How Your Memory Works -- and Why Forgetting Is Totally OK | Lisa Genova | TED

Transcriber:

翻译人员: Jacky He 校对人员: Yan Li Xiao

回想下上个星期里，

你有无发生过忘记手机放哪里的事？

有没有想说一个词却找不到它，

却想不起一位演员的名字 或是朋友推荐过的电影名？

Thinking about the past week,

did any of you forget where you put your phone?

Did you have a word stuck on the tip of your tongue,

有没有忘记去倒垃圾 或洗完衣服后忘记拿去烘干？

you couldn't remember the name of an actor

or that movie a friend recommended?

或是去便利店买东西时 漏掉了一些商品？

Did you forget to take out the trash

到底怎么了？ 是你的记忆力下降了吗？

or move the laundry from the washer to the dryer

并不是，

or to pick up something from the grocery store you meant to buy?

记忆本来就是这样的。

尽管记忆在我们的生活中，

What is going on here, is your memory failing?

是一种奇迹般、不可或缺 又十分普遍的存在，

It's not.

It's doing exactly what it's supposed to do.

但它并不完美。

我们的大脑并不是为了记住人的名字、 接下来要做什么，

For all its miraculous,

necessary and pervasive presence in our lives,

memory is far from perfect.

或记录我们遇到的每件事而设计的。

Our brains are not designed to remember people's names,

这些瑕疵只是大脑的“默认设置”。

to do something later

即使在最聪明的头脑中， 记忆也会出差错：

or to catalogue everything we encounter.

These imperfections are simply the factory settings.

一位因成功记忆 100,000 位圆周率而出名的人，

Even in the smartest of heads, memory is fallible.

也可能忘记他妻子的生日，

或者他走到客厅要干什么。

A man famous for memorizing over 100,000 digits of pi

我们中多数人都会忘记 自己前一天的大部分经历，

can also forget his wife's birthday

or why he walked into the living room.

也就是说，我们对自己 生活的记忆少之又少。

Most of us will forget the majority of what we experienced today

这值得思索。

究竟是什么决定着 我们选择留下哪些记忆呢？

by tomorrow.

Added up, this means we actually don't remember most of our own lives.

这里有两个超级常见 的记忆翻车的案例，

Think about that.

So what determines what we remember and what we forget?

我会解释为什么这都是正常的：

Here are two examples of supercommon memory failures

一： 我把手机，

钥匙、眼镜、汽车放哪儿了？

and why they're totally normal.

要形成持久性记忆的

Number one, where did I put my phone,

第一要素便是专注程度。

my keys, my glasses, my car?

你的记忆并不是一台录像机， 记录着你接触到的每一帧场景；

The first necessary ingredient in creating a memory

that lasts longer than the present moment

is attention.

你只会记得你关注的那段。

Your memory is not a video camera

recording a constant stream of every sight and sound you're exposed to.

举个很常见的例子：

我经常开车从波斯顿到科德角；

You can only remember what you pay attention to.

大概开了一小时之后， 我会经过萨加莫尔桥——

Here's an example that will probably feel familiar.

一架大型四车道、 极有辨识度的桥梁。

I often drive from Boston to Cape Cod.

About an hour into this trip I cross the Sagamore Bridge,

在过桥后开了 10 英里， 大约 10 分钟后，

a really big, four-lane, cannot-miss-it structure.

我突然寻思......

我已经开过那座桥了吗？

And then about 10 miles and a mere 10 minutes later,

我一点都记不起来我开过桥了，

因为这个记忆本来就没有存在过。

I'll suddenly wonder, wait,

did I already go over the bridge?

光光感官捕捉到信息是不够的，

I can't recall going over the bridge

because that memory was never created in the first place.

没有绷紧注意力这根弦的情况下， 大脑无法将感官信息转化为记忆存储。

It's not enough for my senses to perceive information.

My brain can't consolidate any sensory information into a lasting memory

所以，即使我无数次驶过这座桥，

因为当时我正沉浸于思考中， 或者在全神贯注地听书，

without the neural input of attention.

我的注意力被转移了。

So because I've driven over that bridge countless times

开过桥的事在几秒内 就从我的脑海中消失了......

and because I was probably lost in thought or listening to an audio book,

彻底消失了。

so my attention pulled elsewhere,

当你忘记某人说的话、 刚碰面的人的名字或你停车的位置，

the experience of driving over it slipped out of my brain within seconds,

gone without a trace.

