Fizzy drinks, the scourge¹ of healthy diet campaigners, can improve your memory, according to experts today.

Consuming the equivalent of two cans of soft drink can boost memory retention² by a fifth and combat dementia in older people, found neuroscientists from Glasgow Caledonian University.

Psychology³ lecturer Dr Leigh Riby, who led the research, said people studying for exams could benefit from increasing the amount of sugar in their diet.

He focused on an area of the brain known as the hippocampus, which creates new memories but declines with the onset⁴ of dementia.

Dr Riby used a series of memory tests and brain-imaging techniques to assess how volunteers responded after guzzling⁵ sugary drinks. 　

He found the hippocampus lit up with activity after participants had a sweetened drink and they were able to recall 17 per cent more than without a drink.

He said: "It is widely accepted that when humans face a stressful situation they experience a natural rise in glucose⁶ in the body, particularly in the hippocampus.

"They also tend to remember these dangerous or scary occurrences more clearly than other memories.

"This glucose-memory system has evolved to help humans survive. Unfortunately, it is compromised in old age." ( to be continued)

　　参考译文：

　　英国专家日前表示，碳酸饮料虽然备受健康饮食提倡者指责，但其实它具有改善人们记忆力的功效。

　　据英国《每日邮报》1月15日报道，英国格拉斯哥喀里多尼亚大学（Glasgow Caledonian University）的神经学家们发现，每天喝下约两罐碳酸饮料就能使记忆力提高五分之一。心理学讲师利-莱比博士是此项研究的负责人。他说，饮食中含的糖份大，能够给那些为应试而苦读的人带去好处；喝碳酸饮料同时还有助于预防老年痴呆症的发生。

　　莱比等人的研究重点是一个名为海马状突起（hippocampus）的脑部区域。海马状突起主要由灰白质构成，在泛记过程中起主要作用。海马状突起可以产生新的记忆，但是当痴呆症发作时，其功能就会受到影响并减退。 

　　莱比博士使用一系列的记忆力测验和脑部成像技术来评估志愿者喝下含糖饮料后，其脑部会做何反应。他发现，当志愿者们喝下甜饮料后，其海马状突起活性增强，与没喝饮料时相比，他们能多记住17％的东西。 

　　对此，莱比博士表示：“当人们面对一种很大的压力时，其体内（特别是在海马状突起内）的葡萄糖量就会自然增加。而且他们还趋向于更清楚地记住那些危险的或是使人惊慌的事情。”“这种葡萄糖记忆力系统不断进化发展，以有助于人们的生存。” 

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