## 2 WEEKS TO A YOUNGER BRAIN
**兩週讓大腦更年輕**
Many of our UCLA studies have confirmed the close link between the outward manifestations of brain health (e.g., memory ability, language skills) and actual biological brain aging that shows up on MRI and PET scans.
**我們在加州大學洛杉磯分校的許多研究，都證實了大腦健康在外在表現（例如記憶能力、語言技巧）與 MRI、PET 掃描中所呈現的實際生物性腦老化之間，有著密切的關聯。**
People who perform better on pencil-and-paper memory tests actually have bigger brains that function better.
**在紙筆記憶測驗中表現較好的人，實際上擁有體積較大、運作較佳的大腦。**
My team's research has shown that an individual's subjective memory rating, or their own awareness of their memory changes, reflects underlying biological changes in their brain structure.
**我們團隊的研究發現，一個人對自己記憶力的主觀評價，或對記憶變化的自我察覺，反映出其大腦結構裡潛在的生物性變化。**
If you feel like you are losing your memory, it can often be documented in a brain scan.
**如果你覺得自己的記憶正在變差，這種情況往往可以在腦部掃描中被記錄下來。**
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PET scanning shows the details of brain structure as well as brain function.
**PET 掃描不僅能顯示大腦結構的細節，也能呈現大腦功能的狀況。**
A PET scanner works like a Geiger counter because it measures radioactivity.
**PET 掃描儀的運作方式類似蓋革計數器，因為它是用來測量放射性。**
The doctor injects the patient with a tiny amount of radioactive chemical marker that travels through the blood system into the brain, allowing the PET scanner to measure how much chemical is accumulating in different brain regions.
**醫師會為病人注射少量帶有放射性的化學標記物，這些物質會經由血液循環進入大腦，使 PET 掃描儀能測量不同腦區累積了多少這種化學物質。**
Depending on the type of chemical the doctor injects, different biological changes can be detected.
**根據醫師所注射的化學物種類別，可以偵測到不同型態的生物性變化。**
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When PET imaging was first introduced to the medical world, we were awed by the dazzling images—it was like seeing color television for the first time.
**當 PET 影像技術剛被引進醫學界時，這些絢麗的影像讓我們驚嘆不已——彷彿第一次看到彩色電視一般。**
In PET scans, brain areas that are active light up in bright reds, oranges, and yellows.
**在 PET 掃描中，活躍的腦區會以鮮紅、橘色和黃色亮起。**
The traditional chemical marker used with PET is a form of glucose (sugar)—the brain’s main energy source.
**PET 傳統使用的化學標記是一種葡萄糖（糖分），也就是大腦的主要能量來源。**
Numerous PET scan investigations have shown that younger brains use up more sugar.
**許多 PET 掃描研究顯示，較年輕的大腦會消耗更多的糖分。**
You can see the warm colors that indicate the brain cells are firing up in a normal and active way, particularly in the areas that control memory, reasoning, and other cognitive skills.
**你可以看到代表腦細胞正常且活躍放電的暖色區域，特別是在負責記憶、推理以及其他認知能力的腦區。**
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PET studies also show that with aging, these same brain regions gradually lose their ability to burn sugar efficiently, indicating decline in brain function.
**PET 研究也顯示，隨著老化，這些相同的腦區會逐漸喪失有效燃燒糖分的能力，這代表大腦功能正在衰退。**
The scans show this subtle decline in healthy people beginning in their 40s, approximately the same age when neuropsychologists can begin to detect brain aging with pencil-and-paper tests.
**掃描結果發現，即使是健康族群，在四十多歲左右就會出現這種細微的下降；而這大約也是神經心理學家用紙筆測驗開始偵測到腦部老化的年齡。**
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People whose PET scan shows lower activity on the left side of the brain, which controls language skills, have a harder time performing verbal memory tests.
**在 PET 掃描中，如果大腦左側——也就是負責語言能力的部位——活動較低，那麼此人會比較難完成語文記憶測驗。**
Those whose scans show lower activity on the right side of the brain, which controls visual and spatial abilities, struggle more with reading maps and recalling three-dimensional images.