以及是否已经开车驶过了一座大桥，

The number one reason for forgetting what someone said,

所有这类遗忘的罪魁祸首 就是注意力缺乏。

the name of a person you just met,

where you parked your car

二：

“噢，他叫什么名字来着？”

and whether you already drove over a really big bridge

is lack of attention.

有一天，我怎么也想不起来 在 HBO 的连续剧“黑道家族”中，

Number two,

扮演托尼·索普拉诺 （Tony Soprano）演员的名字； 但我知道他的名字肯定在我的大脑某处。

"Oh, what is his name?"

One day I couldn't come up with the name

我可以告诉你关于他的各种事情，

of the actor who played Tony Soprano in the HBO series "The Sopranos."

但就是说不出他的名字。

I knew his name was stored somewhere in my brain,

我最终放弃，然后谷歌了一下：

“扮演托尼·索普拉诺的演员。”

and I could tell you all kinds of things about him,

杰姆斯·甘道夫（James Gandolfini）。

but I could not produce his name.

没错，就是他！

I eventually gave up and googled it.

词语阻碍，也叫“嘴边忘词”，

"Actor who played Tony Soprano."

是记忆异常最常见的状况之一。

James Gandolfini.

Yes, that's it.

你很努力地回想着一个词， 通常是名词，

Blocking on a word, also called tip of the tongue,

但怎么样都无法 让它在脑海里出现。

is one of the most common experiences of memory failure.

这又是为什么？

You're trying to come up with a word, most often a proper noun,

通常当有关该词的神经元

but you cannot, for the life of you, retrieve it on demand.

没有被全部或者高度激活时，

才会出现忘词。

Why does this happen?

Blocking on a word can occur when there's only partial

而我们经常会联想到

or weak activation of the neurons

一个在发音或含义上 类似的词来作为替代；

that connect to the word you're looking for.

这些间接相关的词被贬义地称作

We often come up with a loosely related word instead,

原词的“丑妹妹”；

something similar in sound or meaning.

更加糟糕的是，

找出一个“丑妹妹” 会造成相反的效果：

These obliquely related words are rather unfortunately called

the ugly sister of the target.

这些“冒牌货”会把你的大脑活动 转移到它们的神经通路那儿，

And even more unfortunately,

zeroing in on an ugly sister will only make the situation worse.

愈加远离你想找的单词。

所以当你检索目标单词时，

These decoys lead your brain activity down neural pathways that go to them

你其实会说出那个“冒牌货”。

and not to the word you're looking for.

举个例子：

最近我问我男朋友，

So now when you try to retrieve the word in question,

“那个著名冲浪运动员叫啥？

all you can come up with is the ugly sister.

兰斯 （Lance）？”

“不，应该不叫兰斯。”

Here's an example.

I recently asked my boyfriend,

他知道我指的是谁，

但就是想不起来名字。

"What's the name of that famous surfer?

我们都有些受挫。

Lance?

原来，我脱口而出的那个错误名字，

No, it's not Lance."

He knew who I was talking about,

使得我男朋友的大脑 锁定在“丑妹妹”——

but he couldn't come up with it either.

兰斯·阿姆斯特朗——上，

We were both stumped.

And turns out my blurting out the wrong name

于是他陷进了错的 神经区而且出不来了。

set my boyfriend's brain to Lance Armstrong,

“丑妹妹”也能解释以下这种情况：

the ugly sister.

在很久之后， 当你不再试图去想这个名字时，

Now, he was stuck in the wrong neural neighborhood and couldn't get out.

它又会突然不知从哪儿冒出来。

The ugly sister also explains this phenomenon.

Much later, once you've stopped trying to find the word,

拉尔德·汉密尔顿。 (Laird Hamilton)

对，就是这个名字！

这是怎么回事？

it suddenly bubbles to the surface, seemingly out of nowhere.

通过停止搜索，

你的大脑消除对“丑妹妹”的执念，

Laird Hamilton.

Yes, that's it.

让正确的神经元得以被激活。

Why does that happen?

By calling off the hunt,

“话到嘴边”，

your brain can stop perseverating on the ugly sister,

特别是忘记一个人名，是非常普遍的。

giving the correct set of neurons a chance to be activated.

25 岁的年轻人每周 都会有几次“嘴边忘词”，

Tip of the tongue,

especially blocking on a person's name, is totally normal.

但是他们并不会为此焦虑，

因为健忘和阿尔茨海默症 离他们的年龄段还很遥远。

Twenty-five-year-olds can experience several tip of the tongues a week,

与他们的父母不同的是，

but young people don't sweat them, in part because old age,

年轻人会毫不犹豫的 将记忆工作托付给智能手机。

memory loss and Alzheimer's are nowhere on their radars.

