PBS高端访谈:游戏能防止思维钝化吗？

 　　JUDY WOODRUFF: This weekend, the crossword¹ puzzle marks its hundredth birthday. First published in a NewYork newspaper, it's become a daily ritual for many and even been rumored² to help stave off dementia. But there isn't much evidence to back up that claim.

　　On the other hand, special correspondent Jake Schoneker reports on new research using video games to sharpen an aging mind.

　　JAKE SCHONEKER: Fifty-seven-year-old Ashley Wolff has been a self-employed children's author and illustrator for 25 years, working out of her small home studio in San Francisco. She says she loves being her ownboss, but that working from home can be a challenge.

　　ASHLEY WOLFF, author and illustrator: Working from home allows me really to just let my attention deficit³ problem fly.

　　JAKE SCHONEKER: Like many people her age, she's recently found herself forgetting things more often, andgetting easily distracted from work. She was worried about these problems getting worse as she got older, especially because her mother, at age 85, was beginning to exhibit signs of Alzheimer's disease.

　　ASHLEY WOLFF: My sister and I are watching our mother kind of lose her memory. And we thought, gee⁴, wow,she always did the New York times crossword puzzle, and always seemed so sharp, and here she is, none of that helped her. And we thought, we should try something.

　　JAKE SCHONEKER: So she decided⁵ so try cognitive⁶ training, a new breed of video game designed to exercisethe brain. She now gets a daily reminder⁷ to log on to her laptop for a 15-minute mental workout.

　　ASHLEY WOLFF: She wants a BLT and coffee. He wants a garden salad.

　　JAKE SCHONEKER: In this game, called "Familiar Faces," Wolff is a waitress at a cafe. She has to remember the names of people who come in, as well as what they order.

　　ASHLEY WOLFF: Cheeseburger.

　　JAKE SCHONEKER: "Familiar Faces" is one of many games designed by Lumosity, a San Francisco based startup that launched in 2007. The company markets itself as a kind of gym for the brain, complete with monthly membership fees.

　　The service creates a personalized training program for users based on their needs that includes exercisesfor attention, speed, and memory. On most days, Wolff will play five different games selected for her by the program. Even though her memory isn't what it used to be, she says she's noticed a modest improvement since she started training. Increasing evidence from the field of neuroscience suggests it's never too latefor the brain to change.

　　Companies like Lumosity have built a billion-dollar business out of a very simple premise⁸: that no matter your age, you can improve your brain's performance through cognitive training.

　　Joe Hardy⁹, the head of the science team at Lumosity, says the idea of being able to improve and train the brain as we get older is relatively¹⁰ new.

　　JOE HARDY, Lumosity: Previous to maybe 30 years ago, neuroscientists believed that the brain was effectively fixed¹¹ in its ability to process information, pay attention, plan, remember. We now know that the brain is constantly changing the way that it operates in response to the challenges and activities that it's engaged in.

　　JAKE SCHONEKER: The concept is called neuroplasticity, meaning the brain continues to adapt, change, andperhaps be trained even as we age. It's the underlying¹² foundation for the many startup companies that are developing brain fitness programs and bringing them to market. But are the claims of these companies supported by the science?

　　LAURA CARSTENSEN, Stanford University Center on Longevity¹³: The claims being made by most of these companies that are selling products to improve your brain are exaggerated.

　　JAKE SCHONEKER: Laura Carstensen is director of the Stanford University Center on Longevity, an expert and author on the aging brain.

　　LAURA CARSTENSEN: When marketers tell you that you can increase your I.Q. by 20 points or that you can, with 15 minutes a day of training, improve your cognitive control and executive functioning, and that thiswill make you smarter in everyday life, those kinds of claims are just clearly unsupportable by scientificevidence.

　　JAKE SCHONEKER: She says brain games have potential, but more research is needed to understand if, and how, the brain benefits from training.

　　At the University of California, San Francisco, Adam Gazzaley is one of many neuroscientists working to answer those questions.

