If we fail to protect our brains from the aging process, normal aging can transition to mild cognitive impairment.
**若我們未能保護大腦免於老化過程，原本的正常老化就可能轉變成輕度認知障礙。**
Although we then notice more everyday memory difficulties, we can still compensate for them and live independently.
**雖然此時我們會察覺到更多日常記憶上的困難，但仍然能透過其他方式補償，維持獨立生活。**
If that compensation ability breaks down, people begin to suffer from dementia, and the most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s.
**一旦這種補償能力失效，人們就會開始受到失智症的影響，而最常見的失智類型就是阿茲海默症。**
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If normal brain aging transitions to mild cognitive impairment, FDDNP-PET scans begin to show some accumulation of plaques and tangles in areas that control memory, particularly in the hippocampus (temporal lobe).
**若正常的腦部老化已進展成輕度認知障礙，FDDNP‑PET 掃描便會在掌管記憶的腦區，特別是海馬迴（位於顳葉），顯示出部分斑塊與纏結的累積。**
If brain aging continues to advance toward dementia, abnormalities show up in regions that regulate language (Broca’s area), reasoning and planning skills (frontal lobe), memory and emotion (temporal lobe), and perception and personality (parietal lobe).
**若大腦老化持續往失智方向發展，異常現象會出現在調節語言的布洛卡區、負責推理與規畫能力的額葉、掌管記憶與情緒的顳葉，以及與知覺與人格有關的頂葉等腦區。**
However, the sensorimotor strip (sensation and movement), the visual cortex (sight), and the cerebellum (balance) remain relatively stable—even in patients with Alzheimer’s dementia.
**然而，感覺運動帶（感覺與動作）、視覺皮質（視覺）以及小腦（平衡）則相對穩定——即使在阿茲海默失智症患者身上也是如此。**
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### Centers of the Brain
**大腦的主要中樞**
Sensorimotor Strip
**感覺運動帶**
Frontal Lobe
**額葉**
Parietal Lobe
**頂葉**
Broca’s Area
**布洛卡區（語言區）**
Visual Cortex
**視覺皮質**
Temporal Lobe
**顳葉**
Cerebellum
**小腦**
---
### Stages of Brain Aging
**大腦老化階段**
Normal Aging
**正常老化**
Mild Cognitive Impairment
**輕度認知障礙**
Dementia
**失智症**
AGE
**年齡**
BRAIN HEALTH
**大腦健康**
---
### Don’t Just Blame Your Genes
**別只怪你的基因**
When I was a kid, I was friends with identical twins, Stuart and Steve.
**我小時候有一對好朋友，是一對同卵雙胞胎兄弟，斯圖亞特和史提夫。**
I used to have a hard time telling them apart back then.
**那時候我常常很難分辨他們誰是誰。**
They would play tricks on me where Steve would pretend he was Stuart and vice versa.
**他們也愛捉弄我，讓史提夫假裝成斯圖亞特，或反過來。**
But when I got to know them better, I could tell who was who because of their different personalities.
**但隨著彼此越來越熟，我就能從他們截然不同的個性分辨出來。**
I got along best with Steve—we played basketball together and joked around a lot.
**我和史提夫最合得來——我們常一起打籃球、開玩笑。**
Stuart was more serious and sensitive—he’d often take things the wrong way and get insulted.
**斯圖亞特則比較嚴肅又敏感，常常會誤解別人的話而感到受傷。**
When I ran into them again years later, they were very different.
**多年後我再次遇見他們時，兩個人已經大不相同。**
Stuart was overweight, divorced, and smoked heavily.
**斯圖亞特過重、離了婚，而且菸抽得很兇。**
Steve appeared athletic and healthy and told me he was married with three children.
**史提夫看起來則很健壯、健康，他告訴我自己已婚，育有三個孩子。**