这让我想到了重要的一点：

And unlike their parents,

许多人会担心， 用谷歌搜索忘记的词汇，

they don't hesitate in outsourcing the job to their smart phones.

像是在作弊似的，加剧了问题，

Which brings me to an important point.

造成记忆的削弱；

Many of you are worried that if you use Google to look up your blocked words

甚至担心谷歌就像“高科技拐杖”，

会引起“数码痴呆”。

then you're cheating and contributing to the problem,

这是一种误会：

weakening your memory.

用谷歌搜索 “谁演的托尼·索普拉诺”

You're worried that Google is a high-tech crutch

that's going to give you digital amnesia.

不会削弱你的记忆力。

This belief is misinformed.

同样的，坚持在记忆中搜寻他的名字，

Looking up the name of the actor who played Tony Soprano

而感觉很难受，

doesn't weaken my memory's ability whatsoever.

不会增强你的记忆力，

Likewise, suffering through the mental pain

更不会给你赢得任何徽章。

and insisting on coming up with his name on my own

大可不必为记忆献身。

时不时地忘词

doesn't make my memory stronger

or come with any trophies for doing so.

是利用记忆时常发生的小事，

You don't have to be a memory martyr.

是我们大脑各部门分工的副产品。

Having a word stuck on the tip of your tongue

就像你眼睛近视 或老花了需要带眼镜，

is a totally normal glitch in memory retrieval,

说话忘词时，

也完全可以使用谷歌搜索。

a byproduct of how our brains are organized.

记忆是美妙的，

You wear glasses if your eyes need help seeing,

在几乎我们做的每件事中起到核心作用，

you have my permission to use Google

if a word is stuck on the tip of your tongue.

但是也会使你忘记给妈妈打电话，

Memory is amazing

忘记把眼镜放哪了，

and is essential for the functioning of almost everything we do,

和忘记上周二中午你吃的东西。

but it will also forget to call your mother,

这使人懊恼，但不足以上升到 需要诊断、让人恐慌或惭愧的地步。

where you put those glasses,

我们忘事，其实是我们 作为正常人类的表现。

and what you ate for lunch last Tuesday.

Frustrating, but not a cause for diagnosis, panic or shame.

谢谢聆听。

主持人：我代表观众

Most of what we forget is just a normal part of being human.

为你鼓掌致意。

我现在感觉好多了，

Thank you.

这是你的功劳。

David Biello: I will stand in for the audience

我想我们多少会 为自己的记忆感到忧心，

to give you my own personal standing ovation.

尤其是这次疫情之后。

I personally feel so much better.

我看已经有观众提出了一些问题；

So thank you for that.

I think we all get a little concerned about our memories,

不过在这一环节前， 我个人有个十分重要的问题，

particularly after this pandemic.

那就是：我应该对我

And I see that we already have some questions from the audience.

每次走到一个房间 而忘记我去那儿干什么

But before we get into that, I have to ask one very important personal question,

而感到担忧吗？

这要紧吗？

which is, should I be worried,

我应该为此感到焦虑吗？

because every time I get up and go to another room,

丽萨·吉诺瓦：不，你不必为此焦虑，

而这也是我写这本书中 最重要的动机之一就是

I forget why I've gone there.

Is that is that troubling?

很多人，尤其是在过了 40 岁以后，

Should I be nervous?

LG: No, you should not be nervous.

经常会短暂地遗忘。

And that's one of the big take-homes of why I wrote the book I just wrote,

然后我们心里便想： “天啊，我是不是精神失常了，

there's so many people, especially over the age of 40,

我快老年痴呆了。”

who experience normal moments of forgetting

这是可能出现的场景 ——

but now we are keyed into it

你在卧室里，正准备读一本书，

and we think, "Oh, my God, does this mean I'm losing my mind,

现在是就寝时间，

看书是你的睡前习惯；

I'm going to get Alzheimer's."

So here's what happens when you have that --

然后发现忘记把眼镜放哪了。

so you're in your bedroom and you're getting ready to read a book,

你想它可能在厨房，

所以你去了趟厨房；

it's bedtime,

这时你就产生了这份关于，

that's what you do before bed.

And you realize you've forgotten your glasses.

你之后想做啥的记忆，

这就是前瞻性记忆。

And you're like, they're probably in the kitchen.

我像大多数人习惯的一样计划着：

So you go walk down to the kitchen

“一会去超市，我要买点牛奶。”

and you created the memory,

the intention of what you plan to do later.

That's called your prospective memory.

“我得记着给妈妈打电话。”

So it's like, I intend -- we do this all the time, right?

