美国国家公共电台 NPR 采访詹姆斯·古德温

Why you want to supercharge your brain

NPR's A Martinez speaks with Professor James Goodwin about his book, Supercharge Your Brain: How to Maintain a Healthy Brain Throughout Your Life.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

In 1848, Phineas Gage¹ was working in railway construction when he suffered a brain injury.

JAMES GOODWIN: Before the accident, he was personable, well-mannered, great with people.

MARTINEZ: That's James Goodwin, who writes about Phineas Gage in his book "Supercharge Your Brain."

An iron bar tore through Gage's left cheek. Now, he survived, but he was never the same.

GOODWIN: After the accident, he became irascible, profane², argumentative and aggressive. And his doctor came to the conclusion that, in fact, these changes had been the result of the loss of brain tissue.

MARTINEZ: It's a case that James Goodwin says changed our understanding of the brain. Now, I asked him for his advice for anyone who might experience brain trauma³.

GOODWIN: I think the first thing I would say is take all possible steps to avoid blows to the head. You show me a case of concussion⁴ and I will show you a damaged brain. Now, over the years, these points of damage may be very small. I remember my father was a boxer⁵. He eventually got dementia. And when they did a scan of his brain, there were hundreds of little tiny white marks in the gray matter. They were the scars from the many injuries from blows to the head.

So you need to remember, if you're in a high-risk profession or occupation, that every blow to the head is going to build up over time. Some people can get away with this, but the general rule is you show me a concussion, I will show you a change in personality. It might be small, but it will be there.

MARTINEZ: But for a professional athlete, James, or a police officer or a - or someone that is saving lives, that might be part of the job. They can't stop their work.

GOODWIN: Then in that case, you've got to do everything else possible to maintain the health of your brain because the brain is fairly resilient - I don't want to paint a black picture here - so that it can sustain levels of damage. But if you keep it in tiptop condition and you follow all the rules about brain health, then you stand a much better chance of getting through this without those injuries having an effect.

MARTINEZ: What are some of those rules to keeping your brain tiptop? I remember my dad used to do a crossword⁶ puzzle every single day. And he was convinced, James - convinced - that doing a crossword puzzle in pen every day from the newspaper would keep his brain sharp. Was he just imagining that?

GOODWIN: Well, the brain game industry has convinced a lot of people the same as your father. What I would say is that it raises the level of arousal in the brain. It's rewarding and highly satisfying, and both those will contribute to good brain health.

But actually, there are other activities which are better. We call them cognitive⁷ stimulating⁸ activities. All of them have one thing in common, and that is you learn something new. If you're on an old game or a crossword and you're in the comfort zone and nothing's changing very much, then that won't have the same effect as if you're learning new things.

MARTINEZ: Or maybe getting better at something, too, because it sounds like that stimulates⁹ the brain - getting better at something.

GOODWIN: Actually, you're absolutely right. It's the progress that you make that protects the brain because it makes the brain develop new connections - what we call synapses¹⁰. And as long as you're doing that, it's going to rejuvenate¹¹ the brain.

MARTINEZ: I've got to call my dad immediately after this interview, James, and tell him to put his pen down.

How about oral hygiene¹²? Because I don't know if many people will make that connection between oral hygiene and brain maintenance.

GOODWIN: Oh, that's a really important question. What we know is that one of the big sites of inflammation in the body is the mouth. That's because there are huge numbers of bacteria in there. We're constantly putting food into the mouth, and that generates levels of inflammation. And that inflammation is the enemy of good brain health. And we also know that there's certain bacteria in the mouth which can actually migrate to the brain, and we find this in dementia patients. So although it sounds unusual, good dental hygiene is highly protective to the brain.

MARTINEZ: You know, James, you wrote the book "Supercharge Your Brain." What do you do on a personal level to try and keep your brain sharp?

GOODWIN: I bear one principle in mind - I try and keep my inflammation levels down. If I took the blood of an 18-year-old and measured all the inflammatory chemicals in there - things like interleukin 6, CRP, other molecules¹³ - they'd be low. He's young. The body can cope with all the things that we do that are not necessarily good for the brain. But by the time you get to my age - and I am in my 70s now - all my inflammatory molecules will be quite high in my blood.

So I exercise five days a week. I make sure that I only eat regularly at certain times. Eating and drinking at all hours of the day and night is not a good thing. The brain needs a rest and the body needs a rest. I make sure I have a great social life. If you're lonely, it's as damaging to your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and drinking a bottle of vodka. And it also is a good predictor of dementia. So I make sure that I've got good social contacts. And then the last one would be I manage my stress levels.

