首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Researchers investigating brain size and mental ability say their work offers evidence that education protects the mind from the
Researchers investigating brain size and mental ability say their work offers evidence that education protects the mind from the
admin
2012-03-23
78
问题
Researchers investigating brain size and mental ability say their work offers evidence that education protects the mind from the brain’s physical deterioration.
It is known that the brain shrinks as the body ages, but the effects on mental ability are different from person to person. Interestingly, in a study of elderly men and women, those who had more education actually had more brain shrinkage.
"That may seem like bad news," said study author Dr. Edward Coffey, a professor of psychiatry and of neurology at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. However, he explained, the finding suggests that education allows people to with stand more brain-tissue loss before their mental functioning begins to break down.
The study, published in the July issue of Neurology, is the first to provide biological evidence to support a concept called the "reserve" hypothesis, according to the researchers. In recent years, investigators have developed the idea that people who are more educated have greater cognitive reserves to draw upon as the brain tissue to spare.
Examining brain scans of 320 healthy men and women ages 66 to 90, researchers found that for each year of education the subjects had, there was greater shrinkage of the outer layer of the brain known as the cortex. Yet on tests of cognition and memory, all participants scored in the range indicating normal.
"Everyone has some degree of brain shrinkage," Coffey said. " People lose (on average) 2. 5 percent decade starting at adulthood. "
There is, however, a "remarkable range" of shrinkage among people who show no signs of mental decline, Coffey noted. Overall health, he said, accounts for some differences in brain size. Alcohol or drug use, as well as medical conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, contribute to brain-tissue loss throughout adulthood.
In the absence of such medical conditions, Coffey said, education level helps explain the range of brain shrinkage exhibited among the mentally-fit elderly. The more-educated can withstand greater loss.
Coffey and colleagues gauged shrinkage of the cortex by measuring the cerebrospinal fluid surrounding the brain. The greater the amount of fluid, the greater the cortical shrinkage. Controlling for the health factors that contribute to brain injury, the researchers found that education was related to the severity of brain shrinkage. For each year of education from first grade on, subjects had an average of 1. 77 milliliters more cerebrospinal fluid around the brain.
For example, Coffey’s team reported, among subjects of the same sex and similar age and skull size, those with 16 years of education had 8 percent to 10 percent more cerebrospinal fluid compared with those who had four years of schooling.
Of course, achieving a particular education level is not the definitive measure of someone’s mental capacity. And, said Coffey, education can be "a proxy for many things". More-educated people, he noted, are often less likely to have habits, such as smoking, that harm overall health. But Coffey said that his team’s findings suggest that like the body, the brain benefits from exercise. " The question is whether by continuing to exercise the brain we can forestall the effects of (brain shrinkage)," he said. "My hunch is that we can. "
According to Coffey, people should strive throughout life to keep their brains alert by exposing themselves to new experiences. Travelling is one way to stimulate the brain, he said; a less adventuresome way is to do crossword puzzles.
"A hot topic down the road," Coffey said, "will be whether education even late in life has a protective effect against mental decline. "
Just how education might affect brain cells is unknown, In their report, the researchers speculated that in people with morn education, certain brain structures deeper than the cortex may stay intact to compensate for cortical shrinkage.
Which of the following statements is true?
选项
A、The brain of an adult person shrinks 2. 5% every 10 years.
B、The cerebrospinal fluid of a person with 8 years of education may have increased by 17. 7 millimeters.
C、The cerebrospinal fluid of a person with 16 years of education may increase by 10%.
D、The brain of an aged person shrinks 5% every 10 years.
答案
A
解析
事实细节题,问四个陈述中哪个是正确的。题干中没有任何一点定位信息,所以我们根据选项中的关键词回原文定位,首先根据选项A“成年人的大脑每十年萎缩10%”中的关键词“10 years”找到原文中的关键词decade 找到第六段的句子“People lose (on average) 2. 5 percent.decade starting at adulthood.人们成年后每10年减少2. 5%,” 句意与A的内容完全一致,故选定A为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.kaotiyun.com/show/R2iO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Accordingtothebestevidencegatheredbyspaceprobesandastronomers,Marsisaninhospitableplanet,moresimilartoEarth’s
Whichofthefollowingisasentencewithametaphor?
IntheUnitedStateseducationpoliciesaredeterminedby______.
A、hedidn’twanttoapprovetheresignationofEducationMinister.B、theresignedofficialswantedtheopportunitytoprovethei
WhichofthefollowingworksisNOTwrittenbyWilliamShakespeare?
A、horizontalrowsB、verticalrowsC、diagonalrowsD、squaresB
LanguageFamiliesAllofthelanguageswithinalanguagefamilyare【1】andallofthemhaveasimilarhistory.Let’stakeabr
ThefunctionsofFBIarethefollowingexcept______.
Outinthestreetatlast,themanstoppedrunningandlookedbackatthestepsofthegallery.Thewomanwasnotfollowinghim.
随机试题
急性肾盂肾炎选择药物的依据是
根管充填时紧密的充填材料应位于
经穴是指阿是穴是指
如皮肤出现斑、丘疹、水疱、脓疱、风团、少量渗液损害时,外治应首选
A公司是在B市设立的一家中外合资经营企业。2013年5月,A公司接到通知,B市财政局将对该公司会计工作情况进行检查。公司董事长兼总经理王某不以为然,认为作为中外合资经营企业;不受《会计法》的约束,财政部门无权对本公司进行检查。要求:根据上述资料,
《巴塞尔新资本协议》于1998:开始酝酿,几易其稿,最终由巴塞尔银行监管委员会于2004年6月正式出台。《巴塞尔新资本协议》出台后,世界各国都在积极准备实施。十国集团在2006年底开始执行《巴塞尔新资本协议》;部分欧盟成员国、澳大利亚、新加坡和中国香港等发
制造企业的制造费用分配方法包括生产工人工时比例法、机器工时比例法、生产工人工资比例法和直接分配法等。()
收文登记的主要作用是()。
下面不能作为软件需求分析工具的是
October24,_____wasthedatewhenAmericasuffereditsfirststockmarketcrashinhistory.
最新回复
(
0
)