Have trouble recalling your second-grade teacher's name, or even just what you ate for dinner last night? If so, that's natural: Both long-term and short-term memory tend to worsen as people age. The more neuroscientists learn about this process of decline, however, the more tricks they've uncovered for how to slow — or even reverse — the process.
你是否不记得自己小学二年级老师的名字，或者甚至忘记自己前一天晚餐吃了什么？如果是的话，这很正常：随着人们年龄的增长，长时记忆与短时记忆能力往往会下降。然而，神经科学家们对记忆力衰退过程的研究越多，就越来越发现了一些可以减缓——甚至扭转记忆衰退过程的秘诀。

Here are six such tricks for lifting your cognitive fog.
以下就是可以提高记忆认知能力的六大妙招。

Wake up and smell the rosemary
起床后闻闻迷迭香

Scientists have found that aromas can profoundly affect people's cognitive abilities. In a 2003 study, psychologists asked 144 volunteers to perform a series of long-term memory, working memory, and attention and reaction tests; some subjects worked in a scent-free cubicle, some in a cubicle infused with essential oil from rosemary, and the rest worked in cubicles scented with lavender oil.
科学家发现，香气对人们的认知能力有重大影响。在2003年的一项研究中，心理学家让144名志愿者接受了一系列关于长期记忆、工作记忆以及注意力与反应的试验；一组志愿者在没有香气的房间内工作，一组在充满迷迭香精油香气的房间内工作，剩下的一组在满是薰衣草精油香气的房间内工作。

As it turned out, those in the rosemary-infused cubicles demonstrated significantly better long-term and working memory than those in the unscented cubicles, while those in the lavender-scented cubicles performed worse than the others in tests of working memory. Furthermore, those exposed to the smell of rosemary reported feeling more alert than the control (scent-free) group, while participants working in the lavender cubicles reported feeling less alert.
结果发现，那些在充满迷迭香香气房间内工作的人比在没有香气房间内工作的人有更好的长时记忆力与工作记忆力，而那些在充满薰衣草香气房间内工作的人，他们的工作记忆力比前两组志愿者都要弱。此外，研究发现，那些身处迷迭香香气环境中的志愿者比实验对照组（没有香气环境）的志愿者更加警觉，而身处薰衣草香气环境的志愿者的警觉性要低得多。

If you need your brain to perform at its best, you can try placing a rosemary plant on your windowsill but, unfortunately, you ought to avoid stopping to smell the lavender.
如果想让自己的大脑处于最佳状态，可以尝试在窗台上放一盆迷迭香；但遗憾的是，应该避免为薰衣草花香驻足。

Food for thought
为思维补充食粮

Everyone hopes to age gracefully, both inside and out. Scientists say a good diet is one of the main differences between those who are vivacious at 70 and those who look haggard at 40.
每个人都希望自己能优雅地变老，不仅是内在，还有外在。科学家表示，健康饮食是古稀之年仍活力四射与不惑之年便憔悴不已的一大主要区别。

To keep your memory young as your brain gets old, scientists recommend eating foods that are high in antioxidants, such as blueberries, apples, bananas, dark green vegetables, garlic and carrots. Antioxidants are molecules that easily bond with and neutralize electrons called "free radicals" that float around in the blood stream. These free radicals, which accumulate in your body as you age, can kill brain cells — but not if you kill them first.
随着大脑慢慢变老，要想让自己的记忆永葆青春，科学家建议多吃一些抗氧化物含量高的食物，比如蓝莓、苹果、香蕉、深绿色蔬菜、大蒜以及胡萝卜。抗氧化物是一种分子，能够很容易与漂浮在血液中称作“自由基”的电子结合并发生中和。随着人年龄的增长，自由基在人体内慢慢累积，能够杀死脑细胞——除非先把它们干掉。

Secondly, the brain is built mostly of healthy fats, including the most important of them, Omega-3 fatty acids. In order for the brain to repair itself and keep its neurons firing properly, you must provide it with the right raw materials. Omega-3s are found in many types of fish and nuts.
其次，大脑的主要成分是健康脂肪，其中最重要的一种是欧米珈-3脂肪酸。为了能让大脑进行自身修复并且让神经元正常发出信号，应该为其提供适当的原料。欧米珈-3脂肪酸在多种鱼类与坚果中都能找到。

Your brain might like some dessert, too. Research shows that eating chocolate may improve memory and cognition, because it is rich in antioxidants called flavanols. Don't go overboard, though; chocolate is also chock full of sugar and saturated fat, which can make you sluggish.
人的大脑也需要餐后甜点。研究表明，吃巧克力可以改善记忆与认知，因为巧克力中富含一种叫作黄烷醇的抗氧化物。但也不要过度食用；巧克力同样富含糖与饱和脂肪，会让人反应迟钝、变得呆滞。

Juicy fruit for the brain
为大脑补充多汁水果

No one quite knows why, but research shows that chewing gum boosts memory. A 2002 study conducted in the United Kingdom found that gum-chewers performed significantly better on tests of both long-term and short-term memory than did empty-mouthed people.
虽然没人知道具体原因，但研究表明嚼口香糖能增强记忆。2002年英国的一项研究发现，在进行长时记忆与短时记忆的测验中，嚼口香糖的人比什么都不嚼的人表现得要好得多。

In the decade since, scientists have been trying to figure out why this is the case — and if it really is. Some variations on the initial study probing the effects of gum-chewing on cognition have found null results (i.e., gum didn't affect people's performance one way or the other), while most studies have identified a small but significant effect.
十年以来，科学家们一直努力尝试弄清楚出现这种情况的原因——以及事实是否确实如此。探究嚼口香糖对认知影响的初期研究出现了一些变化，没有发现任何结果（也就是说，无论怎样，口香糖没有影响人的表现），而后来大多数研究确定了口香糖的影响虽小但至关重要。