MARTINEZ: But managing our stress and avoiding loneliness - I mean, those are two things that in the last couple of years, Professor, have been put to the test with COVID. Billions and billions of human beings have gone through this collective trauma of COVID for two years now. I mean, what's being studied - what's being talked about in terms of what this time may have been doing to our brains?

GOODWIN: Well, the first thing I'd like to say - if I wanted to devise a plan to damage the health of the nation, I'd go for lockdown. It's enormously damaging. It may flatten¹⁴ the curve on COVID, but the downside of lockdown is huge. It means we take less exercise. It means that we eat less well. It means that we have less access to medical care. It means that we don't see people. All of these things are big negatives as far as brain health is concerned.

MARTINEZ: Is that something that maybe was unavoidable, though, you know, considering what we didn't know about COVID at the start?

GOODWIN: I think that's a fair point to make. So to counter that, what I would say was do everything you possibly can, if you're restricted in your social activities, to maintain contact with other people. Our social nature has evolved in the brain over 1.5 million years of evolution. Soon as you start interfering¹⁵ with that interaction with other people, it's going to be damaging to the brain. Phone people. Get on Zoom¹⁶. Write people letters. Talk over the garden fence. Do anything you can to maintain your social life. It's hugely important.

MARTINEZ: Professor James Goodwin, director of science and research impact at Brain Health Network and author of "Supercharge Your Brain: How To Maintain A Healthy Brain Throughout Your Life." Thank you very much, Professor.

GOODWIN: Thank you very much, A. It was a pleasure to be with you and to be with your listeners.

1 gage   

n.标准尺寸，规格；量规，量表 [=gauge]

参考例句：

• Can you gage what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gage one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

2 profane   

adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污

参考例句：

• He doesn't dare to profane the name of God.他不敢亵渎上帝之名。
• His profane language annoyed us.他亵渎的言语激怒了我们。

3 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

4 concussion   

n.脑震荡；震动

参考例句：

• He was carried off the field with slight concussion.他因轻微脑震荡给抬离了现场。
• She suffers from brain concussion.她得了脑震荡。

5 boxer   

n.制箱者，拳击手

参考例句：

• The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
• He moved lightly on his toes like a boxer.他像拳击手一样踮着脚轻盈移动。

6 crossword   

n.纵横字谜，纵横填字游戏

参考例句：

• He shows a great interest in crossword puzzles.他对填字游戏表现出很大兴趣。
• Don't chuck yesterday's paper out.I still haven't done the crossword.别扔了昨天的报纸，我还没做字谜游戏呢。

7 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

8 stimulating   

adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的

参考例句：

• shower gel containing plant extracts that have a stimulating effect on the skin 含有对皮肤有益的植物精华的沐浴凝胶
• This is a drug for stimulating nerves. 这是一种兴奋剂。

9 stimulates   

v.刺激( stimulate的第三人称单数 )；激励；使兴奋；起兴奋作用，起刺激作用，起促进作用

参考例句：

• Exercise stimulates the body. 运动促进身体健康。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Alcohol stimulates the action of the heart. 酒刺激心脏的活动。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 synapses   

n.（神经元的）突触( synapse的名词复数 )；染色体结合( synapsis的名词复数 )；联会；突触；（神经元的）触处

参考例句：

• Nerve cells communicate with one another at the synapses, where their membranes almost touch. 神经细胞在突触部位彼此沟通，在这里它们的膜几乎接触到一起了。 来自辞典例句
• Glutamatergic synapses are common excitatory chemical connections in mammalian central nervous system. 谷氨酸性突触是哺乳动物神经系统的主要兴奋性突触。 来自互联网

11 rejuvenate   

v.(使)返老还童；(使)恢复活力

参考例句：

• The mountain air will rejuvenate you.山里的空气会使你恢复活力。
• Exercise is perhaps the most effective way to rejuvenate your skin.锻炼可能是使皮肤恢复活力的最好手段。

12 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

13 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

14 flatten   

v.把．．．弄平，使倒伏；使(漆等)失去光泽

参考例句：

• We can flatten out a piece of metal by hammering it.我们可以用锤子把一块金属敲平。
• The wrinkled silk will flatten out if you iron it.发皱的丝绸可以用熨斗烫平。

15 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

16 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。