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You've put your keys somewhere and now they appear to be nowhere, certainly not in the basket by the door they're supposed to go in and now you're 20 minutes late for work. Kitchen counter, night stand, book shelf, work bag: Wait, finally, there they are under the mail you brought in last night.
你把钥匙放在了某个地方，而现在它却无影无踪了。它肯定没在它应该在的门边的筐子里，而你现在已经上班迟到20分钟了。厨房工作台、床头柜、书架上和公文包里统统没有：等一下，找到了，它在昨天晚上你拿进来的那一叠信下面。
Losing things is irritating and yet we are a forgetful people. The average person misplaces up to nine items a day, and one-third of respondents in a poll said they spend an average of 15 minutes each day searching for items -- cellphones, keys and paperwork top the list, according to an online survey of 3,000 people published in 2012 by a British insurance company.
找不到东西让人心烦意乱，而我们又是健忘的人类。英国一家保险公司2012年发布的一项有3,000位受访者参加的网络调查显示，受访者平均每天把东西放错位置的次数有九次，三分之一的受访者称他们平均每天花费15分钟用来找东西──手机、钥匙、文件是他们最经常找的物品。
Everyday forgetfulness isn't a sign of a more serious medical condition like Alzheimer's or dementia. And while it can worsen with age, minor memory lapses are the norm for all ages, researchers say.
日常健忘并不是阿尔茨海默病或痴呆等严重疾病的表现。研究人员表示，虽然健忘可能会随着年龄的增长而恶化，但是轻微的健忘却是各个年龄层的通病。
Our genes are at least partially to blame, experts say. Stress, fatigue, and multitasking can exacerbate our propensity to make such errors. Such lapses can also be linked to more serious conditions like depression and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders.
专家们称，人类的基因至少要为健忘承担一定的责任。压力、疲劳和多重任务处理可以增加我们健忘的可能。健忘现象还可能与一些更严重的病症相关，比如抑郁和注意力不足过动症等。
'It's the breakdown at the interface of attention and memory,' says Daniel L. Schacter, a psychology professor at Harvard University and author of 'The Seven Sins of Memory.'
哈佛大学(Harvard University)心理学教授、《记忆七罪》(The Seven Sins of Memory)的作者丹尼尔·L·沙克特(Daniel L. Schacter)称：“健忘是注意力和记忆临界区域出现的故障。”
That breakdown can occur in two spots: when we fail to activate our memory and encode what we're doing -- where we put down our keys or glasses -- or when we try to retrieve the memory. When you encode a memory, the hippocampus, a central part of the brain involved in memory function, takes a snapshot which is preserved in a set of neurons, says Kenneth Norman, a psychology professor at Princeton University. Those neurons can be activated later with a reminder or cue.
这种故障可能在两种情况下出现：一是当我们无法启动记忆、无法对行为（比如我们把钥匙或眼镜放在哪里了）进行编码的时候；二是当我们试图提取记忆的时候。普林斯顿大学(Princeton University)的心理学教授肯尼斯·诺曼(Kenneth Norman)称，当人类对记忆进行编码时，大脑中主管记忆的海马体会拍摄一张快照，并把它存储在一系列神经元之中。那些神经元可以随后由提示或线索而启动。
It is important to pay attention when you put down an item, or during encoding. If your state of mind at retrieval is different than it was during encoding, that could pose a problem. Case in point: You were starving when you walked into the house and deposited your keys. When you then go to look for them later, you're no longer hungry so the memory may be harder to access.
当你放下某件物品或进行其他记忆编码行为时，用心至关重要。而在提取记忆时，如果你的情绪状态不同于编码时的状态，那么就可能会有问题。相关案例：当你走进房子、放下钥匙时，你正 肠辘辘。而如果你随后寻找钥匙时已不再 饿，那么关于钥匙的记忆可能会更难提取。
The act of physically and mentally retracing your steps when looking for lost objects can work. Think back to your state of mind when you walked into the house (Were you hungry?). 'The more you can make your brain at retrieval like the way it was when you lay down that original memory trace,' the more successful you will be, Dr. Norman says.