“我还得去干洗店拿衣服。”

这些是我们未来要做的事。

"When I go to the grocery store later, I need to buy milk."

我们的大脑在这方面 很不擅长，且天生如此。

"I need to remember to call my mother."

"I need to remember to pick up the dry cleaning," right?

如果在手机里写一个任务清单，

These things that we plan to do in the future.

人们会觉得像是在作弊。

Our brains are terrible at them, like, inherently terrible.

不，这其实是良好的做法，对吧？

就像飞行员不依靠 他们的前瞻性记忆，

So people feel like they're cheating if they create to-do lists, checklists,

来提醒他们飞机落地 前要放下起落架。

put it in their phone.

他们会把记忆“外包”——

No, this is just good practice, right?

用任务清单替代大脑，对吧？

So pilots don't rely on their prospective memories

to remember to put down the wheels before landing the plane.

可以肯定，使用任务 清单是不错的选择。

那么说你有了这个想法：

They outsource the job.

到了厨房，

Don't use your brain, use the checklist, right?

我得找眼镜。

So, like, using a checklist is sound practice.

我到了厨房， 但我又不知道我来这做什么；

So anyway, you made this intention,

我可以解释说，前瞻性记忆并不靠谱。

this memory of, like, when I get to the kitchen,

I'm going to look for glasses.

但也因为这 10 秒钟的记忆

You show up in the kitchen, you're like, "I don't know why I'm here."

和“我得记住 4 点的那个视频会议”不同。

Part of the reason is prospective memory sucks.

所以这背后是什么道理呢？

But we've only asked it to remember something for 10 seconds.

在这种状况下另一个因素是情境，

It's not like, "Oh, I need to remember to go to my Zoom meeting at four o'clock."

它对记忆影响很大。

So what's going on?

包括各种暗示、潜在联系、

The other key in this situation has to do with context.

感官接收、感性认知、我们的心情，

So memory is very much influenced by context.

和任何与我们正在记忆的 事情有关的因素。

The cues, the associations,

情境帮助记忆形成，

the sensory information, the emotional information, our mood,

并且帮我们再一次找到它，

anything that is linked to the thing we're trying to remember.

因为记忆本质是 联系紧密的神经网络。

So context helps us form a memory

比如在卧室里，你被书架、 你读的书、就寝时间

and context helps us retrieve that memory

相应地提醒着：

because memory is the connected neural network of associations.

“哦，我需要眼镜。”

So in the bedroom, all the cues for what you needed were there, right?

但是当你走到厨房，你想：

“我饿了吗...还是渴了？”

The bookcase, the book you're reading, the time of day, it's bedtime,

因为你收到的信号是：

“我是来吃饭吗？”

"Oh, I need glasses."

而不是关于你未注意到的眼镜。

You show up in the kitchen and you're like,

所以当你走进房间你想：

"Am I hungry? Am I thirsty?"

“我不知道我为什么来这，”

Because, right, the cues are signaling,

你并没有发疯， 也没得阿尔茨海默症，

"Is it a meal? Is it what?"

And not the glasses that you didn't notice.

你的记忆也没啥问题。

So when you walk into the room and you're like,

只要回到来这之前的那个房间，

"I don't know why I'm here,"

you're not going crazy, you're not getting Alzheimer's,

动身走过去或在想象中过去，

your memory isn't terrible.

重现那些相关的情景特征，

It's, go back to the room you were in before you landed in this one,

就能顷刻摆脱刚才的困惑。

either in your mind's eye or physically do it

DB: 有些观众，如 Mel 和 Lorraine，

and imagine the cues that were there and it will instantly deliver

what you were completely befuddled by a moment ago.

都想知道一个问题。

相反，你怎么样会觉得

DB: So a question that's come in from a number of our audience members,

某些记忆规律是异常征兆，

including Mel and Lorraine, is the flip side of this.

So when would you consider,

或你需要进一步的筛查诊断呢？

or what kinds of memory cues would be signs of abnormality

LG：噢，我挺喜欢这个问题，

因为我认为这中间 太长时间有种不合。

or you should get further testing and checking?

事实上，人们容易接受

LG: Oh, I love this question, too,

自己颈部以下的身体

because I think that for too long there's been this disconnect with,

有某些缺陷，

尤其是心脏有关的问题。

我们很多人都会 记录每天的步数，

you know, people are comfortable thinking

或是去诊所测血压，

about having an influence over their health

from the neck down, right?

或测量我们的胆固醇指标；

So especially with heart health,

大家也想努力改变不良的因素，

a lot of us count our number of steps

or we'll go to the doctor and get blood pressure taken.

