VOA慢速英語:交談可以找回失去的記憶（雙語）

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Conversations Find Lost Memories

交談可以找回失去的記憶

From VOA Learning English, this is the  Health Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語健康報道。

Imagine forgetting everything you have ever done in life–jobs you held, a marriage you built, the children you raised, your friends, your travels, everything. For many older people such severe memory loss is a reality.

想像一下你忘記了你曾經所做的所有事情，包括你所從事的工作，你所建立的婚姻，你所培養(yǎng)的孩子，你的旅行等所有的一切。這樣嚴重的失憶對于老年人是現(xiàn)實存在的。

But in Tennessee, one man works to connect senior citizens with their past to regain their sense of self.

不過在田納西州的一個人，致力于和年老公民談論他們的過去來幫助他們恢復自我感知。

Doug Oliver and his friend Geneva McElroy are talking about old times.

道格·奧利弗和他的朋友日內瓦·麥克爾羅伊正在談論過去往事。

Oliver: "Tell me something that you and HC (her husband) did together that was just fun and funny at the same time, that you remember..."

奧利弗說：“跟我說說你記憶里，你和你丈夫在一起時好玩有趣的事情吧……”

McElroy: "Well, we was on our way to church one time, and I can't think what it was, he told something that my niece ..."

麥克爾羅伊說：“好啊，有一次在我們去教堂的路上，我想不起來是什么了，好像是他講了一些關于我侄女的事情……”

However, the two friends are not just having a simple talk about the past, however. Mr. Oliver is using a technique called guided conversations to help Ms. McElroy remember her past.

但是這兩位朋友并不只是在簡單的談論過去，道格是在用一種引導式的談話技巧來幫助麥克爾羅伊女士想起過去。

Guided conversations are planned, purposeful talks. They are designed to help those with memory loss. But the point is not only remembering the past, it is also recovering a sense of self-worth.

引導式談話是有計劃有目的的交談，是用來幫助那些失憶的人的。但是其目的不只是讓他們回想起過去，還有就是恢復他們的自我價值。

“They can see what they have done that has or will impact the future and it lifts their mood. Many times they will realize that they are and were important; that they have something to offer.”

“他們會知道他們做過什么，將會對未來產生什么影響，而且會提升他們的情緒，很多時候他們會意識到自己曾經或現(xiàn)在很重要，有自己的用處和貢獻。”

To understand how guided conversations work it is important to understand an important detail about the brain. Short term and long term memories are stored in different areas of the brain.

要想理解引導式談話是怎樣進行的，那么要先了解關于大腦的一個重要細節(jié)，短期記憶和長期記憶分別存儲在大腦里的不同區(qū)域。

Diseases that harm short-term storage areas may not affect long-term storage areas. Alzheimer’s disease, for example, begins in the areas of the brain where short-term memories are kept.

能夠對短期記憶存儲區(qū)造成傷害的疾病，可能并不會影響到長期記憶存儲區(qū)。以阿茲海默病(老年癡呆癥)為例，就開始于大腦短期記憶存儲的區(qū)域。

Doug Oliver explains.

“One of the hidden benefits that many elders have, even when they are having trouble with short-term memory, is that their long-term memories are usually intact for a much longer time.”

道格·奧利弗解釋說：“這隱藏的好處之一就是當很多老年人短期記憶有問題時，通常他們的長期記憶在很長的一段時間完整無缺。”

For more than twenty years, Mr. Oliver worked as a mental health care provider. He is retired now.

奧利弗先生作為一名心理健康護理人員工作了20多年，現(xiàn)在退休了。

But he volunteers at a daycare center for senior citizens in the southern U.S. city of Nashville, Tennessee.

但是他志愿在美國南部納什維爾的老年人日托中心工作。

This is where he uses the guided conversation memory technique. He finds it useful in fighting depression in older people.

他在這里運用引導式談話記憶技巧，他發(fā)現(xiàn)這種方法有助于老年人對抗抑郁。

Oliver: "If we were to talk about HC just for a minute. He passed away six months ago, was it?"

奧利弗先生說：“我們來聊會你的丈夫，他是6個月前去世的，是嗎?”

McElroy: "No, 11 months, a year ago."

麥克爾羅伊說：“不是的， 11個月，一年前。”

Oliver: "Has it been a year already? ..."

奧利弗：“已經發(fā)生一年了嗎?”

“Without trying to lift the depression a little bit, people can languish quickly and deteriorate, and so part of the purpose is to take that healthy part of their thinking and get that firing as passionately as you can.”

“如果不努力消除一點他們的抑郁，那么他們會憔悴惡化的很快，所以這樣談話的部分目的也是為了讓他們積極健康的思考，盡可能的點燃他們的激情。”

Mr. Oliver says it is important to get patients to connect the past to the present and the future. These connections help a person reach memories that are buried deep away in the brain. To do this, he uses memories of good experiences and bad -- successes and losses.