在寻找丢失的物品时，实际上或在头脑中重演当时的路径可能会起到作用。回忆当时你走进房子时的心态（你是否很饿？）。诺曼博士称：“你越是能够让自己提取记忆时的心态向原始记忆时刻的心态靠拢”，你就越有可能成功。
In a recent study, researchers in Germany found that the majority of people surveyed about forgetfulness and distraction had a variation in the so-called dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2), leading to a higher incidence of forgetfulness. According to the study, 75% of people carry a variation that makes them more prone to forgetfulness.
在最近的一项研究中，德国的研究人员发现，大多数接受健忘和注意力分散调查的受访者都携带一种名为“多巴胺D2受体”(DRD2)的基因的变体，这种变体会导致健忘多发。研究结果显示，75%的人都携带该基因变体，该基因变体会令人更易忘事。
'Forgetfulness is quite common,' says Sebastian Markett, a researcher in psychology neuroscience at the University of Bonn in Germany and lead author of the study currently in the online version of the journal Neuroscience Letters, where it is expected to be published soon.
德国波恩大学(University of Bonn)的心理神经科学研究员塞巴斯蒂安·马克特(Sebastian Markett)表示：“健忘非常常见。”马克特博士是上述研究的首席作者，目前该研究论文发表在了《神经科学通讯》(Neuroscience Letters)的网络版上，预计将很快出版。
The study was based on a survey filled out by 500 people who were asked questions about memory lapses, perceptual failures (failing to notice a stop sign) and psychomotor failures (bumping into people on the street). The individuals also provided a saliva sample for molecular genetic testing.
该研究基于一项由500名受访者参与的问卷调查，调查内容包括记忆失误、感官失误（未能注意到停车牌）和精神运动失误（在路上误撞别人）等。每位受访者还提供了一份以供分子基因检测的唾液标本。
About half of the total variation of forgetfulness can be explained by genetic effects, likely involving dozens of gene variations, Dr. Markett says.
马克特博士表示，在健忘的各种不同形式中，约有一半能够用基因的影响来解释，这其中大概涉及了几十种基因变体。
The buildup of what psychologists call proactive interference helps explain how we can forget where we parked the car when we park in the same lot but different spaces every day. Memory may be impaired by the buildup of interference from previous experiences so it becomes harder to retrieve the specifics, like which parking space, Dr. Schacter says.
心理学家所称的前摄干扰的累积可以部分解释为什么我们会记不住在每天停车的停车场中我们具体把车停在了哪个停车位上。沙克特博士称，源自过去经历的干扰的累积可能不利于记忆的形成，因此回忆起具体的琐事──比如车停在哪个停车位上──会变得更难。
A study conducted by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California found that the brain keeps track of similar but distinct memories (where you parked your car today, for example) in the dentate gyrus, part of the hippocampus. There the brain stores separates recordings of each environment and different groups of neurons are activated when similar but nonidentical memories are encoded and later retrieved. The findings appeared last year in the online journal eLife.
一项由加利福尼亚州索尔克生物研究所(Salk Institute for Biological Studies)的研究人员进行的研究发现，大脑会在齿状回（海马体的一部分）中持续记录相似但截然不同的记忆，比如你今天把车停在哪儿了这个信息。在齿状回中，大脑储存着对各种环境的记录，当相似但不同的记忆被编码储存并随后被提取时，不同的神经元则相应地被激发起来。这些研究成果去年发表于网络期刊eLife。
The best way to remember where you put something may be the most obvious: Find a regular spot for it and somewhere that makes sense, experts say. If it's reading glasses, leave them by the bedside. Charge your phone in the same place. Keep a container near the door for keys or a specific pocket in your purse.
