Have trouble recalling your second-grade teacher's name, or even just what you ate for dinner last night? If so, that's natural: Both long-term and short-term memory tend to worsen as people age. The more neuroscientists learn about this process of decline, however, the more tricks they've uncovered for how to slow — or even reverse — the process.
你是否不記得自己小學(xué)二年級(jí)老師的名字，或者甚至忘記自己前一天晚餐吃了什么？如果是的話，這很正常：隨著人們年齡的增長(zhǎng)，長(zhǎng)時(shí)記憶與短時(shí)記憶能力往往會(huì)下降。然而，神經(jīng)科學(xué)家們對(duì)記憶力衰退過程的研究越多，就越來越發(fā)現(xiàn)了一些可以減緩——甚至扭轉(zhuǎn)記憶衰退過程的秘訣。

Here are six such tricks for lifting your cognitive fog.
以下就是可以提高記憶認(rèn)知能力的六大妙招。

Wake up and smell the rosemary
起床后聞聞迷迭香

Scientists have found that aromas can profoundly affect people's cognitive abilities. In a 2003 study, psychologists asked 144 volunteers to perform a series of long-term memory, working memory, and attention and reaction tests; some subjects worked in a scent-free cubicle, some in a cubicle infused with essential oil from rosemary, and the rest worked in cubicles scented with lavender oil.
科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)，香氣對(duì)人們的認(rèn)知能力有重大影響。在2003年的一項(xiàng)研究中，心理學(xué)家讓144名志愿者接受了一系列關(guān)于長(zhǎng)期記憶、工作記憶以及注意力與反應(yīng)的試驗(yàn)；一組志愿者在沒有香氣的房間內(nèi)工作，一組在充滿迷迭香精油香氣的房間內(nèi)工作，剩下的一組在滿是薰衣草精油香氣的房間內(nèi)工作。

As it turned out, those in the rosemary-infused cubicles demonstrated significantly better long-term and working memory than those in the unscented cubicles, while those in the lavender-scented cubicles performed worse than the others in tests of working memory. Furthermore, those exposed to the smell of rosemary reported feeling more alert than the control (scent-free) group, while participants working in the lavender cubicles reported feeling less alert.
結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，那些在充滿迷迭香香氣房間內(nèi)工作的人比在沒有香氣房間內(nèi)工作的人有更好的長(zhǎng)時(shí)記憶力與工作記憶力，而那些在充滿薰衣草香氣房間內(nèi)工作的人，他們的工作記憶力比前兩組志愿者都要弱。此外，研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，那些身處迷迭香香氣環(huán)境中的志愿者比實(shí)驗(yàn)對(duì)照組（沒有香氣環(huán)境）的志愿者更加警覺，而身處薰衣草香氣環(huán)境的志愿者的警覺性要低得多。

If you need your brain to perform at its best, you can try placing a rosemary plant on your windowsill but, unfortunately, you ought to avoid stopping to smell the lavender.
如果想讓自己的大腦處于最佳狀態(tài)，可以嘗試在窗臺(tái)上放一盆迷迭香；但遺憾的是，應(yīng)該避免為薰衣草花香駐足。

Food for thought
為思維補(bǔ)充食糧

Everyone hopes to age gracefully, both inside and out. Scientists say a good diet is one of the main differences between those who are vivacious at 70 and those who look haggard at 40.
每個(gè)人都希望自己能優(yōu)雅地變老，不僅是內(nèi)在，還有外在?？茖W(xué)家表示，健康飲食是古稀之年仍活力四射與不惑之年便憔悴不已的一大主要區(qū)別。

To keep your memory young as your brain gets old, scientists recommend eating foods that are high in antioxidants, such as blueberries, apples, bananas, dark green vegetables, garlic and carrots. Antioxidants are molecules that easily bond with and neutralize electrons called "free radicals" that float around in the blood stream. These free radicals, which accumulate in your body as you age, can kill brain cells — but not if you kill them first.
隨著大腦慢慢變老，要想讓自己的記憶永葆青春，科學(xué)家建議多吃一些抗氧化物含量高的食物，比如藍(lán)莓、蘋果、香蕉、深綠色蔬菜、大蒜以及胡蘿卜?？寡趸锸且环N分子，能夠很容易與漂浮在血液中稱作“自由基”的電子結(jié)合并發(fā)生中和。隨著人年齡的增長(zhǎng)，自由基在人體內(nèi)慢慢累積，能夠殺死腦細(xì)胞——除非先把它們干掉。

