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本文选自《时代周刊》“健康”板块中一篇名为 “Your Attitude about Aging May Impact How You Age”的文章，讨论了在一医学杂志中发表的两项关于人们对衰老看法影响大脑功能的实验。研究历时数十年，结果发现在步入老年之前倘若人们对衰老持消极看法更容易诱发阿兹海默症（老年痴呆症）。因此科学家提倡更为积极的人生态度，在社会层面更乐观的看待衰老。 I ①How do you feel about old people? ②Your answer appears to be connected with how well your brain holds up against Alzheimer’s disease, according to a series of two new studies published in the journal Psychology and Aging.③The researchers, from the Yale School of PublicHealth, say it’s the first time this type of risk factor has been linked in a study to the development of brain changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease. II ①In the first study, researchers looked at data from 158 healthy people without dementia enrolled in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA). ②In order to find out how people in the study felt about age stereotypes, researchers used a scale with statements like “older people are absent-minded” or “older people have trouble learning new things.” ③People in the study gave these answers when they were in their 40s. ④About 25 years later, when people in that same group were about 68 years old, they began about a decade of annual MRI brain scans to determine the volume of their hippocampus. ⑤People who held more negative thoughts about aging earlier in life had greater loss of hippocampus volume when they aged. III ①In the second study, researchers examined two more markers of Alzheimer’s disease: the build up in the brain of amyloid plaques—clusters of proteins that accumulate between brain cells — and neurofibrillary tangles, twisted strands of protein that build up in brain cells. ②The results were consistent: People who held more negative age stereotypes had significantly higher scores of plaques and tangles than people with more positive feelings about growing old. IV ①The researchers didn’t look at a mechanism by which negative stereotypes might exert an influence on the brain, but they suspect that stress is the driver. ②Research from 2012 conducted by Levy and others found that people who had more negative age stereotypes before they had reached old age had significantly worse memory performance later in life. V ①It may be unsettling to think that negative cultural stereotypes about age could be having such a profound effect on how our brains age. ②“We know from other studies that as young as age four, children taken in stereotypes of their culture,” says Levy. ③But the results can be interpreted a different way, too.④“Positive age stereotypes seem protective of not experiencing these biomarkers,” she says—so if we can find a way to promote positive age stereotypes on a societal level, our brains may be better off once we reach old age. 1*. Alzheimer’s disease ['ælz'ɛmɚ] n. 老年痴呆症，阿兹海默症 2*. dementia [dɪ'mɛnʃə] n. 痴呆 3. stereotype ['stɛrɪətaɪp] n. 刻板印象；陈词滥调 4. scale [skeɪl] n. 数值范围；规模；刻度 v. 测量；衡量；攀登 5*. MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging 核磁共振成像 6*. hippocampus [,hɪpə'kæmpəs] n. 海马体（大脑中负责学习和记忆的部分） 7. buildup ['bildʌp] n. 形成；增强；发展；树立名誉 8*. amyloid plaque ['æmɪ,lɔɪd] [pleɪg] n. 淀粉样蛋白斑 9. accumulate [ə'kjumjəlet] v. 积攒；累积 10*. neurofibrillary tangle [,njuərəu'faibril] ['tæŋɡl] n. 神经元纤维结 11. mechanism ['mɛkənɪzəm] n. 机制；原理 12. exert [ɪɡ'zɝt] v. 运用，发挥，施以影响 13. unsettling [ʌn'sɛtlɪŋ] adj. 使人不安的；混乱的 14. profound [prə'faʊnd] adj. 深厚的；意义深远的；渊博的 15*. societal [sə'saɪətl] adj. 社会的 16. better off adj. 经济状况好的，富裕的 I ①How do you feel about old people? ②Your answer appears to be connected with how well your brain holds up against Alzheimer’s disease, according to a series of two new studies published in the journal Psychology and Aging.③The researchers, from the Yale School of Public Health, say it’s the first time this type of risk factor has been linked in a study to the development of brain changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease. 