Michael Greenberg, who wrote a memoir recently about his
daughter's experience of bipolar disorder, has now written a
fascinating review in the New York Review of Books (NYRoB) of a new tome on memory "Can't Remember What I Forgot: The Good News from the Front Lines of Memory Research" by Sue Halpern.
As with so many reviews in the NYRoB, Greenberg's account gives you a wonderfully informative snapshot of Halpern's book - providing a glimpse of how she subjected herself to psychological experimentation; the tragedy of Alzheimer's disease; and the desperate scientific hunt for an effective medical treatment.
Oh and in case you are wondering, the optimism in the book's title, Greenberg explains, comes from the discovery of the power of exercise:
"During the years that she was writing this book, one incontrovertible means of neurogenesis came to light: aerobic exercise. The mechanics of the process couldn't be simpler: exercise promotes new cell growth in old brains by increasing their blood volume, and cell growth improves memory. It was true for mice with cognitive impairment and it was true for humans with MCI [mild cognitive impairment]. It didn't take away amyloid plaque [a neuropathological hallmark of Alzheimer's], but it improved cognition anyway. 'In addition,' explains Halpern, 'exercise...increased the amount of the chemical BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) circulating in the brain, and it was BDNF that stimulated the birth of new brain cells.... BDNF also enhanced neural plasticity, which was to say that it enabled the brain to prosper. In diseases like Alzheimer's, depression, Parkinson's, and dementia more generally, BDNF levels were low. In people who exercised, BDNF levels rose.'
Link to NYRoB review of "Can't Remember What I Forgot: The Good News from the Front Lines of Memory Research" by Sue Halpern.
译文:
只要记住运动的好处
迈克尔格林伯格，写了一本关于他的女儿患躁郁症的经历的传纪，最近又写了一篇关于一部巨著《不能记住我所忘记的》，并发表在《纽约书评》上。
在《纽约书评》的众多评论中，格林伯格向你精彩地简述了哈尔彭的书的主要内容——简要地介绍她在书中的描述：她是怎样接受心理实验，患上早老性痴呆以及如何千方百计寻找科学的治疗方法。
如果你对感到疑惑的话，格林伯格解释说，书名的乐观主义来自对运动的作用的发现。
“在她写这本书的这些年里，神经形成的一个不容置疑的方式，即有氧运动，已经显现出来。这个过程的原理再简单不过了。运动通过增加血量来促进大脑里新的细胞的生长。细胞生长能提高记忆力。这在认知能力受损的老鼠身上得到验证，同样也在认知能力轻度受损的人身上得到验证。运动不会去除淀粉样蛋白斑（早老性痴呆的神经病理学的标志），但它可以提高人的认知能力。此外，哈尔彭还解释说，运动能增加在大脑内循环的脑原性神经营养因子的数量。脑原性神经营养因子能促刺激新的脑细胞的生成。脑原性神经营养因子能提高神经的可塑性，也就是说能使大脑更好的发育。患老年性痴呆症，抑郁，帕金森症的人，脑原性神经营养因子的数量很少，这在患痴呆的病人中更普遍。运动使人的脑原性神经营养因子的水平得到提高。”