雙語·痕跡減退：你的記憶隨時間減退嗎？

Trace decay: Do your memories fade with time?
痕跡減退：你的記憶隨時間減退嗎？

The most basic explanation of forgetting has to do with the passage of time. Our memory traces are stored in living tissue, which inevitably changes over time. It is a well-known fact that connections between neurons deteriorate over time and as a consequence, the memory traces stored within these connections decay.
關于遺忘最根本的解釋與時間的流逝有關。我們的記憶痕跡存儲在活組織中，因此不可避免地隨時間而變化。眾所周知，神經(jīng)元之間的聯(lián)結(jié)會隨時間而衰退，結(jié)果就是存儲在這些聯(lián)結(jié)中的記憶痕跡隨之變淺。

In addition, there is another possible cause for the decay of our memories. Surprisingly, making new memories may be part of the reason we forget. As new memories are formed, new neurons are produced in the hippocampus (the memory hub), which changes its structure and patterns of connections. As a consequence, older memories are more difficult to retrieve.
此外，記憶的減退還有另一個可能的原因。令人驚訝的是，記住新東西或許正是導致我們遺忘的部分原因。隨著新的記憶形成，海馬體（大腦的記憶中樞）會產(chǎn)生新的神經(jīng)元，這會改變已有聯(lián)結(jié)的結(jié)構(gòu)和模式。結(jié)果，舊的記憶也就更難被檢索到了。

Therefore, if you need to retain old information in memory (for a final exam for instance), it would be a good idea to revise it again while you are studying something new, otherwise the old information might be superseded by the new information.
因此，如果你需要在記憶中保留舊信息（比如為了期末考試），學了新東西之后再復習一下舊有的內(nèi)容可能會是個好主意，否則舊信息可能會被新信息取代。

We recommend that you establish a schedule of revision of the old material (even a couple of minutes every day should suffice) that is interspersed with the study of the new material. This is especially important if you study several different subjects/topics within one day because you memory cannot yet benefit from protective sleep-induced consolidation processes. There is another reason why studying new things can impair the retrieval of old things and we discuss it in the section “interference”.
我們建議你設定一個復習舊內(nèi)容的日程表（即使每天只花幾分鐘時間就夠了），穿插在學習新內(nèi)容的過程中。如果你一天之內(nèi)學習好幾個不同的科目/主題，這樣做就尤其重要了，因為你的記憶還來不及得到睡眠引發(fā)的固化過程的保護。學習新東西會損害對舊內(nèi)容的檢索還有另一個原因，我們會在“干擾”一節(jié)討論。

In summary, we recommend the following
總結(jié)起來，我們推薦以下做法：

·Spend about 1/10 of your study time revising old material
·花大約十分之一的時間復習舊內(nèi)容。

·Insert brief periods of revision of old material into the study of new material
·在學習新內(nèi)容的過程中，穿插對舊內(nèi)容的簡短回顧。

——節(jié)選自《記憶的科學》