每天僅運動十分鐘 就能改善記憶能力!

Just 10 minutes of light physical activity is enough to boost brain connectivity and help the brain to distinguish between similar memories, a new study suggests.

一項新研究顯示，僅僅10分鐘的輕度體育鍛煉就足以加強大腦的連通性，並幫助大腦分辨相似的記憶。

Scientists at the University of California studying brain activity found connectivity between parts of the brain responsible for memory formation and storage increased after a brief interval of light exercise -- such as 10 minutes of slow walking, yoga or tai chi.

美國加利福尼亞大學研究大腦活動的科學家發現，經過短暫的輕度鍛鍊--比如10分鐘的慢走、瑜伽或太極之後，負責形成和儲存記憶的大腦區域之間的連通性增強了。

The findings could provide a simple and effective means of slowing down or staving off memory loss and cognitive decline in people who are elderly or have low levels of physical ability.

這一發現可以提供一種簡單而有效的方法，使年長者或體能低下者減緩或避免記憶力喪失和認知能力下降。

The scientists asked 36 healthy volunteers in their early 20s to do 10 minutes of light exercise -- at 30% of their peak oxygen intake -- before assessing their memory ability. The memory test was then repeated on the same volunteers without exercising.

科學家讓36名20歲出頭的健康志願者進行10分鐘的輕度鍛鍊--強度爲其氧氣攝入量峯值的30%--然後對他們的記憶力進行評估。之後他們又對這些志願者在沒有進行體育鍛煉的情況下進行了記憶力評估。

The same experiment was repeated on 16 of the volunteers who had either undertaken the same kind of exercise or rested, with researchers scanning their brain to monitor activity.

研究人員對其中16名志願者重複進行了記憶力測試（包括鍛鍊過和未經鍛鍊的），通過掃描他們的大腦來監測其活動。

In the brains of those who had exercised they discovered enhanced communication between the hippocampus -- a region important in memory storage -- and the cortical brain regions, which are involved in vivid recollection of memories.

在進行過體育鍛煉的人的大腦中，他們發現海馬體（存儲記憶的重要區域）與大腦皮層區域（參與記憶的生動回憶）之間的交流加強了。

"The memory task really was quite challenging," said Michael Yassa, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Irvine, and project co-leader.

加利福尼亞大學歐文分校神經科學家、該項目的聯合負責人邁克爾·亞薩表示：“記憶任務真的很有挑戰性。”

The participants were first shown pictures of objects from everyday life -- ranging from broccoli to picnic baskets -- and later tested on how well they remembered the images.

研究人員首先向參與者展示了從西蘭花到野餐籃等日常物品的照片，然後測試他們對照片的記憶程度。

"We used very tricky similar items to to see if they would remember whether it was this exact picnic basket versus that picnic basket," he said.

他說：“我們用了非常容易混淆的類似物品，看看他們是否會記得這是不是就是那個野餐籃。”

The people who had exercised were better at separating or distinguishing between the different memories, said the scientists.

科學家們表示，進行過體育鍛煉的人更善於區分和辨別不同的記憶。