瞬間健忘症 是哪裏出了錯?
We've all walked into a room only to find that the reason for doing so has suddenly and entirely vanished from our mind.
有沒有這樣的經歷：我們進屋想要乾點什麼，結果卻發現完全忘記自己進屋的目的了，腦子裏什麼都不記得了。
Psychologists have discovered the so-called ‘senior moments’ that can leave us utterly bemused and retracing our steps may actually be caused by the way the brain processes information as the body leaves one room and enters another.
心理學家最近發現，當我們離開房間並進入另一個房間時，這種“老年性的瞬間記憶喪失”會讓我們完全茫然失措，我們得回想一下自己的步驟。這些其實跟我們大腦處理信息的方式有關。
It appears the mind regards a doorway as something experts call an ‘event boundary’, signalling the end of one memory episode and the beginning of another.
我們大腦似乎會將門視爲所謂的“事件邊界”（專家術語），標誌着一個記憶場景的結束和另一個新記憶場景的開始。
Psychologists found the brain tends to file away events and memories from one room as soon as it exits into another, storing information in successive chapters or episodes.
心理學家發現，一旦我們離開所在房間進入另一個，我們的大腦就會將我們在一個房間內的事件和記憶歸檔，信息會以連續章節或場景的形式存儲在我們腦中。
The latest research, published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, shows doorways act as a kind of trigger for the brain to file one chapter and move on to the next one.
發佈在《實驗心理學季刊》上的最新研究顯示，門會刺激大腦將一章節的信息進行歸檔然後進入到下一章節中。
A U.S. team of researchers at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana came up with the findings after an experiment where volunteers used computer keys to navigate their way through 55 ‘virtual’ rooms, large and small.
來自美國印第安納州聖母大學的研究團隊在實驗研究後提出這一發現。在他們的實驗中，參與者操縱電腦鍵盤進入大大小小的55個虛擬房間。
Each room contained one or two tables, with objects that the volunteers had to pick up, carry to the next room and set down on a table again.
每個虛擬房間裏有一到兩張桌子，桌上有一些物品，按照要求，參與者需要將物品拿到另一個房間內再放到桌子上。
As soon as they picked them up, the objects disappeared.
一旦物品被拿起，就會馬上消失。
Throughout the test, they were presented with the name of an object and asked if it was the one they were currently carrying, or the one they had already put down.
在測試過程中，研究者會向他們出示物品的名稱，詢問是否是手上拿着的物品，或是已經放在桌上的。
The results showed memory performance dipped markedly once they had passed through a doorway, rather than when they covered the same distance but remained in the same room.
研究結果顯示，一旦參與者通過一扇門後，他們的記憶力表現會明顯下降。而只要他們還保持在同一個房間內，就算是同樣的行走距離，他們的記憶力表現都會更好。
To confirm the findings in real life, rather than on a computer, the team set up a similar environment of rooms and tables – hiding the objects in boxes the volunteers carried.
爲在真實生活中再次證實這一結果，研究團隊還模擬了一個相似的環境：同樣有房間和桌子，把參與者拿到的物品藏在盒子裏。
Again, the researchers found participants were more likely to forget what they had in the box once they walked through a door into the next room.
研究者們再次發現，參與者們一旦經過門進入了另一個房間，就很容易忘記盒子裏拿的是什麼。
In a report on their findings, researchers said that moving into a new environment probably clutters the brain’s working memory, so that it cannot recall the original reason for entering a room.
在研究報告中，研究者認爲進入新的環境可能會造成大腦工作記憶混亂，所以無法回想起當初進房間的原因。
The report stated that the extra information ‘overloads and adds more and more information to the working memory’.
報告同時表明額外信息會給大腦造成負擔併爲工作記憶增加更多的信息。
