一名外科医生的失误发现了学习和记忆的奥秘

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A Surgeon’s Mistake Provides Insight into Memory and Learning
一名外科医生的失误发现了学习和记忆的奥秘
In an attempt to localize the part of the brain responsible for hunger, surgeons in Toronto inadvertently identified and stimulated a portion of the brain involving in memory and learning. This finding may lead researchers to develop new techniques for improving brain function in dementia.
多伦多的外科医生在试图定位负责饥饿部分的大脑时，无意中发现和激发了涉及记忆和学习的部分大脑。这一发现可能推动研究开发新技术用以改善痴呆症的脑功能。
The surgeon was attempting to implant a deep brain stimulator into the hypothalamus of an obese man, in order to curb his appetite by stimulating brain cells that suppress hunger. With the patient conscious, in order to respond to the neurosurgeon’s probing, stimulation instead lead to a vivid recollection from over 30 years prior. The patient described a detailed memory of walking in the park with friends, including facial and clothing characteristics. Later, the patient was found to have significant improvements in learning when the electrodes were turned on.
这名外科医生在一名肥胖男子的下丘脑植入一个深部脑刺激器，试图通过刺激抑制饥饿的脑细胞，以遏制其食欲。在病人有意识的回应神经外科医师的试探过程中，却唤起其对30多年前的一次生动回忆。他详细描述了当时与朋友走在公园里的情景，包括他们面部和服装特征，接着发现在电极时打开时该病人学习能力有重大改善。
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is most commonly used to treat Parkinson’s disease, with over 40,000 patients in the US currently receiving this therapy. DBS involving the implantation of tiny electrodes into specific points in the brain that are attached to an external “battery pack.” Stimulation of the subthalamic nuclei in patients with Parkinson’s causes immediate and significant improvements in tremor. Theoretically, DBS could be used for a variety of medical conditions that can be linked to over- or under-activity at a specific location within the brain.
深部脑刺激（ DBS ）最常用于治疗帕金森氏病，目前在美国有超过40000名患者接受这一疗法。DBS包括植入脑部特定点的微型电极和附设的一个外置\"电池组\" 。通过刺激丘脑底核，帕金森病患者的震颤可得到直接和显著的改善。从理论上说，DBS可应用于有关大脑特定部位活动过度或不足的多种医疗情况。
This unintentionally discovery is already being explored. Six Alzheimer’s patients have been implanted with DBS in order to see if they can recreate the findings.
人们已经在探讨这无意中的发现。六名阿尔茨海默氏症病人已植入DBS，以观察他们是否能重复结果。
By locating a specific area that responds to stimulation by increasing memory recollection and learning ability, it may be possible to treat dementia and other memory disorders with DBS. Perhaps by stimulating a specific location within the brain substance, patients will be able to recall memories that were previously lost, or will be able to learn tasks that they had forgotten.
DBS通过刺激特定区域以增加记忆与学习能力，这使我们治疗老年痴呆症和其他记忆障碍成为可能。也许病人通过刺激其脑实质的特定部位，将重新唤起以前失去的记忆，或将能够重拾遗忘的学习能力。
Localization of a memory center within the brain will also allow researchers to study this region more closely and potentially develop molecular therapies that stimulate these cells chemically. 大脑记忆中心的定位也将使研究人员更加深入研究该领域，对发展以化学途径刺激这些细胞的分子疗法有潜在意义。