降低我们心脏病发的概率。

And do we have high cholesterol?

How can I influence these factors, right?

但是大部分人都认为 他们无力改变大脑的健康。

How can I influence the likelihood that I'll get a heart attack later?

这个问题就好在，

我们能察觉到些什么？

而我们该如何对这些信息作出反应？

But most people don't think they have any influence over their brain health.

如果真有问题总不能 吓得谁也不告诉吧。

And so this question is great because it's like,

所有与大脑搭边的问题，特别是记忆，

well, what can I notice?

And then what do I do with that information, right?

都似乎关系到脸面。

So, like, don't just panic and don't tell anyone.

但这可以是你与你 医生交流的重要信息。

There's so much shame and stigma attached to anything going on with the brain

你的思路清晰吗？

and particularly memory.

你今天记忆力怎么样？

一年前又是什么样？

But this becomes information

that you can be in conversation with your doctor about.

不停变化吗？

有什么区别？

单单忘记他人的名字

So what is your cognition?

What is your memory today

其实很正常。

and what does it look like a year from now?

名字就像住在神经系统的死胡同里，

Is it changing?

And so what are the differences?

很多事情最终会牵扯到它们，

So forgetting people's names,

但是就是很难把它们找出来。

totally normal.

Names sort of, live in, like, little neurological cul de sacs

要前往胡同底的房子，

like, ultimately lots of things connected to them,

只能走这一条路。

而普遍的名字、名词

but really hard in the end to just produce the words,

就像在美国大街上的十字路口；

you've got to get to that house at the end of that street,

你可以通过不同方式前往，

there's only one way in.

Whereas common names, common nouns are like,

来去方便。

如果你说话时经常开始忘词——

in the intersections on Main Street, USA,

比如我问，“哦， 你写字用的工具叫什么？

like, you can get, there are a number of different ways,

and it's super easy to get in and out.

你写字用的那个......那个怎么说？”

If you start forgetting common words frequently --

“笔？” “哦对，想起来了。”

so if I'm like, "Oh, what's the name of the thing you write with?

如果这种事情发生， 背后肯定有些原因；

倒不一定是老年痴呆。

The thing you write with. What's that"

重现、产生记忆时出现问题

"Pen?" "Yeah" --

if that starts happening, that could be something.

有很多种解释，

Doesn't have to be Alzheimer's.

也许是睡眠缺乏，

也许是维生素 B12 不足， 或者是其他各种情况；

There are lots of reasons for having issues with retrieving memories

所以不能马上 咬定是阿尔茨海默症；

这些应该是容易解决的。

making new memories.

It can be sleep deprivation,

所以最好密切关心你自己的大脑。

it could be B12, it can be lots of things.

另外需要理解事物的运作逻辑和用途。

So you don't have to just jump to Alzheimer's.

But it is something that you can hopefully address.

举个例子，我的朋友 格雷格·奥布莱恩 (Greg O’Brien) 患有老年痴呆症。

Again, be involved in your brain health.

他举了一个我很喜欢 并用在书中的例子；

The other has to do with understanding how things work,

what things are for.

很多人会说“我记不得把车停哪儿了”。

So, like, my friend Greg O'Brien has Alzheimer's

我也经历过同样的事情：

and he uses the example which I love and I used in my book is,

我开去商场，出来后

就找不到我车库里的车位了。

a lot of people say I can't remember where I parked my car.

这我的确碰到过。

对于格雷格来说， 在他还在开车的年代，

That happened to me the other day.

I was in the mall, I got out,

他开到一个地方，

I couldn't remember where in the garage I parked the car.

停好车，有事要下车一分钟；

I've certainly done this.

For Greg, who has Alzheimer's, it's he drives somewhere,

比如说去丢垃圾。

“我来到垃圾堆，把垃圾扔出去,

back when he used to drive,

然后转身就站在我的车前面

parks his car, gets out, like, does something for a minute.

但认不出它是我的。”

So his example's the dump.

这是语义记忆：

"I went to the dump, threw the trash out,

“那辆车就是我的黄色吉普， 但我不认得它。”

turned around standing in front of my car.

然后还忘记自己开过去这件事。

Don't recognize it as mine."

So that's a semantic memory.

后者是一段情节记忆， 是有关发生事情的记忆。

That car is my yellow jeep and I don't recognize it.

所以就在几分钟前，

我开车前往垃圾堆， 但我现在不记得我去过了。

And then B, forgets that he drove there.

所以这和“我的车停四楼还是五楼?”

So that's an episodic memory, a memory for what happened.