**而掃描顯示右腦——掌管視覺與空間能力的部位——活動較低的人，在看地圖或回想立體圖像時會更加吃力。**
If you’re left-handed, the functions of your right and left brain are reversed.
**如果你是左撇子，左右腦在功能上的分工會相反。**
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After performing hundreds of PET studies using the conventional sugar marker, our UCLA research team wanted to take the technology a step further.
**在進行了數百次採用傳統糖分標記的 PET 研究後，我們 UCLA 的研究團隊希望將這項技術再向前推進一步。**
A small group of us began to look for more precise ways to peer inside the brain, and we synthesized a new chemical marker (FDDNP) that allowed PET scanners to measure the most definitive signs of brain aging—abnormal protein deposits known as amyloid plaques and tau tangles.
**我們當中的一小組研究者開始尋找更精準窺探大腦的方法，並合成了一種新的化學標記物 FDDNP，使 PET 掃描儀可以量測腦老化最明確的指標——也就是稱為類澱粉斑塊與 tau 纏結的異常蛋白質沉積。**
These plaques and tangles are the physical evidence of Alzheimer’s disease and begin to accumulate gradually in the brain decades before symptoms of the disease emerge.
**這些斑塊與纏結是阿茲海默症的實體證據，且會在疾病症狀出現前的數十年間，逐漸在大腦中累積。**
The scans of patients with cognitive losses typical of Alzheimer’s dementia show significantly elevated FDDNP-PET signals in brain areas that control memory, thinking, and other cognitive abilities.
**在具有典型阿茲海默失智症認知退化的病人身上，掃描會顯示在掌管記憶、思考及其他認知能力的腦區，其 FDDNP-PET 訊號明顯升高。**
These special PET scans reveal subtle signals of abnormal protein buildup in people with only very mild memory complaints.
**這些特殊的 PET 掃描，甚至能在只有非常輕微記憶抱怨的人身上，偵測到異常蛋白質堆積的細微訊號。**
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When someone has Alzheimer’s disease, some brain regions are ravaged while others are spared.
**當一個人罹患阿茲海默症時，某些腦區會被嚴重破壞，而其他區域則相對保留下來。**
Autopsy studies after the deaths of patients with Alzheimer’s disease show plaques and tangles in the same brain areas that FDDNP-PET scans can pick up in living patients.
**對阿茲海默症患者死後解剖的研究發現，在與 FDDNP-PET 能在活人體內偵測到的相同腦區，出現大量斑塊與纏結。**
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Since our original discovery that using novel chemical markers allow PET scans to reveal brain amyloid and tau, the actual physical evidence of Alzheimer’s disease, further research has led to the development of PET scans that reveal levels of amyloid or tau in the brain.
**自從我們最初發現，利用這些新型化學標記可以讓 PET 掃描顯示大腦中的類澱粉與 tau——也就是阿茲海默症的實體證據——之後，進一步的研究便發展出能測量大腦中類澱粉或 tau 含量的 PET 掃描技術。**
Amyloid scans are now routinely used to determine if an Alzheimer’s patient will or will not respond to novel anti-amyloid drugs that the U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has recently approved (e.g., lecanemab or Leqembi in 2023, and donanemab or Kisunla in 2024).
**目前，類澱粉掃描已被常規用來判斷阿茲海默患者是否會對美國食品藥物管理局（FDA）近期核准的新型抗類澱粉藥物產生反應，例如 2023 年的 lecanemab（商品名 Leqembi）以及 2024 年的 donanemab（商品名 Kisunla）。**
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### Three Stages of Brain Aging
**大腦老化的三個階段**
Our brain scan studies have detailed the three major stages of brain aging: normal aging, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia.
**我們的腦部掃描研究詳細描述了大腦老化的三個主要階段：正常老化、輕度認知障礙，以及失智症。**
In our 40s or sometimes younger, we begin to notice mild forgetfulness that has minimal impact on our daily lives.
**在四十多歲，有時甚至更早，我們會開始注意到一些輕微的健忘，但對日常生活影響不大。**
This stage is termed normal aging.
**這個階段被稱為「正常老化」。**
