像婴儿一样学习能提高智力

 People who are furrowing 1 their brows over weighty arithmetic puzzles or sweating over wordy text books might want to take note.

对超难度算术题皱眉头或对冗长的课本冒汗的人需要记笔记。
Adults can significantly bulk up their brains in just a couple of hours by carrying out simple learning tasks that are on the same intelligence level as a baby.
成人通过完成跟婴儿同样智力的简单学习任务，能够有效地提高智力。
Scientists had previously 2 believed that the human brain was incapable 3 of adding grey matter over short periods of time.
科学家们以前认为人类大脑灰质不能在短时间内增加。
But adults quickly boosted their grey matter when they were given simple learning tasks that could be completed by a baby, according to a study.
但是根据该研究，成人可以通过完成婴儿般简单任务来增加大脑灰质。
The ground-breaking discovery could pave the way for a range of new treatments for brain disorders 4 that doctors had previously thought were beyond help.
这项独创性发现为大脑紊乱的新治疗方法做好准备，大脑紊乱在以前医生是无能为力的。
'Our finding suggests that the adult human brain is far more plastic than previously believed,' researcher Li-Hai Tan, a cognitive 5 neuroscientist at the University of Hong Kong, told LiveScience. 
“我们的研究表明成人大脑比以前的发现更有可塑性。”香港大学认知神经科学家谭力海在《生活科学》上说。
'We are very excited about the finding, because we think that it offers hope to adult people with brain development disorders.
“我们对这项发现感到非常兴奋，因为我们觉得它可以为患脑部发育紊乱的成人提供希望。”
'With appropriate intervention 6 strategies, adults' brains may still be able to quickly develop structure to acquire skills. 
“随着适当的干预策略，成人大脑依然可以快速开发组织获得技能。”
'This will be a welcome relief to many families.'
“这对许多家庭来说将会是一种安慰。”
Researchers have known for many years that the brains of young children are able to grown rapidly.
研究人员从多年前已经知道儿童的大脑可以迅速发育。
In recent years, studies have also found that the adult brain is still relatively 7 malleable 8 and capable of increasing its grey matter after learning for several weeks.
最近几年，研究也表明成人大脑在学习几个星期之后依然可塑，能够增加大脑灰质。
But never before have doctors known that the human brain can be 'pumped up' over such short periods of time.
但是以前从没有医生知道人类大脑可以在短时间内“快速发育”。
In the experiment, adults were given four different coloured cards and asked to associate nonsensical words with them. 
实验中，给成年人4张不同的彩色卡片，让他们自己把卡片跟没有意义的单词联系在一起。
The tasks were the same processes that babies go through when learning how to associate language with objects.
The participants were then asked to accept the new words as actual descriptors for the new colours.
该项任务跟婴儿学习如何把语言跟物体联系起来过程一样。
由于对新颜色有真正描述，参与者就要认识这些新单词。
They had to memorise 9 them so that they could reply with the correct colour name at a later date and to match them with the descriptions when asked.
他们必须记住这些单词，因为晚些时候他们要回答准确的颜色名并把它们跟所描述的搭配起来。
The tasks were carried out in five sessions that were spread over three days but the total amount of time spent on learning only came to one hour and 48 minutes.
整项任务分成5个部分花了3天时间进行，但是用在学习的总体时间只有1小时48分钟。
Researchers then performed MRI scans on the adults and it was revealed that new grey matter had formed in the left hemisphere of their brains.
研究人员又对成人进行核磁共振扫描，表明新的灰质在他们左半脑形成。
It is not yet clear if the new matter was comprised of new neuron formation or if they were simply dendrites (branches).
但是对于该物质是由新神经元构成还是只是树突（分支）还不清楚。
The experiment initially 10 started to try and discover if people perceive the world differently according to which language they speak. 
该实验起初是为了试验人们看待世界不同是否由于他们所说的语言不同。
Although that question was not answered, the findings, which have been published in the journal Proceedings 11 of National Academy of Sciences, could help millions of people who suffer with learning disabilities.
尽管那个问题没解决，但是发表在《美国国家科学院院刊》的研究结果可以帮助成千上万患有学习障碍的人。
'We were so surprised, we could not believe it — the adult human brain structure changes so fast,' Tan added.
“我们感到非常惊奇，不敢相信——成人大脑结构会变得这么快。”谭教授说。