How Are Memories Stored Inside Your Brain? · Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
揭秘记忆的生物学存储机制，了解大脑如何通过神经网络保存和回忆信息。适合练习英语听力与理解。
Memories are biological magic that enable you to experience bygone moments – over and over.
记忆是一种“生物魔法”：它让你能够一次又一次地重温过去的时刻。
With them, your mind can encode, store and retrieve information about the world and yourself.
借助这些工具，你的大脑能够对关于世界和自身的信息进行编码、存储以及检索。
But memories are not static like photos.
然而，记忆并不像照片那样是静止不变的。
Like dioramas made from wax, each time they’re under the spotlight of your attention they can melt and change a tiny bit.
就像那些用蜡制成的立体模型一样，每当它们再次受到你的关注（即被置于聚光灯下）时，它们就可能会“融化”，并发生微小的变化。
Which is a bit concerning because they are a huge part of what makes you, you.
这确实有点令人担忧，因为它们是你成为“你自己”的重要组成部分。
They are the personal lore a lot of your identity is based on – and the basis for your decisions about your future.
这些个人经历构成了你身份认同的重要基础，同时也是你规划未来的重要依据。
What does it mean if they change?
如果它们发生了变化，这意味着什么呢？
And more fundamentally…
更根本地说……
What IS a memory?
那么，记忆到底是什么呢？
How is a moment in time stored in squishy meat?
时间中的某个瞬间，究竟是如何被储存在这种“柔软的肉”中的呢？
Your Brain is Weird Madness The human brain is the most complex thing in the universe, so we need to simplify quite a bit.
你的大脑简直是个“疯狂的怪物”…… 人类大脑是宇宙中最复杂的存在，因此我们需要对它的运作原理进行大量的简化才能更好地理解它。
Scientific models work but are not a perfect reflection of reality.
科学模型虽然能够有效地解释某些现象，但并不能完美地反映现实情况。
It's a bit like talking about elementary particles.
这有点像在讨论基本粒子（即构成物质的最小单位）一样。
But in a nutshell, what makes you think and feel is a complex system of about 86 billion neurons.
但简而言之，让你思考和感受的各种机制，是由大约 860 亿个神经元组成的复杂系统所决定的。
Extremely complex electrochemical root systems, sending and receiving signals through synapses – tiny gaps between cells, where an electrical signal is converted into chemicals,
这些植物拥有极其复杂的电化学“根系”；它们通过突触（细胞之间的微小间隙）来发送和接收信号。在这些突触中，电信号会被转化为化学物质。
bridges the distance, is received and converted into electricity again.
它能够跨越物理距离（即从发射端传输到接收端），在被接收后再次被转换成电能。
This is how neurons talk to each other.
神经元就是通过这种方式相互交流的。
And it's a busy conversation because a typical neuron is connected with up to 10,000 others.
这是一场非常活跃的“对话”（即信息交流过程）——因为一个典型的神经元会与多达 10,000 个其他神经元相连。
Together they’re a network of hundreds of trillions of connections.
它们共同构成了一个由数百万亿个连接点组成的庞大网络。
A hundred times more than galaxies in the observable universe.
这个数量是可观测宇宙中所有星系数量的百倍之多。
From these connections the magic of your existence emerges.
正是通过这些联系，你存在的“魔力”才得以显现出来。
To create purpose in this chaos some connections need to grow stronger.
为了在这片混乱中找到方向（即赋予事物某种“目的”或意义），某些关系需要变得更加牢固（即加强彼此之间的联系）。
Whenever two neurons fire at the same time their synapses change and their connection gets stronger.
每当两个神经元同时放电时，它们之间的突触结构会发生变化，从而使它们之间的连接变得更加牢固（即连接强度增强）。
They become buddies if you want, and when their buddy calls they join in.
如果你愿意的话，他们可以成为朋友；当他们的朋友打电话来时，他们也会一起参与通话。
If we zoom out, patterns emerge.
如果我们把视野拉远（即不再关注细节），一些规律性或模式就会显现出来。
Dozens or thousands of neurons organize into local columns.
数十甚至数千个神经元会聚集在一起，形成所谓的“局部神经元柱”（local neural columns）。
These columns are very basic information processing units that process a tiny piece of all the input coming in from your senses:
这些“柱状结构”其实是非常基本的信息处理单元，它们仅负责处理来自你感官系统的所有输入信息中的极小部分内容而已。
like dark and light, a location in space, how a texture feels, the sound of words and so on.
就像黑暗与光明、太空中的某个位置、某种质地的触感、词语所发出的声音等等一样。
You have columns for sound, images, touch etc, all located in different parts of your brain.
你的大脑中分别负责处理声音、图像、触觉等信息的相关区域；这些区域都位于大脑的不同部位。
These columns are the gears of the biological machine that is your cortex.: It’s the fundamental hardware you emerge from.
这些“柱状结构”其实就是构成你大脑皮层的那些“齿轮”——它们是你这个生物体所依赖的基本“硬件”。
Everything you see, hear, or feel causes the gears to move – which means your neurons to fire together.
你所看到、听到或感受到的一切，都会促使大脑中的神经机制开始运作（即你的神经元会同时被激活）。
But for you to have a coherent experience, these very different gears need to be connected together.
但为了让用户获得连贯、完整的体验，这些截然不同的功能或模块必须被有效地整合在一起。
Any moment you perceive is made from different parts.
你所感知到的每一个瞬间，其实都是由不同的部分构成的。
As you are watching this video, your eyes activate columns for vision and color in your visual cortex,
当你观看这个视频时，你的眼睛会激活视觉皮层中负责处理视觉信息及颜色感知的神经细胞（即视觉皮层中的相关神经元）。
your ears transmit information to your auditory cortex, language areas are decoding my words, while other networks keep track of your body and emotions.
你的耳朵将信息传递到听觉皮层；大脑中的语言处理区域正在解读我说的话；与此同时，其他神经网络则负责监测你的身体状态和情绪变化。
All these signals are processed in deeper areas of your brain that evaluate them, boosting what seems important right now and tuning out what doesn’t.
所有这些信号都会被大脑中更高级别的区域进行处理；这些区域会评估这些信号，从而强化那些当下看来重要的信息，同时忽略那些不重要的信息。
Vastly simplifying, this concert of all these different gears connected by levers, wheels and screws comes together to create a new structure,
简单来说，这场由各种不同部件（通过杠杆、轮子和螺丝相互连接）共同参与的“音乐会”，最终形成了一种新的结构。
within your brain machine: The assembly.
在你的“大脑机器”内部：各个组成部分的组装过程。
A new pattern of synchronized activity within the grand architecture of your brain.
在你大脑这一“宏伟结构”中，出现了一种新的、同步运行的活动模式。
This assembly of very different neurons firing together, is what gives you the experience of being a human being in this moment.
正是这些功能各异的神经元共同发挥作用，才让你在这一刻拥有了作为人类的种种体验。