we can remember our first day at school, and also working memory, which is for the here and now, such as remembering what platform your train's on.

研究人员能够提高两种类型的记忆。他们改善了志愿者的长期记忆，就是帮助我们记得第一天上学时的情景的记忆，同时还改善了工作记忆，就是用于记住此时此刻发生的事情的记忆，比如马上要乘坐火车的站台号。

The researchers are now investigating whether this technology can be used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, when brain cells have already started dying, as well as in schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

研究人员正在研究这项技术能否用于治疗患病时脑细胞已开始萎缩的阿尔茨海默病，以及精神分裂症和强迫症。

词汇表

firing off 发射，发送
electrical impulses 电脉冲
boost 提高，改善
electrodes 电极
electrical currents 电流
brainwaves 脑电波
stimulation 刺激
long-term memory 长期记忆
the here and now 此时此刻，当前
brain cells 脑细胞
schizophrenia 精神分裂症
obsessive-compulsive disorder 强迫症