文章大意:这是一篇说明文,根据加州大学教授Johnson的研究发现:人们从音乐中获得丰富的情感体验,音乐和记忆力通过神经紧密联系,从而达到记忆力恢复的效果。但是目前相关研究还比较少。
When asked about her childhood in the documentary Alive Inside, a 90-year-old woman with dementia replies,“I’ve forgotten so much.” Film-maker Michael Rossato-Bennett then plays music from her past for her. “That’s Louis Armstrong,” she says. “He’s singing When the Saints Go Marching In and it takes me back to my school days.” She then recalls exact details from her life.
Why does it happen? Music tends to accompany events that arouse emotions or otherwise make strong impressions on us—such as weddings and graduations. These kinds of experiences form strong memories, and the music and memories likely become intertwined(紧密相连) in our neural(神经的) networks, according to Julene Johnson, a professor at the University of California. Movements, such as dancing, also often pair with our experience of music, which can help form memories. Even many years later,hearing the music can bring back memories of these long-past events.
As Alive Inside shows,music has this power even for many people with dementia. Researchers note that the brain areas that process and remember music are typically less damaged by dementia than other areas, and they think it may explain the phenomenon.
They also pay attention to elderly people with dementia, especially those in nursing homes. “It’s possible those long-term memories are still there,” Johnson says,“but people just have a harder time accessing them because they’re in a strange place and there’re not a lot of circumstances in which someone could pull out those memories.”
Johnson also notes that music is not universally useful for all people with dementia since there are some people with dementia whose brain area that recognizes music is damaged.
Despite music’s apparent benefits, few studies have explored its influence on memory recall in people with dementia. “It’s really an untapped area,” Johnson says. Petr Janata is a researcher investigating the topic of music and memory. He says that scientists still do not have the answers to why and how music reawakens memories in people with dementia, but this phenomenon is real and it’s just a matter of time before it’s fully borne out by scientific research.
8. What helps the old woman in
Alive Inside recall her childhood?
A.The description of her school days |
B.A film she watched before. |
C.A song she listened to before. |
D.The voice of her childhood friend. |
9. What benefit of music is discussed in paragraph 2?
A.It helps make lasting memories. |
B.It helps cure patients of dementia. |
C.It helps arouse emotions in special events. |
D.It helps remember dance movements easily. |
10. According to Johnson, what should we do for elderly people with dementia?
A.Send them to nursing homes for good care. |
B.Provide familiar environments for them. |
C.Play lots of classical music to them. |
D.Talk to them about their past. |
11. What do we know about the study into music and memory recall in people with dementia?
A.It is criticized by Petr Janata. |
B.It is a ground-breaking study. |
C.It is supported by solid evidence. |
D.It applies to all people with dementia. |