健忘癥
When we remember something, the neurons in our brains communicate with each other in a particular way. The chemical and sometimes even structural changes that occur create a pathway called a memory trace.
Signals traveling along these traces are what allow us to remember things. When the chemical changes first occur, they create short term memory, or things we remember for only a brief time.
But short- term memory can become long term memory if the memory trace is activated enough so that it creates a long-term pathway in the brain. This process is called consolidation.
When something interrupts the memory-storage process–like a hard knock to the head–newly formed memories aren’t stored for the long run and you can’t remember things that just happened. This is called anterogradeamnesia.
Retrograde amnesia which is when you can’t recall things from your long term memory either. Luckily, in many cases of amnesia memory eventually returns, although the incident that caused amnesia is often never recalled.
我們?cè)谟洃浺恍┦虑榈臅r(shí)候,大腦里的神經(jīng)元會(huì)以一種特殊的方式進(jìn)行交流。這種化學(xué)物質(zhì)的結(jié)構(gòu)時(shí)而發(fā)生變化產(chǎn)生一種叫“記憶痕跡”的路徑。
信號(hào)通過這些路徑傳輸,這樣我們就可以記住事情了。化學(xué)物質(zhì)最初發(fā)生變化時(shí),就制造出短期記憶或是一些我們只能記很短時(shí)間的事情。
如果記憶痕跡足夠活躍在大腦里制造出一條長(zhǎng)期路徑的話,短期記憶可以變成長(zhǎng)期。這個(gè)過程叫加強(qiáng)。
當(dāng)記憶儲(chǔ)存的過程被打斷——就像頭被狠狠的敲擊。新形成的記憶就不會(huì)持續(xù)很久,所以就不能記住剛剛發(fā)生的事情。這叫作順行性遺忘癥。
逆行性遺忘癥是不記得以前發(fā)生的事。幸運(yùn)的是,在許多健忘癥的案例中,大多數(shù)最終都會(huì)恢復(fù)記憶。雖然引起失憶的原因也通常不記得。