不是一回事。

So just a few minutes ago,

I drove to the dump and now I don't remember that I did that.

DB：对。

现在我们有位观众， 乔治·韦斯 (George Weiss)，

为了帮助我们更好地记忆，

And so that's not the same as, like, "Did I park on level four or five?"

想知道调节饮食 是否可以让我们避免失忆。

DB: Yeah.

So George Weiss,

in the helping-us-remember-better vein,

是否可以通过类似填字游戏这种 或更深层次的社交联系，

wants to know can diet help us to avoid memory loss

或者其他方式，

训练你的神经元 以获得更好的记忆力呢?

and can you, kind of, exercise your neurons into better memory

你摇头表示不行—— 这是简明的答案。

through crossword puzzles or deeper relationships

丽萨·吉诺瓦：是和不是。 我也喜欢这个问题，谢谢你。

嗯，所以我告诉人们， 这没有什么诀窍，

or anything like that?

You're shaking your head no, so that's the short answer.

我也不能给你什么保健药丸，

LG: Yes and no. Again, I love this question, so thank you.

让你不经历“嘴边忘词”

Yeah, so I tell folks, like, there's no real gimmick to this,

或帮助你记住你的下一个 TED 演讲。

like there's no supplement I can give you

这种药剂不存在。

填字游戏也没多大用处；

that's going to keep you from experiencing a tip of the tongue

我不知道这是谁“发明”的。

or help you memorize your next TED Talk.

一般填字游戏会——

Like, there's no supplement,

想想你玩它时需干什么——

你会取用你已经知道的词，

the crossword puzzles are not the thing,

I don't know who started that one.

所以你会更加熟练地记住这些词。

So crossword puzzles are going to --

think about what you’re doing --

但这不是交叉训练，

所以它不能帮助你 日常生活中的运用。

you're retrieving words you already know.

So you're going to get better at remembering those words.

让你记得那天发生的事，

或你在你的演讲里要说什么；

But it's not cross-training.

It doesn't then help you in your day-to-day life

不是那样的。

它也没有产生新的神经通路。

remember what happened that day

or again, if you have a presentation, what you have to say.

可以说，取用已知的信息

并不能提升神经可塑性，

It doesn't work that way.

It's also not building new neural roads.

从而产生“认知储备”。

So retrieving information you already know

每次我们学习新事物时

doesn't lend itself toward neuroplasticity,

都在形成新的神经结构

which is in building something called a cognitive reserve.

和神经化学上的联系。

So every time we learn something new,

所以这么想：

we're actually building new neuroanatomical

你的大脑不仅仅是你 头骨里的粉红色团状物体、

and neurochemical connections.

脑袋里的”黑匣子“；

And so if you imagine --

它更像是个动态的不断变化的器官。

your brain isn't just this pink blob in your skull,

你的基因也影响着里面发生什么；

in this little black box in your head,

它与你的行为、经历和感受相互作用，

it's a very dynamic organ and it's changing constantly.

并自己发生改变。

随着我们学的变多了， 我们脑部的连接也增多；

And your genes are interacting with what happens.

It's interacting with what you do and experience and feel,

这一点十分重要。

因为如果你发觉自己有些不对劲，

and it changes.

有痴呆症前兆，

And the more we learn, the more connections we build.

或真患上了阿尔茨海默症；

And this is important

because if you do start to experience some pathology,

你还会有很多储备。

你有替代的连接，

that is sort of, pre-Alzheimer's,

可以绕过有问题的地方。

or if you start to get Alzheimer's,

所以学习新事物是一种途径。

you actually have a lot of reserve.

研究显示运动可降低患痴呆症的风险

You have back-up connections

that can dance around any problems or detours.

多达 50%。

我们都知道

So learning new things is one way.

日常中睡眠对于预防老年痴呆症

Exercise has been shown to decrease your risk of dementia

by up to a half.

和维护现有的记忆力都极其重要。

Just day-to-day,

we know that sleep is massively important,

我今天的记忆

能够在我睡觉时转化为长期、 稳定的记忆

both for preventing Alzheimer's and for your memory today.

和长期、稳定的神经改变与连接。

So the memories that I make today

become long-term, stable memories,

这种变化是在睡眠 的某些阶段发生的；

become long-term, stable alterations and neural connections while I sleep.

所以睡眠不是无意义的待机状态。

这是一个众多生命活动展开的阶段；

And it's during certain phases of sleep that this process happens.

它将你今天学到的信息和经验“嵌入”，

So sleep is not this passive state of doing nothing.

It's a very busy biological state.

