【60秒科学】咖啡因增强记忆力
摄入相当的咖啡因（约为两杯咖啡中的咖啡因含量）能让你在记忆测试中超常发挥。
The caffeine equivalent to that in two cups of coffee can boost performance on a memory test. Sophie Bushwick reports.
清晨，一杯热气腾腾的咖啡把我叫醒。然而，咖啡能做的，远不止是帮你睁开双眼。咖啡因确实有助于增强你的记忆力。
A steaming mug of coffee helps me wake up in the morning. But it can do more than just keep your eyes open. Caffeine may actually boost your memory.
研究人员找来160名“不含咖啡因”的成年人（这群人过去每周只摄取少于500毫克的咖啡因）。让这些志愿者观察各种不同物品的图片，之后，让部分志愿者服用安慰剂（无任何效果的药片），部分志愿者服用含200毫克咖啡因的药片——大致相当于2杯咖啡中的咖啡因含量。
Researchers gathered 160 uncaffeinated adults, people who consumed less than 500 milligrams of caffeine a week. These decaf subjects looked at pictures of various objects, then took either a placebo or a pill containing 200 milligrams of caffeine. That's roughly the amount you'd get from two cups of coffee.
第二天，志愿者们辨认新的一组图：该组中包括新图、旧图和一些只是与旧图相似的图片。两组志愿者在辨认新图、旧图中表现相当。但摄入咖啡因那组在辨认相似却不同的图片上表现得更好。而安慰剂组更容易在辨识与旧图相似的图片上犯错。该实验发表在《自然神经科学》期刊上。
The next day, participants examined a fresh set of pictures: some brand new, some from the previous day, and some that just looked similar to the old images. Both groups could identify new and old pictures equally well. But the caffeinated group was better at correctly labeling images that were similar but not identical. The placebo group tended to mistakenly identify these pictures as the same as the previous day's. The work is in the journal Nature Neuroscience. [Daniel Borota et al,Post-study caffeine administration enhances memory consolidation in humans]
确实，咖啡因在帮你保持清醒外，还能做更多。你的图找到了么*？ 像志愿者那样记得清清楚楚。
So caffeine does more than help you stay alert. Get the picture? The study subjects did.
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*Get the picture? 此句一语双关，既有泛指习语：了解情况了么？也有特指本文中的“找图实验”。
原文来自科学美国人：http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=caffeine-perks-up-memory-14-01-14
翻译来自译言：http://article.yeeyan.org/view/308771/394383
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