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
2010-01-18
45
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 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 shrinkageexhibited 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 Call. "
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 saicl; 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 brain 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/hHvO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Organicfoodisconsideredbetterthanmedicinetokeeppeoplespiritualfitness.
WhichofthefollowingisNOTadrawbackoftraditionaleducationinChina?
Whatissocialworkinbroadsense?
Thevaluesoftheprojectshouldbekeptinmindforallteammembersbecausethegoalmaychange.
Asumof$240billionhasbeenallocatedformilitaryusebetweenApril2019andMarch2024bytheJapanesegovernment.
WhichisNOTasuggestiongivenonbusinesstravelsabroadinthepassage?
A、Weshouldnottakeourabilitytolistenforgranted.B、Weshouldhavetherightlisteningstyleforaparticularsituation.C
Largepartsoftheworldhavenotenjoyedtheremarkableglobalprogressinhealthconditionsthathavetakenplaceoverthepas
对于旅行而言,需要首先考虑的是买一份保险。如果你在旅行中丢了行李或需要医疗服务,旅行保险可以补偿你的损失。第二,旅行时携带大量现金不是明智之举。带好足以应付日常开销的钱就可以了,比如打的,坐公交车或购买食物。旅行支票也是一种非常安全的携带现金的方式,因为如
Next,let’stalkaboutearthquakesonourPlanet.Somecountrieshavelargenumbersofearthquakes.Japanisoneofthem.Others
随机试题
经过30年的对外开放,我国已经形成了全方位、多层次、宽领域的对外开放格局。所谓全方位就是指()
《父亲》画出了我国农村千万个父亲的典型形象,其创作者是______。()
可引起过敏反应甚至过敏休克的药物
人民币合格境外机构投资者,简称为()。
下列各项中,属于税收法律关系变更的原因的有()。
下列表述中,正确的有()。
生产关系包括______、______、______和______四个环节。
The()theoryoflanguagelearningwasinitiatedbythepsychologistSkinner,whoappliedWatsonandRaynor’stheoryofconditionin
比较模板说、原型说和特征说三种模式识别理论的观点及优缺点。
Twogroupsofscientistsdemonstratedlastweekfoxthefirsttimethatthebodylaunchesamassive,effectivecounter-attackon
最新回复
(
0
)