VOA标准英语2012--Mental Stimulation Might Cut Dementia Risk

Mental Stimulation¹ Might Cut Dementia Risk

People who engage in mentally-stimulating² activities over a lifetime have lower levels of a protein in the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease, a new study finds.
That supports other research which suggests reading, writing and playing games may lower the risk of dementia.
Researchers worked with a group of 65 older-adult volunteers with no symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease.
They answered questions about how often they engaged in stimulating mental activities throughout their lifetimes. They also got PET brain scans³ which can identify beta-amyloid deposits⁴. Those deposits are found in the brains of people who have Alzheimer's.
University of California-Berkeley scientist Susan Landau found a link between the quantity of a protein in the brain linked to Alzheimer's and the lifetime level of brain stimulation, such as reading and playing games.
"People who were the most cognitively⁶ active throughout their life, they had the least amyloid in their brains," she says. "So, based on this association between greater cognitive⁵ activity and less amyloid, we think that these people will go on to have a reduced risk of Alzheiemer's Disease."
Keep in mind that the people in this study, many of them in their 70s and 80s, did not show any symptoms of Alzheimer's. Scientists are still trying to understand the connection between beta-amyloid deposits in the brain and dementia.
Aging and a family history of Alzheimer's are both considered risk factors, but we can't control those. And even if your brain hasn't been particularly active up until now, Landau says it's not too late to start ratcheting up your mental activities.
"I think that cognitive stimulation is probably beneficial at any age. But, what our findings from this study show, is that the more cognitively active you can be over the course of your lifespan, the better"
Landau says she and her colleagues plan to follow the volunteers in this study as they age, to see whether there is a link between lifetime mental activity and Alzheimer's symptoms as some of them develop dementia in the years ahead. That may help the researchers better understand the relationship between stimulating mental activities, beta-amyloid deposits and dementia.

1 stimulation   

n.刺激，激励，鼓舞

参考例句：

• The playgroup provides plenty of stimulation for the children.幼儿游戏组给孩子很多启发。
• You don't get any intellectual stimulation in this job.你不能从这份工作中获得任何智力启发。

2 stimulating   

adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的

参考例句：

• shower gel containing plant extracts that have a stimulating effect on the skin 含有对皮肤有益的植物精华的沐浴凝胶
• This is a drug for stimulating nerves. 这是一种兴奋剂。

3 scans   

n.浏览( scan的名词复数 )；审视；（雷达）（屏面上的）光点v.扫描( scan的第三人称单数 )；细看；细查；（雷达）对…进行扫描

参考例句：

• This apparatus scans patients' brains for tumours. 这台仪器扫描检查病人的脑瘤。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Brain scans have confirmed that the disease is in remission. 脑部扫描已经证实疾病得到了控制。 来自辞典例句

4 deposits   

存放( deposit的名词复数 )； 订金； 寄存处； 储蓄

参考例句：

• Only a small fraction of a bank's total deposits will be withdrawn at any one time. 任何时候，一家银行的总存款只有少量会被提取。
• There are rich deposits of gold in those hills. 那些丘陵里埋藏着丰富的金矿。

5 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。

6 cognitively   

参考例句：

• Cognitively,man,the subject of cognition,must classify and categorize the objects. 从认知学角度来看 ，作为认知主体的人对于认知对象必须进行分类和范畴化。 来自互联网
• Cognitively, reference can be studied along with information processing of human mind. 从认知的角度看，要研究人类思维的信息处理过程。 来自互联网