TED演讲:和老年痴呆症说再见(7)

 　　Let's imagine that your amyloid plaques¹ have reached that tipping point. 假设你的淀粉样斑块已经达到临界点。

　　Your scale arm has crashed to the floor. 你天平的一端已坠地。

　　You've tripped the cascade², setting fire to the forest, causing inflammation, tangles³, and cell death. 你触发了连锁反应，引发了森林火灾，导致了炎症、神经纤维缠结以及细胞凋亡。

　　You should be symptomatic for Alzheimer's. 你表现出老年痴呆的症状。

　　You should be having trouble finding words and keys and remembering what I said at the beginning of this talk. But you might not be. 你在措辞和找钥匙时会碰到麻烦，并且回想不起我一开始讲的内容。也许你不会这样。

　　There's one more thing you can do to protect yourself from experiencing the symptoms of Alzheimer's, 另外还有一件事可以帮助你免于老年痴呆的症状，

　　even if you have the full-blown disease pathology ablaze⁴ in your brain. 哪怕你的大脑已病入膏肓。

　　It has to do with neural⁵ plasticity and cognitive⁶ reserve. 它需解决神经可塑性和认知储备问题。

　　Remember, the experience of having Alzheimer's is ultimately a result of losing synapses⁷. 记住，老年痴呆症的发作是突触损失的最终后果。

　　The average brain has over a hundred trillion synapses, which is fantastic; we've got a lot to work with. 一般大脑有超过万亿的突触，这很不可思议，我们有这么庞大的数量。

　　And this isn't a static number. We gain and lose synapses all the time, through a process called neural plasticity. 而这一数字不是一成不变。我们在一个叫做神经可塑性的过程之中，不断生成和消耗着突触。

　　Every time we learn something new, we are creating and strengthening new neural connections, new synapses. 每当我们习得新东西，我们建立并强化新的神经连接，新的突触产生了。

　　In the Nun⁸ Study, 678 nuns⁹, all over the age of 75 when the study began, were followed for more than two decades. 在Nun研究中，研究开始时，678位修女全都年过七十五岁，进行了二十多年的研究。

　　They were regularly given physical checkups and cognitive tests, and when they died, their brains were all donated for autopsy¹⁰. 她们会定期接受身体检查和认知测试，如果不幸去世，她们的大脑都捐献出去用于验尸。

　　In some of these brains, scientists discovered something surprising. 科学家们在一些大脑中发现了一些神奇的东西。

　　Despite the presence of plaques and tangles and brain shrinkage -- what appeared to be unquestionable Alzheimer's 尽管样斑块、神经纤维缠结和大脑的萎缩，这些现象似乎是老年痴呆症无疑，

　　the nuns who had belonged to these brains showed no signs of having the disease while they were alive. 然而这些大脑的主人，那些修女却没有在生前表现出患有老年痴呆的症状。

1 plaques   

（纪念性的）匾牌( plaque的名词复数 )； 纪念匾； 牙斑； 空斑

参考例句：

• Primary plaques were detectable in 16 to 20 hours. 在16到20小时内可查出原发溶斑。
• The gondoliers wore green and white livery and silver plaques on their chests. 船夫们穿着白绿两色的制服，胸前别着银质徽章。

2 cascade   

n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下

参考例句：

• She watched the magnificent waterfall cascade down the mountainside.她看着壮观的瀑布从山坡上倾泻而下。
• Her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of curls.她的卷发像瀑布一样垂在肩上。

3 tangles   

（使）缠结， （使）乱作一团( tangle的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Long hair tangles easily. 长头发容易打结。
• Tangles like this still interrupted their intercourse. 像这类纠缠不清的误会仍然妨碍着他们的交情。

4 ablaze   

adj.着火的，燃烧的；闪耀的，灯火辉煌的

参考例句：

• The main street was ablaze with lights in the evening.晚上，那条主要街道灯火辉煌。
• Forests are sometimes set ablaze by lightning.森林有时因雷击而起火。

5 neural   

adj.神经的，神经系统的

参考例句：

• The neural network can preferably solve the non- linear problem.利用神经网络建模可以较好地解决非线性问题。
• The information transmission in neural system depends on neurotransmitters.信息传递的神经途径有赖于神经递质。

6 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。

7 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

8 nun   

n.修女，尼姑

参考例句：

• I can't believe that the famous singer has become a nun.我无法相信那个著名的歌星已做了修女。
• She shaved her head and became a nun.她削发为尼。

9 nuns   

n.（通常指基督教的）修女， （佛教的）尼姑( nun的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Ah Q had always had the greatest contempt for such people as little nuns. 小尼姑之流是阿Q本来视如草芥的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Nuns are under vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. 修女须立誓保持清贫、贞洁、顺从。 来自辞典例句

10 autopsy   

n.尸体解剖；尸检

参考例句：

• They're carrying out an autopsy on the victim.他们正在给受害者验尸。
• A hemorrhagic gut was the predominant lesion at autopsy.尸检的主要发现是肠出血。