Scientists have various hypotheses to explain the boost. Perhaps chewing gum simply gets your juices flowing by increasing your heart rate; or maybe it affects the function of a brain region called the hippocampus by causing the body to release insulin in preparation for food. Whatever the reason, chewing gum seems to give you a slight mental edge.
针对嚼口香糖能增强记忆力，科学家提出了各种各样的设想。也许嚼口香糖只是能让人体液流动，心率加快；又或者嚼口香糖可以使人体在准备食物的过程中释放胰岛素，从而影响大脑海马体的功能。无论是何种原因，嚼口香糖都会让人有一种轻微的心理优势。

Brain games
脑力游戏

To keep your brain in shape, make it sweat. Thinking hard really does sharpen your memory and cognition, and as the evidence for this has accumulated, a huge number of "brain fitness" programs have hit the market.
要想让大脑处于良好状态，就要让它出汗。努力认真思考确实能提高人的记忆力和认知，而且随着越来越多的证据证实了这一点，大量“脑力健康”编程已投入市场。

A program called Lumosity, developed with the help of neuroscientists and cognitive psychologists from Stanford University and the University of California at San Francisco, is specifically designed to help aging people improve their memory, concentration, alertness and even mood. Free online registration gives you access to more than 30 games; paid registration lets you track your progress and get feedback about your results.
有一款叫作动动脑的编程，是在斯坦福大学以及加利福尼亚大学旧金山分校的神经学家与认知心理学家的帮助下开发出来的。这款游戏是专门为帮助老年人提高记忆力、注意力警觉性甚至改善情绪而设计的。网上免费注册版可以让用户体验30多种游戏；付费注册版能够让用户实时追踪自己的进度，得到反馈。

And of course, there are always classic brainteasers such as Sudoku and crossword puzzles that challenge your powers of logic and knowledge recall and will help keep those synapses firing.
当然，还有一些经典的智力游戏，如数独和填字游戏，可以挑战人的逻辑能力与知识回忆能力，帮助神经元突触发出信号。

Hit the sack
保证睡眠充足

When your lights switch off, your brain doesn't. As you sleep, your brain replays the memories of the day, and consolidates them for long-term storage.
关上灯后，大脑不会停止运转。人睡觉时，大脑会回放当天的记忆，并使其强化，转为长时记忆。

That's what research on lab rats suggests, anyway. While rats sleep, two brain regions — the hippocampus and the medial prefrontal cortex, a region involved in the retrieval of memories from the distant past (in both humans and rats) — run through a sped-up version of the day's events. The process is believed to be important for consolidating and neatly filing away those newly formed memories.
总之，对实验室小白鼠的研究显示了这一点。小白鼠睡觉时，大脑的两个区域——海马体与内侧前额叶皮质层，后者与远时记忆的获取有关（人与小白鼠都适用）—— 会快速回顾白天发生的事情。研究人员相信，这个过程对强化并整理新形成的记忆非常重要。

As a corollary, skipping a night's sleep will cause your new memory files to get mixed up or lost, and they'll be near impossible to retrieve later.
由此可见，一整晚不睡觉会使新记忆与过去的记忆混淆或者丢失，而且以后想重新获得几乎是不可能的。

Walk back in time
适当散散步

Physical exercise doesn't just bulk up muscles, it bolsters gray matter, too. Research shows that the memory center in the brain called the hippocampus shrinks as you age, but a 2011 study found that older adults who walk routinely actually gain hippocampus volume.
锻炼身体不仅能增强肌肉，还能增强灰质。研究表明，大脑中的记忆中枢海马体会随着人年龄的增长而萎缩，然而2011年的一项研究发现经常散步的老年人脑内海马体的体积会增加。

In the study, led by Arthur Kramer of the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, 60 adults age 55 to 80 went on three 40-minute walks per week — enough aerobic exercise to increase their heart rate. Another 60 participants did toning workouts, such as weight training, yoga sessions and stretching, for the same amount of time. After a year of toning, these participants' anterior hippocampus lost a little more than 1 percent of its volume, on average. By contrast, a year of aerobic exercise led to about a 2-percent increase in anterior hippocampus volume, reversing natural hippocampus aging by about two years.
伊利诺伊大学厄本那—香槟分校的亚瑟·克雷默进行了一项研究，让年龄在55到80岁的60位老年人每次散步40分钟，每周三次——这是能够增加他们心率的足量有氧运动。同时，让另外60位老年人进行塑身训练，比如，举重训练、瑜伽与拉伸练习，时间与前一组一样。经过一年的塑身训练，这些老年人海马体前部萎缩的平均体积略高于1%。相反，进行有氧运动的第一组老年人海马体前部的体积增加了大约2%，逆转了海马体每两年就会自然萎缩的趋势。

Scientists believe these brain benefits may arise because exercise induces mild stress that triggers the production of growth factors in the brain. They may also result from greater blood flow to the brain, and thus greater delivery of nutrients and oxygen. Either way, where your memory is concerned, the research showed that aging isn't a one-way street.
科学家们相信，大脑的益处还会增加，因为运动会产生轻微压力，从而让大脑产生更多的生长因子。生长因子也可以由大量血液流向脑部产生，因此向大脑供应更多的营养物质和氧气。无论哪个方法，只要涉及人的记忆，研究显示衰老并不是单行道，也不是不可逆转的。（英文来源：livescience.com）