学习另外一种语言可以预防老年痴呆

semico_ljj

学习另外一种语言可以预防老年痴呆

Learning another language could help delay the onset of dementia by up to four years, academics claim.

专家说，学习另外一种语言可以将老年痴呆症的发病时期推迟四年。

Researchers from York University in Toronto, Canada, analysed hospital records of patients diagnosed with a variety of types of dementia and found that those who were bilingual throughout their lives delayed the onset of the disease by three to four years.

加拿大多伦多大学的研究者，通过对患有各种各样的老年痴呆症患者的医院记录的分析，发现那些一生说两种语言的患者可以将老年痴呆症的发生时间推迟三到四年。

They wrote in the journal Trends In Cognitive Sciences: "In spite of being equivalent on a variety of cognitive and other factors, the bilinguals experienced onset and symptoms and were diagnosed approximately three to four years later than the monolinguals.

他们在《认知科学趋势》的杂志中写到：“在认知和其他因素相同的的条件下，通两种语言的人比只用一种语言的人患老年痴呆症的时间或有老年痴呆症症状的时间晚接近三到四年。”

"Specifically, monolingual patients were diagnosed on average at age 75.4 years and bilinguals at age 78.6 years.”

“ 明确的是，单语运用者诊断出老年痴呆症的平均年龄为75.4岁，而双语运用者则是在78.6岁。”

But it’s not only those who are completely bilingual that could benefit from the findings. The researchers reported that any attempt at learning a second language was likely to be beneficial. However, the earlier the language is learned and the more often it is used, the better.

但是，这项发现不仅对那些准双语运用者是好事，而且这些研究者还称任何努力学习第二语言的人都有可能受益。当然，语言学的越早，用的越频繁，受益就越多。

"If bilingualism is protective against some forms of dementia, then middle-aged people will want to know whether it is too late to learn another language, or whether their high-school French will count towards cognitive reserve," they said.

这些研究者称：“如果双语对于一些老年痴呆症有预防作用，那么中年人将会明白对他们来说去学另一种语言是否太迟，或者他们高中的法语学习是否有利于认知储存。”

"A related question concerns the age of acquisition of a second language: is earlier better?

” 一个相关的问题是二语习得的年龄问题：学习第二外语越早越好吗？”

"The best answer at present is that early age of acquisition, overall fluency, frequency of use, levels of literacy and grammatical accuracy all contribute to the bilingual advantage, with no single factor being decisive.”

“ 目前为止最好的答案是第二外语习得的年龄，整体的熟练程度，使用的频繁度，读写水平，语法准确度，这些都会影响二语优势，并没有哪一个单独的因素起决定性的作用。”

Dr Marie Janson of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: 
“We know there are several lifestyle factors – such as healthy eating, exercise and mental activity – that could help to reduce our risk of dementia. This review discusses the evidence that keeping our brains active by switching between different languages could help to resist some of the damage caused by dementia, delaying the onset of symptoms.

英国阿兹海默病研究者Marie Janson 博士说：“我们知道有几个生活因素，像健康的饮食，锻炼，智力活动，都会有助于降低患老年痴呆症的风险。”这一评论谈到了这个证据——通过在两种不同语言间的转换可以保持头脑活跃，这有助于抵制一些老年痴呆症带来的危害，进而推迟症状的发生。

“More research is needed to tease apart the most beneficial aspects of bilingualism – whether it is the age we starting learning, how fluent we are or how much we use the language in everyday life. With 820,000 people in the UK living with dementia and this number expected to rise, it is vital to invest in research to understand more about how to prevent or delay the onset of this devastating condition.”

”要梳理双语运用所带来的最有益的方面还需要更多的研究——是否应当老年时才开始学习，我们应用的多熟练，每天用多少。在英国有820000人患有老年痴呆症，这一数字有望继续上升，所以进行更多的研究来弄清楚如何阻止或推迟这一恶劣情况将意义重大。”

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre and School of Medicine found that people who ate baked or grilled fish regularly reduced their risk of developing Alzheimer's.

匹兹堡大学医疗中心和药学院的研究者发现那些有规律的食用烘焙的鱼或烤制的鱼的人，会降低他们患老年痴呆症的风险。

Reseracher Cyrus Raji said: "The results showed that people who consumed baked or broiled (grilled) fish at least one time per week had better preservation of grey matter volume on MRI in brain areas at risk for Alzheimer's disease."

研究者 Cyrus Raji 说：“结果显示那些在每周至少消费一次烘焙或烤制的鱼的人，可以更好的保存处大脑中的灰质量，而这部分灰质处在关系患老年痴呆症风险的大脑区域。”

夜尽天明

mark!