Secondly, the brain is built mostly of healthy fats, including the most important of them, Omega-3 fatty acids. In order for the brain to repair itself and keep its neurons firing properly, you must provide it with the right raw materials. Omega-3s are found in many types of fish and nuts.
其次，大腦的主要成分是健康脂肪，其中最重要的一種是歐米珈-3脂肪酸。為了能讓大腦進(jìn)行自身修復(fù)并且讓神經(jīng)元正常發(fā)出信號(hào)，應(yīng)該為其提供適當(dāng)?shù)脑?。歐米珈-3脂肪酸在多種魚類與堅(jiān)果中都能找到。

Your brain might like some dessert, too. Research shows that eating chocolate may improve memory and cognition, because it is rich in antioxidants called flavanols. Don't go overboard, though; chocolate is also chock full of sugar and saturated fat, which can make you sluggish.
人的大腦也需要餐后甜點(diǎn)。研究表明，吃巧克力可以改善記憶與認(rèn)知，因?yàn)榍煽肆χ懈缓环N叫作黃烷醇的抗氧化物。但也不要過度食用；巧克力同樣富含糖與飽和脂肪，會(huì)讓人反應(yīng)遲鈍、變得呆滯。

Juicy fruit for the brain
為大腦補(bǔ)充多汁水果

No one quite knows why, but research shows that chewing gum boosts memory. A 2002 study conducted in the United Kingdom found that gum-chewers performed significantly better on tests of both long-term and short-term memory than did empty-mouthed people.
雖然沒人知道具體原因，但研究表明嚼口香糖能增強(qiáng)記憶。2002年英國的一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，在進(jìn)行長(zhǎng)時(shí)記憶與短時(shí)記憶的測(cè)驗(yàn)中，嚼口香糖的人比什么都不嚼的人表現(xiàn)得要好得多。

In the decade since, scientists have been trying to figure out why this is the case — and if it really is. Some variations on the initial study probing the effects of gum-chewing on cognition have found null results (i.e., gum didn't affect people's performance one way or the other), while most studies have identified a small but significant effect.
十年以來，科學(xué)家們一直努力嘗試弄清楚出現(xiàn)這種情況的原因——以及事實(shí)是否確實(shí)如此。探究嚼口香糖對(duì)認(rèn)知影響的初期研究出現(xiàn)了一些變化，沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)任何結(jié)果（也就是說，無論怎樣，口香糖沒有影響人的表現(xiàn)），而后來大多數(shù)研究確定了口香糖的影響雖小但至關(guān)重要。

Scientists have various hypotheses to explain the boost. Perhaps chewing gum simply gets your juices flowing by increasing your heart rate; or maybe it affects the function of a brain region called the hippocampus by causing the body to release insulin in preparation for food. Whatever the reason, chewing gum seems to give you a slight mental edge.
針對(duì)嚼口香糖能增強(qiáng)記憶力，科學(xué)家提出了各種各樣的設(shè)想。也許嚼口香糖只是能讓人體液流動(dòng)，心率加快；又或者嚼口香糖可以使人體在準(zhǔn)備食物的過程中釋放胰島素，從而影響大腦海馬體的功能。無論是何種原因，嚼口香糖都會(huì)讓人有一種輕微的心理優(yōu)勢(shì)。

Brain games
腦力游戲

To keep your brain in shape, make it sweat. Thinking hard really does sharpen your memory and cognition, and as the evidence for this has accumulated, a huge number of "brain fitness" programs have hit the market.
要想讓大腦處于良好狀態(tài)，就要讓它出汗。努力認(rèn)真思考確實(shí)能提高人的記憶力和認(rèn)知，而且隨著越來越多的證據(jù)證實(shí)了這一點(diǎn)，大量“腦力健康”編程已投入市場(chǎng)。

A program called Lumosity, developed with the help of neuroscientists and cognitive psychologists from Stanford University and the University of California at San Francisco, is specifically designed to help aging people improve their memory, concentration, alertness and even mood. Free online registration gives you access to more than 30 games; paid registration lets you track your progress and get feedback about your results.
有一款叫作動(dòng)動(dòng)腦的編程，是在斯坦福大學(xué)以及加利福尼亞大學(xué)舊金山分校的神經(jīng)學(xué)家與認(rèn)知心理學(xué)家的幫助下開發(fā)出來的。這款游戲是專門為幫助老年人提高記憶力、注意力警覺性甚至改善情緒而設(shè)計(jì)的。網(wǎng)上免費(fèi)注冊(cè)版可以讓用戶體驗(yàn)30多種游戲；付費(fèi)注冊(cè)版能夠讓用戶實(shí)時(shí)追蹤自己的進(jìn)度，得到反饋。

