中國日報雙語新聞
在「路痴症」患者眼裡，一條路正著走和反著走是不同的，白天走和晚上走是不同的，夏天走和冬天走是不同的，工作日走和節假日走是不同的。今天，雙語君要介紹這群特殊的人，他們是天生的「路痴症」患者。
Sharon Roseman lives in Denver, the United States, but gets lost every day. She has a rare disorder that means she is never sure of her location.
莎朗·羅斯曼住在美國丹佛市。但是她每天都會迷路，因為她患有一種罕見的疾病，導致她總是不清楚自己身在何處。
Roseman remembered when it first became clear that she wasn't like all the other children.
羅斯曼小時候便發現自己跟其他孩子不一樣。
One day when she was 5 years old and standing in front of their home, Roseman asked her mother where they were.
五歲的時候，有一天她站在自家門前，問媽媽自己在哪。
When her mom pointed out that they were in front of their home, Roseman said, "This doesn't look like our house."
當得知面前的就是自己家時，羅斯曼說:「這看起來不像是我們的家。」
Roseman can actually drive to the grocery store but has to use her GPS to get there and back.
羅斯曼可以自己開車去超市，但是往返都得依靠導航的提示。
After finishing her shopping, she will drive home through what to her are unfamiliar surroundings even though she sees them every day.
買完東西後，儘管回家的路已經走了無數遍，她依然覺得這條路是陌生的。
"I can literally see my house out the car window, but I have no clue that it's my house," Roseman said. When her children cry in the night, she struggles to find their bedroom. "When I thought I was going out the door of my bedroom there was a wall－and I would bang right into it," she said.
羅斯曼說「即便我開車經過了我家的房子，我也不確定那是不是我家。」她還說，「孩子半夜哭鬧時，我連他們的臥室都找不對。我以為自己在往臥室外面走，不想卻一頭撞在了牆上。」
Some years ago, a TV program highlighted the affliction and interviewed people who got lost in their home.
幾年前，一檔電視節目報導了這種令人困擾不堪的症狀，採訪了一些即使在家也會迷路的人。
Roseman suddenly realized that she was one of them.
羅斯曼才恍然大悟，自己就是其中之一。
Roseman, 64, suffers from what is called developmental topographical disorientation, or DTD, a disorder that had flown under the radar of brain researchers until recently.
64歲的羅斯曼其實患有發展性地形迷失症，簡稱DTD。這種病近年來才被學者發現。這種罕見的神經系統疾病會使大腦喪失地形認知和導航能力。
DTD was first described in a paper by neuroscientist Giuseppe Iaria published in 2008 in the journal Neuropsychologia.
2008年，神經學家朱塞佩伊·拉裡亞首次將DTD作為獨立案例發表醫學雜誌《神經心理學》上。
Iaria wrote the paper after meeting "Alice", another person with the disorder. Like Roseman, she had difficulty finding her way around and would get lost in her own home.
這篇論文是拉裡亞遇到發展性地形迷失症患者「愛麗絲」後寫的。像羅斯曼一樣，愛麗絲也有地形認知障礙，即使在自己家裡也會迷路。
Alice had a certain memorized route at home, say from the kitchen to the living room, but if she took a wrong step she was completely lost and the only solution was to call her father to pick her up. She didn't have any trouble recognizing landmarks and other objects or people.
雖然愛麗絲的視力沒有任何問題，可以辨識路標、建築和人，但即便是從廚房走到起居室，她也必須遵循固定的路線，一旦偏離，就會找不到方向，只能給爸爸打電話求助。
The disorder stems from a part of the brain that did not develop fully.
這種方向辨識障礙源於腦部的異常變化。
Scientists have identified the particular area and their work will also help crash victims recover from brain injuries.
科學家已經確認了腦部病變的位置，這一發現將有助於這些發展性地形迷失症患者康復。