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
2011-02-11
92
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 withstand 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 per decade starting at adulthood."
There is, however, a "remarkable range" of shrinkage among people who show no signs no 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 cerehrospinal 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 them- selves 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 more education, certain brain structures deeper than the cortex may stay intact to compensate for cortical shrinkage.
From this passage, we can conclude that______.
选项
A、education is beneficial to mental development
B、education protects the braid from shrinking
C、education has a protective effect against mental decline
D、education affects overall brain structures
答案
C
解析
总结全文,选C。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/08eO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Themagnetfortourists,thesymbolofthecity,Manhattanisprobablythemostdeceptiveoftheboroughstooutsiderswhogener
Mostpeoplecanrememberaphonenumberforuptothirtyseconds.Whenthisshortamountoftimeelapses,however,thenumbersa
English,whichplaysanimportantroleintheprocessofglobalization,isnowacompulsivecourseinourcountry.Englishisre
A、TheTaxArticlesintheBasicLawB、TheproceduresarebecomingclearC、ThethreatofterrorismD、Thefundamentalfightshave
ACareerinAccountingAsafieldofstudyandwork,accountingisexpandingthroughouttheworld.Ajobinaccountingpromi
A、fly-driveholiday.B、car-trip.C、two-cityholiday.D、conductedtour.D本题的重点在于相关信息的辨别。Victoria开始谈到她想乘飞机去度假(fly-driveholiday),
PresidentBushhasproposedaddingoptionalpersonalaccountsasoneofthecentralelementsofamajorSocialSecurityreformp
A、isolationB、insecurityC、povertyD、crowdednessA
HarryTrumandidn’tthinkhissuccessorhadtherighttrainingtobepresident."PoorIke--itwon’tbeabitliketheArmy,"h
TheRiseofRPHistoricalreasonsReceivedPronunciation(RP)wasoriginallyassociatedwitha______【1】spokenintheregion
随机试题
某分部工程的网络计划如下图所示,计算工期为44d,A、D、Ⅰ三项工作用一台机械顺序施工。按照D→A→I顺序组织施工,则网络计划变为下图。(1)计算工期是多少天?(2)机械在现场的使用和闲置时间各是多少天?
内环境是指【】
区别肝肾综合征和肝病合并肾小管坏死最有意义的是
下列不属于促进健康行为的是
内地甲公司和澳门乙公司发生争议由澳门某仲裁委员会依据澳门仲裁法规作出仲裁裁决,内地甲公司向澳门法院申请强制执行,并欲申请财产保全,下列说法正确的是:()
在热力学标准条件下,0.100mol的某不饱和烃在一定条件下能跟0.200g的H2发生加成反应生成饱和烃,完全燃烧时生成0.300mol的CO2气体,则该不饱和烃是()。
某大型商住楼大体积混凝土基础底板浇筑过程中,为了防止出现裂缝,可采取的措施有()。
[背景资料]某政府机关在城市繁华地段建一幢办公楼。在施工招标文件的附件中要求投标人具有垫资能力,并写明:投标人承诺垫资每增加500万元的,评标增加1分。某施工总承包单位中标后,因设计发生重大变化,需要重新办理审批手续。为了不影响按期开工,建设单位
请用不超过150字的篇幅,概括出给定资料所反映的主要问题。用不超过350字的篇幅,提出解决给定资料所反映问题的方案。要有条理地说明,要体现针对性和可操作性。
《刑法》规定,贿赂罪的成立条件之一必须是为谋取()。
最新回复
(
0
)