专家表示，记起你把某件物品放在哪里的最佳方法可能再简单不过了：为这件物品找个合乎情理的固定位置。比如：把老花镜放在床边；在固定的位置给手机充电；把钥匙放在门边的某个容器内或提包的某个内袋里。
Mark McDaniel, a psychology professor at Washington University in St. Louis and co-author of 'Memory Fitness: A Guide for Successful Aging,' says one effective technique is to think or even say out loud, 'I'm putting my wallet on the dresser.'
路易斯华盛顿大学(Washington University in St. Louis)的心理学教授、《健康记忆：成功老龄化指南》(Memory Fitness: A Guide for Successful Aging)的合着者马克·麦克丹尼尔(Mark McDaniel)说，一个有效技巧就是思考甚至大声说出来：“我把我的钱包放在了梳妆台上”。
Visualize a future task by associating it with the environmental cues that you expect will be present, he says. For example, if you want to remember to buy chicken, avocados and lettuce at the grocery store, imagine the produce and meat departments and those items. 'When you get to the store, those cues help you remember,' Dr. McDaniel says.
他说，可以把未来的任务和你能预想到的环境线索联系起来。例如，如果你想记得去食杂店时要买鸡肉、牛油果和生菜，你可以想象一下蔬菜和肉类柜台以及这些商品本身。麦克丹尼尔博士说：“当你身处食杂店时，这些线索可以帮你回忆起这些任务。”
Cognitive functioning, particularly processing speed, peaks at age 20 and the brain shrinks as we age, so things like multitasking and memory retrieval may take longer.
认知功能──特别是处理速度──在我们20岁时达到巅峰状态，而随着我们年龄的增长，大脑会萎缩，因此多项任务处理和记忆提取所需要的时间可能会变长。
Doug Scharre, a neurologist at Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center, says an increase in minor memory lapses can be related to other conditions such as stress, depression or conditions like sleep apnea, which results in fatigue. Medications can also impact memory.
俄亥俄州威克什纳医疗中心(Wexner Medical Center)的神经病学家道格·莎尔(Doug Scharre)表示，轻微记忆失误的增加可能与压力、抑郁等状态或睡眠呼吸暂停（该病症会造成疲惫）等病症相关。药物也会对记忆产生影响。
Roseanne Wholey, 60-years-old, is constantly multitasking. The Pittsburgh resident runs a medical consulting business, helps manage her husband's business, runs a family foundation and takes care of her 91-year-old blind mother, high school daughter and dog.
现年60岁的罗丝安妮·霍里(Roseanne Wholey)经常同时处理多项任务。霍里家住匹兹堡，经营着一家医学咨询机构，她还要帮丈夫打理生意、管理一个家庭基金会并且照顾自己91岁的失明母亲、上高中的女儿和一只狗。
In addition to a running to-do list, she writes reminder notes on her hand. 'Sometimes I use every finger and I write all over my hand and sometimes I get down my arm because I remember so many things I need to do at night,' she says.
除了列出待做事项清单之外，她还会在手上写提醒便条。她说：“我有时会写满每一根手指和整个手掌，有时还会写到手臂上，因为我想起来太多需要晚上做的事情。”
Even so, last week she was supposed to pick up a friend for lunch. She drove to her daughter's school instead. She loses her keys all the time, forgets to buy things at the grocery store.
即便如此，上周当她应该接一位朋友共进午餐的时候，她却把车开到了女儿的学校。她经常找不到自己的钥匙，还会忘记采买应该采买的食杂品。
The one thing she doesn't seem to lose is her notes. Two years ago she lost a purple Kate Spade sweater she had never worn. 'I still have a note to myself: Find purple sweater.'
她不会丢失的东西似乎就是她的便条。两年前，她弄丢了一件从未穿过的Kate Spade牌紫色毛衣。她说：“我现在还给自己留着一张便条：找到紫色的毛衣。”
Sumathi Reddy
Sumathi Reddy
