美国国家公共电台 NPR Want To Keep Your Brain Sharp? Take Care Of Your Eyes And Ears

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

When it comes to healthy aging and keeping your memory sharp, here's one idea you may not have considered. Get your hearing checked, your ears. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports a new study finds people who restore hearing loss with hearing aids actually slow down memory loss.

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE¹: Of all the things that can cause friction² in a marriage, you might not put hearing on the list - that is, until the person you love begins to lose it. That's what happened to Carrie and Lucien Johnson.

CARRIE JOHNSON: I was tired of screaming. You had to scream real loud for him to understand.

AUBREY: It was bothering you.

C. JOHNSON: Yes it was. It was running my pressure up and everything.

AUBREY: And her husband, Lucien Johnson, felt it too.

LUCIEN JOHNSON: I know that it was causing trouble because at times, you think I'm just ignoring you, which it wasn't. I just didn't hear what you're saying. So when you can't communicate with someone close to you, then that's the last thing.

AUBREY: So a few weeks ago, Lucien Johnson was fitted with hearing aids. And audiologist Dina Rollins says, as with many of her patients, his hearing is now better.

DINA ROLLINS: Stimulating³ your ears stimulates⁵ the nerves that stimulate⁴ your brain. So we're giving your ears back what they're missing and really giving your brain what it needs to make sense of what you're hearing.

AUBREY: And here's another benefit that many people don't consider. When you restore your hearing, a whole lot of living can come back.

ROLLINS: Social isolation⁶ is a huge part of of hearing loss. And people will notice their loved ones withdrawing from conversation, not going out to family functions like they used to.

AUBREY: It's not just the loss of social stimulation⁷. The latest evidence shows when people cannot hear well, memory loss can set in faster. Piers⁸ Dawes is an experimental psychologist at the University of Manchester in the U.K. He wanted to understand this better. So he and some colleagues designed a study. It included thousands of healthy older adults in the U.S.

PIERS DAWES: And we looked at the trajectory⁹ and decline in their memory performance before and after they started using a hearing aid.

AUBREY: They did this through a series of cognitive¹⁰ assessments¹¹ performed every two years for 16 years. The way it worked, a research assistant would visit participants in their homes and give the tests. One was a word recall test.

DAWES: They had a list of 10 sort of random¹² words. They're read out aloud to the participant. They're then asked to recall the words immediately.

AUBREY: And then, after a delay, they're asked to recall them again. Dawes says it turns out after the participants began wearing hearing aids, their rate of recall changed. It wasn't a huge difference. But it was measurable.

DAWES: It's a very intriguing¹³ result. I mean, we weren't expecting that hearing aid use would completely eliminate cognitive decline 'cause that's just not going to happen. But what we've found is that it just slows the rate at which cognitive decline proceeds.

AUBREY: So many factors play into healthy aging, and Dawes says good hearing can be one of them. So it's important to understand the benefits. Carrie and Lucien Johnson say hearing aids have made a big difference.

C. JOHNSON: Well, he can hear me now. I don't have to say - yell real loud.

L. JOHNSON: Right. I would definitely (unintelligible).

AUBREY: What do you like to bug¹⁴ him about?

C. JOHNSON: Getting up. He likes to stay in bed. Yes, get up, time to get up.

L. JOHNSON: What's wrong with you? Why don't you move around more? (Laughter). But - well, she's a wonderful wife.

AUBREY: Lucien Johnson is 92 years old. And at this age, it's nice to have a problem you can fix. Allison Aubrey, NPR News.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

3 stimulating   

adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的

参考例句：

• shower gel containing plant extracts that have a stimulating effect on the skin 含有对皮肤有益的植物精华的沐浴凝胶
• This is a drug for stimulating nerves. 这是一种兴奋剂。

4 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

5 stimulates   

v.刺激( stimulate的第三人称单数 )；激励；使兴奋；起兴奋作用，起刺激作用，起促进作用

参考例句：

• Exercise stimulates the body. 运动促进身体健康。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Alcohol stimulates the action of the heart. 酒刺激心脏的活动。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

7 stimulation   

n.刺激，激励，鼓舞

参考例句：

• The playgroup provides plenty of stimulation for the children.幼儿游戏组给孩子很多启发。
• You don't get any intellectual stimulation in this job.你不能从这份工作中获得任何智力启发。

8 piers   

n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 )；（常设有娱乐场所的）突堤；柱子；墙墩

参考例句：

• Most road bridges have piers rising out of the vally. 很多公路桥的桥墩是从河谷里建造起来的。 来自辞典例句
• At these piers coasters and landing-craft would be able to discharge at all states of tide. 沿岸航行的海船和登陆艇，不论潮汐如何涨落，都能在这种码头上卸载。 来自辞典例句

9 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。

10 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

11 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

12 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

13 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。