VOA慢速英语2018--超时代的年轻大脑

Young Brains of Super-Agers

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle Report.

As we age, our ability to think and remember starts to deteriorate¹.

But not everyone.

Some of us have brains that age more slowly.

Enter the super-ager!

Super-agers are people over the age of 80 who have the brain structures and abilities of much younger people.

Eighty-seven-year-old Bill Gurolnick is a super-ager.

"What do I feel like? If I was to give a number, I probably feel like I'm about my early 70s..."

Scientists know that parts of the brain decrease in size with age. But in super-agers that process is much slower.

Emily Rogalski is a neuroscientist at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago, Illinois. In a recent study, she showed that super-agers have young brains. The area of the brain responsible for attention and memory -- the cortex -- was shown to be thicker in super-agers.

"When we look at the cortex of their brain, we see that, on average, that it looks more like a 50-year-old brain than it looks like an average 80-year-old brain..."

Not only do super-agers have thicker cortexes, they have more von Economo neurons. These large brain cells appear to be involved with social-emotional communication. But their exact purpose is still a mystery.

Scientists writing for Smithsonian magazine also call them spindle neurons, and say they are "brain cells for socializing."

Several factors affect how our brains age

Scientists say super-agers have several things in common, including an active lifestyle. Many travel and play sports. They are often big readers. And they usually have healthy relationships and spend time with friends.

Super-agers also seem to have certain common personality traits². Rogalski says they are, for the most part, known for their optimism³, resilience and perseverance⁴.

Growing old, she adds, does not have to be depressing and sad.

"Perhaps, if we expected a bit better from ourselves, then we would understand that not all aging is 'doom⁵ and gloom..."

As lead investigator⁶ of the study, Rogalski jokingly said that super-agers do not grow on trees -- meaning they are special and few.

She says she wants to find out the reasons Gurolnick's mind is working so well and not aging as quickly as most.

Gurolnick’s own father was diagnosed⁸ with Alzheimer’s in his 50s. Solving this mystery, Rogalski says, may help those who suffer from brain diseases such as Alzheimer's.

"We think if we can understand the factors contributing to super-aging, it may offer new hypotheses⁹ and new ways to explore the challenges in Alzheimer's disease."

Can we all be super-agers?

The science behind super-aging is a relatively¹⁰ new, but growing field. Scientists involved in the research offer this advice as we age: Stay active. Learn new things. Challenge yourself. Surround yourself with healthy relationships.

And that's the Health & Lifestyle report.

I'm Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

deteriorate – v. to become worse as time passes

optimism – n. a feeling or belief that good things will happen in the future : a feeling or belief that what you hope for will happen

resilience – n. the ability to become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad happens

perseverance – n. the quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even though it is difficult

doom and gloom – phrase a general feeling that nothing is going to work out or be good

diagnose⁷ - v. to discover; to confirm through testing

contributing – adj. to help to cause something to happen

challenge – n. a difficult task or problem

1 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

2 traits   

n.人的个性，显著的特点，特征( trait的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We do not know which behavioural traits are inherited and which acquired. 我们不知道哪些行为特征是遗传的，哪些是后天养成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His generosity is one of his good traits. 慷慨大方是他的好品质之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 optimism   

n.乐观，乐观主义

参考例句：

• Don't pour cold water on their optimism.别给他们的乐观态度泼冷水。
• Optimism made him alive through the hard days.乐观主义使他在艰难的岁月里活了下来。

4 perseverance   

n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。
• Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。

5 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

6 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

7 diagnose   

vt.诊断，判断

参考例句：

• It provides a new method for early diagnose of breast cancer.为临床早期诊断乳腺癌提供一个新的检查手段。
• What more will you want to know to diagnose this problem?要弄清这个问题，你还需要知道些什么？

8 diagnosed   

诊断( diagnose的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Some foetal malformations cannot be diagnosed until late in pregnancy. 有些胎儿的畸形部位得等到妊娠后期才能诊断出来。
• He diagnosed the trouble that caused the engine to knock. 他找出了引擎咔咔响的毛病所在。

9 hypotheses   

（有少量事实依据但未被证实的）假说( hypothesis的名词复数 )； 假设； （凭空的）猜想； 猜测

参考例句：

• The hypotheses of fibre flaws are based on deduction from mechanical experiments. 纤维缺陷的理论是根据机械测试推导出来的。
• I have in mind the existence of sociological laws or hypotheses. 我想，社会科学规律或假说是存在的。

10 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。