And of course, there are always classic brainteasers such as Sudoku and crossword puzzles that challenge your powers of logic and knowledge recall and will help keep those synapses firing.
當(dāng)然，還有一些經(jīng)典的智力游戲，如數(shù)獨(dú)和填字游戲，可以挑戰(zhàn)人的邏輯能力與知識(shí)回憶能力，幫助神經(jīng)元突觸發(fā)出信號(hào)。

Hit the sack
保證睡眠充足

When your lights switch off, your brain doesn't. As you sleep, your brain replays the memories of the day, and consolidates them for long-term storage.
關(guān)上燈后，大腦不會(huì)停止運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)。人睡覺時(shí)，大腦會(huì)回放當(dāng)天的記憶，并使其強(qiáng)化，轉(zhuǎn)為長(zhǎng)時(shí)記憶。

That's what research on lab rats suggests, anyway. While rats sleep, two brain regions — the hippocampus and the medial prefrontal cortex, a region involved in the retrieval of memories from the distant past (in both humans and rats) — run through a sped-up version of the day's events. The process is believed to be important for consolidating and neatly filing away those newly formed memories.
總之，對(duì)實(shí)驗(yàn)室小白鼠的研究顯示了這一點(diǎn)。小白鼠睡覺時(shí)，大腦的兩個(gè)區(qū)域——海馬體與內(nèi)側(cè)前額葉皮質(zhì)層，后者與遠(yuǎn)時(shí)記憶的獲取有關(guān)（人與小白鼠都適用）—— 會(huì)快速回顧白天發(fā)生的事情。研究人員相信，這個(gè)過程對(duì)強(qiáng)化并整理新形成的記憶非常重要。

As a corollary, skipping a night's sleep will cause your new memory files to get mixed up or lost, and they'll be near impossible to retrieve later.
由此可見，一整晚不睡覺會(huì)使新記憶與過去的記憶混淆或者丟失，而且以后想重新獲得幾乎是不可能的。

Walk back in time
適當(dāng)散散步

Physical exercise doesn't just bulk up muscles, it bolsters gray matter, too. Research shows that the memory center in the brain called the hippocampus shrinks as you age, but a 2011 study found that older adults who walk routinely actually gain hippocampus volume.
鍛煉身體不僅能增強(qiáng)肌肉，還能增強(qiáng)灰質(zhì)。研究表明，大腦中的記憶中樞海馬體會(huì)隨著人年齡的增長(zhǎng)而萎縮，然而2011年的一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)經(jīng)常散步的老年人腦內(nèi)海馬體的體積會(huì)增加。

In the study, led by Arthur Kramer of the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, 60 adults age 55 to 80 went on three 40-minute walks per week — enough aerobic exercise to increase their heart rate. Another 60 participants did toning workouts, such as weight training, yoga sessions and stretching, for the same amount of time. After a year of toning, these participants' anterior hippocampus lost a little more than 1 percent of its volume, on average. By contrast, a year of aerobic exercise led to about a 2-percent increase in anterior hippocampus volume, reversing natural hippocampus aging by about two years.
伊利諾伊大學(xué)厄本那—香檳分校的亞瑟·克雷默進(jìn)行了一項(xiàng)研究，讓年齡在55到80歲的60位老年人每次散步40分鐘，每周三次——這是能夠增加他們心率的足量有氧運(yùn)動(dòng)。同時(shí)，讓另外60位老年人進(jìn)行塑身訓(xùn)練，比如，舉重訓(xùn)練、瑜伽與拉伸練習(xí)，時(shí)間與前一組一樣。經(jīng)過一年的塑身訓(xùn)練，這些老年人海馬體前部萎縮的平均體積略高于1%。相反，進(jìn)行有氧運(yùn)動(dòng)的第一組老年人海馬體前部的體積增加了大約2%，逆轉(zhuǎn)了海馬體每?jī)赡昃蜁?huì)自然萎縮的趨勢(shì)。

Scientists believe these brain benefits may arise because exercise induces mild stress that triggers the production of growth factors in the brain. They may also result from greater blood flow to the brain, and thus greater delivery of nutrients and oxygen. Either way, where your memory is concerned, the research showed that aging isn't a one-way street.
科學(xué)家們相信，大腦的益處還會(huì)增加，因?yàn)檫\(yùn)動(dòng)會(huì)產(chǎn)生輕微壓力，從而讓大腦產(chǎn)生更多的生長(zhǎng)因子。生長(zhǎng)因子也可以由大量血液流向腦部產(chǎn)生，因此向大腦供應(yīng)更多的營養(yǎng)物質(zhì)和氧氣。無論哪個(gè)方法，只要涉及人的記憶，研究顯示衰老并不是單行道，也不是不可逆轉(zhuǎn)的。（英文來源：livescience.com）