奧利弗先生稱，讓病人把過去現(xiàn)在和未來聯(lián)系起來很重要。這些聯(lián)系會幫助人們想起深埋在大腦中的記憶。為了達到這一效果，他會利用人們記憶里好的或壞的經歷，成功或者失敗的經歷。

“[It] Helps them to determine what they learned from those incidences, those memories. How does that apply to them and their families in the present, and what impact do they think they have had on the future.”

“這會幫助他們確定從這些記憶中所學到的東西，以及如何把它們運用到現(xiàn)在的自己和家庭中去，和他們認為這些會對未來產生什么影響。”

Catholic Charities operates the senior daycare. The group praises Mr. Oliver’s work. Linda Edwards helps direct the daycare. She says Doug Oliver has a gift for helping seniors feel needed and valued.

這個老年人日托中心是由天主教慈善會開辦的，天主教慈善會很是稱贊奧利弗先生的工作。琳達·愛德華茲幫忙管理該日托中心，她稱，道格·奧利弗讓病人感覺到自身的被需要和有價值。

Mr. Oliver says sometimes he thinks about quitting. He has an eye disease and cannot see well. For him, getting to the daycare center and home again can be difficult.

奧利弗先生稱，有時他也會想辭職。他有眼疾，眼睛不好使。對于他來說，每天去日托中心再回家就很困難。

“Each time I consider that, I actually step back and say, ‘No. I am where I need to be right now. And I am doing what I should be doing.”

“每次我想到這，實際上我就已經在后退了，我就告訴自己，‘不行，我現(xiàn)在要呆在需要我的地方，要做我應該做的事。”

But Mr. Oliver says he has always been interested in older people and the stories they tell. He says that listening to these stories brings history to life in a very personal way.

但是奧利弗先生稱他一直很喜歡和老年人聊天，對他們所講述的故事很感興趣。他說所聽的這些故事，以非常個人方式為生活講述歷史。

And that’s the  Health Report. I’m Anna Matteo.

這就是本期的美國之音慢速英語健康報道，我是安娜·馬泰奧

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Conversations Find Lost Memories

From VOA Learning English, this is the  Health Report..

Imagine forgetting everything you have ever done in life–jobs you held, a marriage you built, the children you raised, your friends, your travels, everything. For many older people such severe memory loss is a reality.

But in Tennessee, one man works to connect senior citizens with their past to regain their sense of self.

Doug Oliver and his friend Geneva McElroy are talking about old times.

Oliver: "Tell me something that you and HC (her husband) did together that was just fun and funny at the same time, that you remember..."

McElroy: "Well, we was on our way to church one time, and I can't think what it was, he told something that my niece ..."

However, the two friends are not just having a simple talk about the past, however. Mr. Oliver is using a technique called guided conversations to help Ms. McElroy remember her past.

Guided conversations are planned, purposeful talks. They are designed to help those with memory loss. But the point is not only remembering the past, it is also recovering a sense of self-worth.

“They can see what they have done that has or will impact the future and it lifts their mood. Many times they will realize that they are and were important; that they have something to offer.”

To understand how guided conversations work it is important to understand an important detail about the brain. Short term and long term memories are stored in different areas of the brain.

Diseases that harm short-term storage areas may not affect long-term storage areas. Alzheimer’s disease, for example, begins in the areas of the brain where short-term memories are kept.

Doug Oliver explains.

“One of the hidden benefits that many elders have, even when they are having trouble with short-term memory, is that their long-term memories are usually intact for a much longer time.”

For more than twenty years, Mr. Oliver worked as a mental health care provider. He is retired now.

But he volunteers at a daycare center for senior citizens in the southern U.S. city of Nashville, Tennessee.

This is where he uses the guided conversation memory technique. He finds it useful in fighting depression in older people.

Oliver: "If we were to talk about HC just for a minute. He passed away six months ago, was it?"

McElroy: "No, 11 months, a year ago."

Oliver: "Has it been a year already? ..."

“Without trying to lift the depression a little bit, people can languish quickly and deteriorate, and so part of the purpose is to take that healthy part of their thinking and get that firing as passionately as you can.”

Mr. Oliver says it is important to get patients to connect the past to the present and the future. These connections help a person reach memories that are buried deep away in the brain. To do this, he uses memories of good experiences and bad -- successes and losses.

“[It] Helps them to determine what they learned from those incidences, those memories. How does that apply to them and their families in the present, and what impact do they think they have had on the future.”

Catholic Charities operates the senior daycare. The group praises Mr. Oliver’s work. Linda Edwards helps direct the daycare. She says Doug Oliver has a gift for helping seniors feel needed and valued.