TED演讲:和老年痴呆症说再见(3)

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　　This initial step into the disease, this presence of amyloid plaques² accumulating, can already be found in your brains. 老年痴呆症的起步，淀粉样斑块的累积，也许已经在你的大脑初步产生。

　　The only way we could be sure of this would be through a PET scan, because at this point, you are blissfully unaware³. 我们唯一能确认的方式是PET扫描，因为现在你对此毫无知觉。

　　You're not showing any impairments in memory, language, or cognition ... yet. 你还没有任何记忆、语言或是认知方面的问题... 现在还没有。

　　We think it takes at least 15 to 20 years of amyloid plaque¹ accumulation before it reaches a tipping point, 我们认为淀粉样斑块的累积至少需要15至20年时间才会到达它的临界点，

　　then triggering a molecular⁴ cascade⁵ that causes the clinical symptoms of the disease. 随后引发分子的连锁反应，导致了这一疾病的临床症状。

　　Prior to the tipping point, your lapses⁶ in memory might include things like, 在这一临界点之前，你的记忆衰退可能会像这样：

　　"Why did I come in this room?" or "Oh ... what's his name?" or "Where did I put my keys?" “我为什么到这间屋子来？”或是“呃，他叫什么来着？”或是“我把钥匙放哪了？”

　　Now, before you all start freaking out again, 现在，在你们惊慌失措之前，

　　because I know half of you did at least one of those in the last 24 hours -- these are all normal kinds of forgetting. 我知道你们中的半数在过去的24小时内至少有过上述之一，这些都是正常的遗忘类型。

　　In fact, I would argue that these examples might not even involve your memory, 实际上，我的看法是这些示例，甚至都与你的记忆没什么关系，

　　because you didn't pay attention to where you put your keys in the first place. 因为起初你并没有在意你把钥匙放在哪里。

　　After the tipping point, the glitches⁷ in memory, language and cognition are different. 在临界点之后，记忆、语言和认知的偏差是不一样的。

　　Instead of eventually finding your keys in your coat pocket or on the table by the door, 最后发现钥匙并不在你的大衣口袋，或是不在门边的桌上，

　　you find them in the refrigerator, or you find them and you think, "What are these for?" 你在冰箱里找到了你的钥匙，或者你找到钥匙后想，“这玩意是干嘛的？”

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