这是最为重要的。

如果我今晚睡眠不好， 到了明天我就——

And so it's locking in the information and experiences you learn today.

我的额叶不会愿意投入白天的工作中

And so that's superimportant.

Then tomorrow, if I didn't get enough sleep tonight,

以使我保持专注，不是吗？

I'm going to --

我会感觉迟钝： “呃，我没法集中注意力......啥？”

my frontal lobe's not going to want to drag itself into its day job

如果我今天无法集中注意力， 什么不会发生？

and do the work of paying attention today, right?

新的记忆的形成。

You feel sluggish, like, "Ah, I can't pay attention. What?"

于是我不会记得昨天的事，

也不会有今天新的回忆；

If I can't pay attention, what's not going to happen today?

我只因为睡眠不足就失忆了。

Making new memories.

主持人：说得对。

So I'm not going to remember yesterday,

丽萨·吉诺瓦：科学已经很明确地证明——

I'm not going be able to make new memories today,

我们人类作为一个物种

I have a form of amnesia just from not getting enough sleep.

每晚最少得有 7 到 9 小时的睡眠。

DB: Right.

LG: So seven to nine hours a night has been shown --

关于你吃啥， 没有什么完美的研究，

the science is superclear

that this is what we need minimally as a human species.

我也不能给你编出来什么道理：

“如果你吃这些，

And then in terms of what you eat, again, there's no perfect study,

这种营养剂， 这类抗氧化药物，这组食谱

and there's no rabbit-out-of-a-hat I can pull for you,

就可以拯救你的记忆。”

or of, like, if you eat this

不是这样的。但我们至少能确定

or this nutrient, this antioxidant, this recipe,

地中海饮食，“健脑”饮食，

it's going to save your memory.

即绿叶菜、色彩明亮的食物、

It's like, no, but we know there's been enough to show us

天然未加工的食品、

that being on a Mediterranean diet, a mind diet

脂肪肥厚的鱼、橄榄油、 坚果、豆类等，

so these leafy vegetables, the brightly-colored foods,

这些是绝对能支持和改善心脏、

the whole foods,

大脑和记忆的。

fatty fishes, olive oil, nuts, beans,

但你也不用全吃这些，不是吗？

these are the kinds of foods that really fuel and support heart health,

你不可能做到 100%，

这是正常的。

但尝试大体上完成，对吧？

brain health and memory.

今天，我总体吃得怎么样？

And it doesn’t have to be 100 percent, folks, right?

这周，我的整体饮食如何？

You're not going to be perfect at this,

我还是觉得我们要有现实的期望。

and that's OK.

Try to do it overall, right?

运动、饮食、睡眠、 压力和学习新事物——

Today, what did I eat overall?

This week, how did I do overall?

Because I think we need to have realistic expectations.

学习新鲜事物其实 就是和人待在一起；

So exercise,

the diet, sleep and stress and learning new things.

如果你参与谈话，

而这种对话从未发生过；

如果你在场并专心致志，

And learning new things is also -- it's this, it's being around people.

你的大脑将受到很多有益的刺激。

If you're in conversation,

主持人：观众鲍勃想了解 我们的能力，我们大脑的潜能。

that conversation's never happened before.

So if you're present and paying attention,

your brain is getting a lot of stimulation that's superhelpful.

我们是否有脑力的极限；

就是我们到达巅峰， 就不能再提升了；

DB: So Bob wants to know about our capacity, our brain capacity.

又比如为什么孩子们似乎比

Do we have like a lifetime capacity

我这个年纪的记忆力更好呢？

and we hit it and then that's kind of it,

或者这只是，一种都市传说吗？

or is that why children seem to remember things better

丽萨·吉诺瓦：是的，这是个传言。

than maybe folks of my age?

这个说你只利用了 10% 的大脑，

Or is that just, I don't know, an urban myth?

甚至只有 5% 的大脑的理论——

有人把数字改小了——

LG: Yeah, it's myth.

我也不知道是谁“发明”的。

This idea that like, oh, you only use 10 percent of your brain

这显然不是事实。

你懂得，在任何特定的时刻

or you only use five percent of your brain,

我都会用到大脑的某些区域，对吗？

someone's making it smaller.

就好比我现在不在发怒，

I don't know who started that one, either.

That's not true.

于是我的杏仁核在闲着；

So, you know, at any given moment,

I'm using certain parts of my brain, right?

我也没有悲痛欲绝，

所以我的杏仁核其实挺放松的；

So I'm not in a rage right now,

我正睁着眼睛，

那么我的视觉皮层是活跃的。

so my amygdala is kind of chilling.