　　ADAM GAZZALEY, University of California-San Francisco: Well, I think that, very frequently, there's a mismatch between being based on science and claims being validated¹⁴ by the scientific method. And I think that's what the real goal, is that they're more than based on science; they're validated by scientific methodology.

　　JAKE SCHONEKER: So Gazzaley and his research team set out to design a game that started with the science. They chose a brain function known to decline with age, multitasking, and tried to find a way to slow that decline through training. The game they came up with, called "NeuroRacer," challenges subjects to drive a virtual car down a winding¹⁵ road while simultaneously¹⁶ recognizing and responding to road signs.

　　MAN: I'm dangerous here. This is -- I'm a menace to society here.

　　JAKE SCHONEKER: Like commercial games, this game gets progressively harder as the player improves, creating a challenging virtual environment for the brain to adapt to.

　　As subjects trained in "NeuroRacer," they improved dramatically at multitasking. Study participants in their 70s and 80s who trained for one month performed better than 20-year-olds playing for the first time. But perhaps the most interesting part of the study was that those older players improved in other areas as well, like working memory and sustained attention.

　　That's a big deal because there's evidence that training in one task can lead to benefits throughout the brain.

　　ADAM GAZZALEY: This is a measure of what we call functional¹⁷ connectivity, which is a reflection of how your brain functions as a network, so that different parts of the brain are not acting¹⁸ in isolation¹⁹, but acting as a network. And that's what we see, that that improves as well.

　　JAKE SCHONEKER: Gazzaley's study made a splash on the scientific community, making the cover of the science journal "Nature."

　　Gazzaley is now working to build a better, more interactive²⁰ version of "NeuroRacer" that the FDA could approve as a therapy for ADHD. But that pathway could take years or decades to complete. And, until then, Gazzaley says he can't make any strong recommendations for the use of cognitive training.

　　ADAM GAZZALEY: We do need better, more carefully controlled studies in order to make really strong prescriptive advice.

　　That being said, in general, I think if you find these games fun, at least there's no clear evidence that they have detrimental²¹ effects, so I usually don't disrecommend them.

　　ASHLEY WOLFF: I think the proof will be in the pudding. It's not going to happen to me now, when I'm in my 50s. But if I'm still able to do stuff like this in my 80s, I will be thrilled.

　　JAKE SCHONEKER: By then, in 30 years, who knows what science will tell us about how middle-aged²² people like Wolff can keep their minds sharp.

　　But with five million Americans suffering from Alzheimer's disease today, and with that number due to risesharply in the coming decades, those solutions can't come soon enough.

　　ASHLEY WOLFF: Good brain training for the day.

1 crossword   

n.纵横字谜，纵横填字游戏

参考例句：

• He shows a great interest in crossword puzzles.他对填字游戏表现出很大兴趣。
• Don't chuck yesterday's paper out.I still haven't done the crossword.别扔了昨天的报纸，我还没做字谜游戏呢。

2 rumored   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.传闻( rumor的过去式和过去分词 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• It is rumored that he cheats on his wife. 据传他对他老婆不忠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was rumored that the white officer had been a Swede. 传说那个白人军官是个瑞典人。 来自辞典例句

3 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

4 gee   

n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转

参考例句：

• Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。
• Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇！我们会赚好多钱啦！

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 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。

7 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

8 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

9 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

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。

11 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

12 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

13 longevity   

n.长命；长寿

参考例句：

• Good habits promote longevity.良好的习惯能增长寿命。
• Human longevity runs in families.人类的长寿具有家族遗传性。

14 validated   

v.证实( validate的过去式和过去分词 )；确证；使生效；使有法律效力

参考例句：

• Time validated our suspicion. 时间证实了我们的怀疑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The decade of history since 1927 had richly validated their thesis. 1927年以来的十年的历史，充分证明了他们的论点。 来自辞典例句

15 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

16 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

17 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

18 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

19 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。

20 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

21 detrimental   

adj.损害的，造成伤害的

参考例句：

• We know that heat treatment is detrimental to milk.我们知道加热对牛奶是不利的。
• He wouldn't accept that smoking was detrimental to health.他不相信吸烟有害健康。

22 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。