Most of us can lose our train of thought midway through a sentence but when you're a stand-up comic, it can spell disaster - as comedian Billy Connolly knows. The 70-year-old Scot admitted last week he now suffers from worrying bouts of memory loss on stage and sometimes cannot ?remember his punch lines for gags.

很多人都會說話說到一半短路，但如果你是一名喜劇演員，那就糟糕了--喜劇演員比利·康諾利就知道這個道理。上周，這位70歲的蘇格蘭演員承認：他現在開始擔心記憶力會在上臺時下降，有時會忘記讓人捧腹大笑的妙語。

His wife Pamela Stephenson puts it down to years of drinking in his early career. But absent-mindedness is not just about "senior moments", says neuropsychologist Dr Joanna Iddon, co-author of Memory Boosters. "In a recent study of healthy adults, the average number of memory slips, like putting the coffee jar in the fridge, was around six per week, irrespective of age, gender and intelligence," says Dr Iddon.

他的妻子帕米拉·斯蒂芬森將其歸因于早年飲酒過多。但健忘不僅僅是"老年失憶癥"，神經心理學家喬安娜·伊登醫生說，她是Memory Boosters一書的合著作者。"近期一項有關健康成年人的研究中，人們一時記不起某事（比如把咖啡壺放到冰箱）的平均數量大概是每周六次，無關年齡、性別和智力，"伊登醫生說道。

"In fact, it was the younger, busier people that were the most absent-minded. Remembering is an active process and making the most of your memory involves paying better attention, planning and organising. Luckily, there are some tricks and strategies to help you banish those thingumabob moments."

"事實上，更年輕、更忙的人是最健忘的。記憶是一個積極的過程，最大化的利用自己的記憶包括注意力更集中、籌劃和組織能力更好。幸運的是，有些方法和策略能夠幫助我們度過這些難關。"

1. Associate the memory with the environment

1. 將記憶與環境聯系在一起

So if, for example, a joke is learned in the presence of a particular smell, that same aroma may cue the memory for that joke.

比如，如果你在特殊氣味中學到了一個笑話，那同樣的氣味可能會提醒你有關這一笑話的記憶。

"More simply, when in an exam, I advise my students to visualise the place in which they were revising as a cue to memory," says Andrew Johnson, memory specialist and lecturer in psychology at Bournemouth University.

"更簡單地說，考試時我建議我的學生將考場當作他們復習的地方，以提醒他們的記憶，"記憶專家、伯恩莫斯大學的心理學老師安德魯·約翰遜說道。

2. Clench your fist

2. 握緊拳頭

Research suggests that balling up your right hand and squeezing it tightly actually makes it easier to memorise phone numbers or shopping lists. "Later, when you want to retrieve the information, clench the left fist. Researchers think the movements activate brain regions key to the storing and recall of memories.

研究表明：將右手緊緊地握成拳頭實際上能夠更容易的記住電話號碼或購物清單。"以后，當你打算回想信息時，先緊握左拳、研究員們認為這一動作能夠激活大腦存儲和回憶的區域。"

3. Learn something before bed

3. 睡前學點知識

"The best way to 'consolidate a memory' is to go through the information just before going to sleep," explains Dr Johnson. "This is because there are fewer 'new' interfering memories so you will remember it better the next day."

"'鞏固記憶'的最佳方法就是睡前再看一遍，"約翰遜醫生解釋道。"這是因為睡前新的干擾信息較少，因此第二天就能記得更好。"

4. Drink more milk

4. 多喝牛奶

Scientists asked 972 people to fill in detailed surveys on their diets and to complete eight rigorous tests to check their concentration, memory and learning abilities.

科學家要求972人填寫一份有關飲食的詳細調查并完成8項嚴格的測試，以研究他們的注意力、記憶力和學習能力。

Most of us can lose our train of thought midway through a sentence but when you're a stand-up comic, it can spell disaster - as comedian Billy Connolly knows. The 70-year-old Scot admitted last week he now suffers from worrying bouts of memory loss on stage and sometimes cannot ?remember his punch lines for gags.

很多人都會說話說到一半短路，但如果你是一名喜劇演員，那就糟糕了--喜劇演員比利·康諾利就知道這個道理。上周，這位70歲的蘇格蘭演員承認：他現在開始擔心記憶力會在上臺時下降，有時會忘記讓人捧腹大笑的妙語。

His wife Pamela Stephenson puts it down to years of drinking in his early career. But absent-mindedness is not just about "senior moments", says neuropsychologist Dr Joanna Iddon, co-author of Memory Boosters. "In a recent study of healthy adults, the average number of memory slips, like putting the coffee jar in the fridge, was around six per week, irrespective of age, gender and intelligence," says Dr Iddon.

他的妻子帕米拉·斯蒂芬森將其歸因于早年飲酒過多。但健忘不僅僅是"老年失憶癥"，神經心理學家喬安娜·伊登醫生說，她是Memory Boosters一書的合著作者。"近期一項有關健康成年人的研究中，人們一時記不起某事（比如把咖啡壺放到冰箱）的平均數量大概是每周六次，無關年齡、性別和智力，"伊登醫生說道。

"In fact, it was the younger, busier people that were the most absent-minded. Remembering is an active process and making the most of your memory involves paying better attention, planning and organising. Luckily, there are some tricks and strategies to help you banish those thingumabob moments."

"事實上，更年輕、更忙的人是最健忘的。記憶是一個積極的過程，最大化的利用自己的記憶包括注意力更集中、籌劃和組織能力更好。幸運的是，有些方法和策略能夠幫助我們度過這些難關。"

1. Associate the memory with the environment

1. 將記憶與環境聯系在一起

So if, for example, a joke is learned in the presence of a particular smell, that same aroma may cue the memory for that joke.

比如，如果你在特殊氣味中學到了一個笑話，那同樣的氣味可能會提醒你有關這一笑話的記憶。

"More simply, when in an exam, I advise my students to visualise the place in which they were revising as a cue to memory," says Andrew Johnson, memory specialist and lecturer in psychology at Bournemouth University.

"更簡單地說，考試時我建議我的學生將考場當作他們復習的地方，以提醒他們的記憶，"記憶專家、伯恩莫斯大學的心理學老師安德魯·約翰遜說道。

2. Clench your fist

2. 握緊拳頭

Research suggests that balling up your right hand and squeezing it tightly actually makes it easier to memorise phone numbers or shopping lists. "Later, when you want to retrieve the information, clench the left fist. Researchers think the movements activate brain regions key to the storing and recall of memories.

研究表明：將右手緊緊地握成拳頭實際上能夠更容易的記住電話號碼或購物清單。"以后，當你打算回想信息時，先緊握左拳、研究員們認為這一動作能夠激活大腦存儲和回憶的區域。"

3. Learn something before bed

3. 睡前學點知識

"The best way to 'consolidate a memory' is to go through the information just before going to sleep," explains Dr Johnson. "This is because there are fewer 'new' interfering memories so you will remember it better the next day."

"'鞏固記憶'的最佳方法就是睡前再看一遍，"約翰遜醫生解釋道。"這是因為睡前新的干擾信息較少，因此第二天就能記得更好。"

4. Drink more milk

4. 多喝牛奶

Scientists asked 972 people to fill in detailed surveys on their diets and to complete eight rigorous tests to check their concentration, memory and learning abilities.

科學家要求972人填寫一份有關飲食的詳細調查并完成8項嚴格的測試，以研究他們的注意力、記憶力和學習能力。