汪世界

大腦天生只能在「規律生活」與「善變生活」二選一，然後發揚光大

US NEWS在這星期引用了耶魯大學的科學家最近在美國國家科學學會報告，發表一篇研究，解釋「乾洗效應」(Dry Cleaning Effect)的原委。其實我的狀況並不是「乾洗效應」，所謂乾洗效應是說，美國上班族常在開車上班的路上將這周的衣服先送到乾洗店送洗，下班再記得去拿，但衣服可能二周才洗一次（那邊天氣就是這樣），而且不固定時間，所以就算前一晚想辦法記得了，將衣服放在門口，衣服也記得帶上車了，但它就一直掛在後座頂的手環上面，第一天忘記送它去乾洗，直接帶進辦公室，第二天又忘記，第三天、第四天……氣得要死，但就是會忘記。

現在耶魯的科學家說，這，不是健忘，而是因為太記得每天上班的動作，一上車，就是要開85號高速公路，然後轉向101高速公路，經過了同樣的看板，然後在同一個路口下去……這個動作上班族每天都做，已經「全自動」，自己大腦已經可以「自動導航」。由於太記得這個規律的事，因此不會記得突然要做的新事。

科學家進一步發現，「每天開同樣的路」和「記得換一條路去送乾洗」這兩件事，用的根本就是大腦二個完全不同的部位，前者是用到「紋狀體」(striatum)，專門記憶以前熟悉的指令，後者則用到一個叫「海馬迴」(hippocampus)的區域，專門啟動新的事、空間學習(spatial learning)。更重要的是，科學家找來老鼠 (又是可憐的老鼠)，將牠們腦中的striatum的功能破壞一下，結果竟然發現牠們的hippocampus的力量就莫名其妙的變強了！然後再找來另一批，改將牠們的hippocampus破壞一下，結果發現換成striatum變強了！

換句話說，這兩個部位，是會互相競爭的。因此，一個人不可能同時是個超有規律又超會做新事的人，假如一個人真能腳跨這兩塊，那它每一塊也不可能做得太好，這份研究所引導的結論就是這樣。

也就是說，如果你希望變成更有「原則」，做一個「規律」的人，那就請想辦法先放棄你平常那善變的一面，別常常換餐館、換車子、換工作、換女(男)朋友……。

如果你希望你可以常常神來一筆的「創意」，總是帶給他人意想不到的「驚喜」，那就先想辦法先放棄你平常那規律的一面，想辦法天天都做點不一樣的事，別常常讓自己進入「自動導航」的狀態。

這兩個地方只能選擇其一。當你努力的在成為一個很遵守原則、生活固定、每天汲汲營營的經營著同一件事，則你就別去想辦法改變；當你努力的成為一個充滿創意、每天要講出新的東西，則你就別想辦法變成一個每天都做同一件事的人。

這兩件事都是一種堅持，不是嗎？只不過「堅持」也要「二選一」，了解自己，然後堅持，無論是堅持做一個固執規律的人，還是堅持做一個善變創新的人，都有機會成為佼佼者，練一顆強大的大腦，而且愈練愈好！

(摘自 Mr.6)

Memory Lapses Come When 2 Parts of Brain Compete

Competition between two areas of the brain involved in learning may explain common memory lapses, suggest Yale University researchers, who add that their findings may help lead to new treatments for drug abusers and people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

One area is the striatum, which helps record cues or landmarks that guide you to familiar destinations. When the striatum goes on autopilot, you can arrive at a common destination, such as work, with little memory of the trip.

The other area is the hippocampus, which is used when traveling to an unfamiliar place. The hippocampus is part of the spatial learning system, which a commuter would use if he or she had to run an errand before arriving at work.

"When you have driven the same route many times and are doing it on autopilot, it can be really difficult to change," study senior author Dr. Christopher J. Pittenger, an assistant professor of psychiatry, said in a Yale news release. "This is why I cannot, for the life of me, remember to drop off my dry cleaning on the way to work. If I'm not paying enough attention right at the moment, if I am thinking about something else, I just sail right on by."

In this study, Pittenger and colleagues disrupted areas of the striatum in mice and found this impaired the rodent's ability to complete landmark navigation tasks, but actually improved their spatial learning ability.

When the researchers disrupted areas of the hippocampus involved in spatial learning, mice could no longer navigate spatially but learned landmark tasks more quickly, according to the study, published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The interactions between these two brain systems may help researchers better understand and treat mental illnesses that cause destructive, habit-like behavior or thought patterns, such as OCD and drug addiction.

"This is part of what we are doing in cognitive-behavioral therapy when we teach patients to recognize their destructive habits, to take a step back, and to learn to do things differently," Pittenger said. "What we're really asking them to do is to use one of these systems to overcome and, ultimately, to re-train the other."