翻译：你对老年人怎么样看待？根据两项发表在期刊《心理学与衰老》的新研究，答案看上去跟大脑能多好地与阿兹海默症抗衡有关联。来自耶鲁大学公共卫生学院的研究者认为，这种风险因素是在研究中第一次与关乎阿兹海默症的大脑变化发展联系起来。 点评：段I介绍了本文的主题，研究发现对衰老的看法会影响年老时患老年痴呆症的几率。句①提出问句，启发思索，句②直接给出研究的结果，而句③则对研究的意义进行了简单探讨，引出下文。三句话环环相扣将主要内容都介绍清楚。Risk factor在这里指的是上文提到的your answers on how to feel about the old people；而brainchanges则指下文提到的导致老年痴呆症的各种生物性特征。 II ①In the first study, researchers looked at data from 158 healthy people without dementia enrolled in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA). ②In order to find out how people in the study felt about age stereotypes, researchers used a scale with statements like “older people are absent-minded” or “older people have trouble learning new things.” ③People in the study gave these answers when they were in their 40s.④About 25 years later, when people in that same group were about 68 years old, they began about a decade of annual MRI brain scans to determine the volume of their hippocampus. ⑤People who held more negative thoughts about aging earlier in life had greater loss of hippocampus volume when they aged. 翻译：在第一项研究中，研究者观察了登记在巴尔地摩纵向衰老研究（BLSA）的158名未患痴呆症健康者的数据。为了看出研究中人们如何看待衰老，研究者用分级数据回答类似于 “老年人思维不集中”或“老年人学东西有困难”的论断，研究中人们在四十余岁时给出了他们的答案。25年后，当同一组测试人员大约到68岁时，研究者在十年间每年对受测者大脑中海马体容量进行核磁共振扫描，发现海马体容量的减少跟阿兹海默症相关。早先对衰老看法消极的人在衰老时失去的海马体更多。 点评：段II展开分论述，先介绍第一个实验的测试结果。句①②③介绍了实验一开始（25年前）的测试内容，包括受测者基本情况，测试问题等。句④指出了测试的主要对象是首测者大脑中负责管理记忆和学习的hippocampus，通过观察其容量大小并对比先前对老年人的态度，在句⑤中给出二者的相关性。 III ①In the second study, researchers examined two more markers of Alzheimer’s disease: the build up in the brain of amyloid plaques—clusters of proteins that accumulate between brain cells — and neurofibrillary tangles, twisted strands of protein that build up in brain cells. ②The results were consistent: People who held more negative age stereotypes had significantly higher scores of plaques and tangles than people with more positive feelings about growing old. 翻译：在第二项研究中，研究人员试验了阿兹海默症的两个标志：大脑中淀粉样蛋白斑的生成（蛋白质在脑细胞中聚集），以及神经纤维缠结的形成（脑细胞生出的蛋白质缠结）。结果与实验一是连贯的：对衰老持消极观点的那组在蛋白斑和神经纤维缠结数量上高于持积极观点的组。 点评：段III承接上文继续展开分论述，介绍第二个实验。句①指明研究者添加了两项导致老年痴呆症的测试对象，amyloid plaques和neurofibrillary tangles, 并分别对这两个医学术语做出解释。句②总结该测试跟第一次测试具有相关性，对衰老的负面情绪会导致患老年痴呆症的风险加大。 IV ①The researchers didn’t look at a mechanism by which negative stereotypes might exert an influence on the brain, but they suspect that stress is the driver. ②Research from 2012 conducted by Levy and others found that people who had more negative age stereotypes before they had reached old age had significantly worse memory performance later in life. 翻译：研究者没有观察消极印象是通过何种机制对大脑产生影响的，但是他们怀疑压力是主要推动力。勒维和其他人自2012年起进行的研究中发现在衰老前就对年老持否定看法的人在老年时记忆力更差。 点评：段IV继续讨论实验的内容，并指出实验关注的重点并非句①前半句提到的“mechanism by which negative stereotype might exert influence on the brain”, 而是后半句提到的压力的作用。并在句②引入2012年的实验证明对衰老感到有压力（对衰老持否定态度）的人在年老时记忆力相对差一些。 V ①It may be unsettling to think that negative cultural stereotypes about age could be having such a profound effect on how our brains age. ②“We know from other studies that as young as age four, children taken in stereotypes of their culture,” says Levy. ③But the results can be interpreted a different way, too.④“Positive age stereotypes seem protective of not experiencing these biomarkers,” she says—so if we can find a way to promote positive age stereotypes on a societal level, our brains may be better off once we reach old age. 翻译：否定衰老的文化刻板印象对大脑的衰老是否有这么大的影响尚未可知。勒维称，“在其他研究中我们发现孩子在四岁时就已经有了文化刻板印象”，但是这个结果也可以有不同解读。她说“对年龄积极的看法会使大脑免遭这种生物标记的侵扰”，所以如果我们可以在社会层面上找到一种对年龄有积极看法的刻板印象，那么当我们老的时候大脑依旧可以保持很好的状态。 点评：段V作者提出虽然对衰老的否定看法原因不明，但为健康着想，还是提倡以积极的态度看待老去。句①②提出了在文化对人们对衰老看法的影响很广泛，但对大脑的影响尚且无法直接测算。句③在此基础上，提出应该从不同角度解读这个问题。句④紧接着给出了方法“find a way to promote positive age stereotype on a societal level”, 这样有利于大脑健康。 |
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