Failure is probably the most exhausting experience a person ever has.There is nothing more tiring than not succeeding.

We experience this tiredness in two ways: as start-up fatigue(疲惫) and performance fatigue.In the former case, we keep putting off a task because it has either too boring or too difficult.And the longer we delay it,the more tired we feel.

Such start-up fatigue is very real,even if not actually physical,not something in our muscles and bones.The solution is obvious though perhaps not easy to apply: always handle the most difficult job first.

Years ago,I was asked to write 102 essays on the great ideas of some famous authors.Applying my own rule,I determined to write them in alphabetical(按字母顺序),never letting myself leave out a tough idea.And I always started the day's work with the difficult task of essay-writing.Experience proved that the rule works.

Performance fatigue is more difficult to handle.Though willing to get started,we cannot seem to do the job right. Its difficulties appear so great that,however hard we work,we fail again and again.In such a situation,I work as hard as I can-then let the unconscious take over.

When planning Encyclopaedia Britannica (《大英百科全书》),I had to create a table of contents based on the topics of its articles.Nothing like this had ever been done before,and day after day I kept coming up with solutions, but none of them worked.My fatigue became almost unbearable.

One day,mentally exhausted,I wrote down all the reasons why this problem could not be solved.I tried to convince myself that the trouble was with the problem itself,not with me.Relived,I sat back in an easy chair and fell asleep.

An hour later,I woke up suddenly with the solution clearly in mind.In the weeks that followed,the solution which had come up in my unconscious mind provided correct at every step.Though I worked as hard as before,I felt no fatigue.Success was now as exciting as failure had been depressing.

Human beings,I believe must try to succeed.Success,then,means never feeling tired.

Large Study Details Years of Brain Changes in Alzheimer’s Patients

A long-term study in China has shown that a series of changes take place in the brains of people who get Alzheimer’s disease long before they present signs of the sickness.

【小题1】 The individuals were examined on a regular basis during that period. The researchers used brain imaging, spinal fluid (脊髓液) checks and other tools to collect data.

The researchers reported that the study subjects who later developed Alzheimer’s showed high levels of disease-linked protein in their spinal fluid. 【小题2】 Then every few years, the study detected another so-called biomarker of coming trouble.

Scientists still do not know exactly how Alzheimer’s forms. The disease slowly destroys the brain, affecting the ability to think. Alzheimer’s patients develop proteins called beta-amyloid and tau, which over time build up into plaques (斑块) that block brain processes. The new research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, offers a timeline for how these proteins develop.

Scientists already knew that in rare, genetic forms of Alzheimer’s that affect young people, a poisonous form of amyloid starts developing about 20 years ahead of symptoms. At some point after that, tau develops as well. 【小题3】

“The more we know about Alzheimer’s treatment targets and when to address them, the better and faster we will be able to develop new therapies and preventions,” said Claire Sexton, director of scientific programs with the Alzheimer’s Association. She noted that blood tests are coming soon that promise to also help by making it easier to find amyloid and tau.

More than 6 million Americans, and millions more worldwide, have Alzheimer’s. There is no cure. But last year, Leqembi became the first approved drug that could slow the worsening of early Alzheimer’s for a few months. 【小题4】 Other drugs are being developed to target tau.

There are three basic kinds for memory: short-term memory, working memory, and long-term memory. Short-term memory is the sort of memory you use when someone tells you their phone number and you remember it just long enough to write it down. Working memory is a more active version of short-term memory and the brain is able to retain it a little longer. 【小题1】

To get something into your short-term memory, you need both Input and Output. Here’s a formula: Input＋Output=Short-Term Memory.

【小题2】 It is something outside of your head being put into your head. Output is even more exciting because you have so many creative choices and it’s up to you to decide how to apply what you’ve learned.

【小题3】 By thinking about new information and then doing something active with it, you are essentially telling your brain that this new information is worth remembering. That “doing something” could be a lot of creative possibilities.

But how should you improve your long-term memory? 【小题4】 Here’s the formula: Input＋Output＋Review=Long-Term Memory.

Imagine a grassy lawn that is between someone’s driveway and front door. Rather than walk the long way down the path, most people just cut through the grass to get to their car, right? The more times someone cuts through the grass, the flatter the grass becomes on that new pathway until, eventually, there is a permanent dirt path. 【小题5】 Every time you review something, neurons(神经元) form a “pathway” in your brain and make it more permanent. Maybe we should really be saying “practice makes memory”.