那里的神经元在传递和发送信号。

Like, I'm not grief-stricken,

如果我闭上眼睛， 那片区域就会停止运行。

so my amygdala is kind of relaxed,

and I have my eyes open,

但我的大脑的所有部件 在一天中大概都会被用到，

so my visual cortex is lit up,

and neurons there are firing.

And if I were to close my eyes, that part of my brain goes quiet.

也肯定可以随时被访问。

But all of my brain is being used at some point throughout the day, probably,

我大脑中其实 没有什么我无法利用的。

“我的脑活动被限制 在特定允许的区域”

or certainly capable of accessing it.

是一种错误的认识。

There aren't parts of my brain that I just can't seem to use

并且，你的大脑空间也不会耗尽。

你知道，我在书中举了一个人的例子：

and I'm only squirreled away into certain domains.

That is a fallacy.

原口证（Akira Haraguchi）

And no, you don't run out of room.

是一位来自日本的退休工程师；

So, you know, there's a man, I use his example in the book,

他就是那位 69 岁还能 记住 100000 位圆周率的人。

Akira Haraguchi,

a retired engineer from Japan who at the age of 69,

在一个与老年促销

和退休相关的年纪，

he's the guy who memorized over 100,000 digits of pi, right?

他正做着一件完全不可思议的事。

So at an age where we associate,

而如果我们愿意，我们也可以。

like, you know, senior discounts and retirements,

like, he's doing something that is kind of completely mind-blowing.

在任何年龄，你都是胜任的。

随着岁数的增大，

你不会失去你所获得的信息、

And we can all do this if we wanted to.

So no, at any age, you’re capable --

所学的东西、你的语义记忆；

So as you grow older,

这就是为什么你积累了 完整的知识体系。

you don't lose the information of stuff you've learned.

那么你现在更加睿智了，不是吗？

因为你知道了 各种事物的内在联系,

So the stuff, your semantic memory.

你也可以利用你积累的智慧。

So this is why you've accumulated a body of knowledge

你现在都会了！

and you've got wisdom now, right?

并不是回忆逐渐消失，

Because now you know how it all fits

而是你一直在积累它。

and you can use that wisdom you've collected.

你可能这样想，

You've got that.

“哦，我不太记得童年的往事了，

It's not that that starts to go away.

我真的想不起来。”

You accumulate that.

或者 “我没办法告诉你 我 10 岁时发生了什么”。

And you might think like,

这类情况跟情景有关。

"Oh, I don't remember much from childhood.

记忆还在那里。

如果你住在纽约，

I can't really think about,"

like, "I can't tell you what happened when I was 10."

周围全是摩天大楼和繁华的生活，

This has more to do with context.

It's still in there.

而你在佛蒙特州郊区长大；

So if, you know, if you live in New York and you’re, you know,

“我记不得 10 岁时发生了什么”。

那么回到你儿时的社区， 开车兜几圈：

you're surrounded by skyscrapers and city life

那棵柳树还在， 理查兹女士的房子也没变，

and you grew up in rural Vermont,

"And I can't remember what happened when I was 10."

还有莫兰森女士；

噢，这里乔伊曾经摔断过腿......

Go back to your neighborhood and drive around and,

于是，一切都回来了。

there's the willow tree, and there's Ms. Richards house,

同样的，就像你从厨房到客厅，

and there’s Ms. Molansen,

oh, that's where, like, Joey broke his leg,

再从卧室到厨房去找眼镜，

and like, it all will come back,

情景会使你脑子里

你自己甚至都不知道 曾有的记忆再次浮现。

because, again, it's like going from your kitchen to your living room,

your bedroom to your kitchen to look for the glasses.

你有数万亿个可能的神经连接，

It's like, all that context will reveal memory that you have in your head.

不会都用完的。

到了 80 岁， 你还可以学习玩杂耍，

you didn't realize you have.

You've got trillions of possible connections.

你可以学弹钢琴，

你可以学习一门新的语言，

And no, you will not run out.

你可以听其它的 TED 演讲。

You can learn to juggle when you're 80.

学点记点什么并分享给他人；

You can learn to play piano.

所以不要把自己约束住——

You can learn a new language.

没有任何所谓的边界。

You can listen to a new TED Talk

and learn and remember something to share with someone else.

Like, it's unlimited.

[ 访问 ted.com/membership 成为TED会员 ] [ 有思维深度的活动不可错过 —> 快来参与 ]

There's no reason to think there's a limit to it.

[Get access to thought-provoking events you won't want to miss.]

[Become a TED Member at ted.com/membership]