新奇事件簿 双语者将延缓患痴呆时间

A new study shows that being bilingual may delay dementia by five or more years. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland discovered that people who spoke¹ two languages did not show any signs of three types of dementia for more than four years longer than those who were monolingual. A co-author of the report, Dr. Thomas Bak, said: "Bilingualism can be seen as a successful brain training, contributing to cognitive² reserve, which can help delay dementia." This means that speaking two languages keeps the brain in better health and helps to keep diseases like Alzheimer's at bay for longer than if someone spoke just one language.

一项新的研究表明精通双语者会减缓5-6年患痴呆的时间。来自苏格兰爱丁堡大学的研究人员发现精通两种语言者在患有三种痴呆中比单一语言者患病的时间要推迟4年。这份报告的联合作家托马斯博士认为：“双语被视为是成功的脑力训练，助长认知储备，这将减缓患痴呆的时间。”这就意味着说两种语言让我们的大脑更健康，与单一语言者相比，将延缓患老年痴呆症的时间。

Dr Bak's research found that bilingualism and the delaying of dementia had little to do with social status, gender³, occupation or educational background. Bak's team evaluated the medical records of 648 people from India who had been diagnosed with dementia. Of these patients, 391 were bilingual or trilingual and many were illiterate⁴. Dr Bak wrote: "The fact that bilingual advantage is not caused by any differences in education is confirmed by the fact that it was also found in illiterates⁵, who have never attended any school." He suggested that learning a language later in life could keep the brain healthier. He said language learning was "socially more enjoyable, and it forces your brain to train permanently⁶".

鲍克博士的研究发现双语者与减缓患痴呆的时间与社会地位、性别、职业或是教育背景没有任何关系。鲍克的团队对来自印度648名痴呆症患者的医疗报告进行了评估。在这些病患中，有391人会两种或三种语言，许多不识字。鲍克博士写到：“事实情况是，双语并不是由教育差距所引起的，这与是否受到过教育也没有关系。他认为在晚年学习语言会让大脑变得更加健康。他说学习语言让我们更容易被这个社会所接受，并被迫让你的大脑进行永久性训练。

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 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。

3 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

4 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

5 illiterates   

目不识丁者( illiterate的名词复数 )； 无知

参考例句：

• In 1996, an additional four million young and adult illiterates learned to read and write. 1996年，全国又减少了400万青壮年文盲。
• Even semi-illiterates can read the writing on the wall, and many are throwing in the towel. 即使是知识不多的人也能看出不祥之兆。许多人认输了。

6 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。