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
2011-03-10
49
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 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 more education, certain brain structures deeper than the cortex may stay intact to compensate for cortical shrinkage.
According to this passage, all of the following factors could account for brain shrinkage EXCEPT ______.
选项
A、age
B、education
C、health
D、exercise
答案
D
解析
文中分别提到了几个相关因素,其中没有锻炼,故选D。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/r3YO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
A、BecauseIndiaandChinafoughtthereB、BecauseitbecomesdependentontheimportC、BecausetheIndiangovernmentregardedthi
A、BecauseofthewarningaboutsalesB、BecausethecustomersarereluctanttotradeuptonewhandsetsC、Becauseofcuttinginto
TakeataxiinShanghaiandyouwillpaymomthanyouwouldforarideof【1】______distanceinBeijing.
TakeataxiinShanghaiandyouwillpaymomthanyouwouldforarideof【1】______distanceinBeijing.
TwoconflictsconvincedWesterncountriesthattheydarednotreducetheirforcestoodrastically.ThefirstwastheIraqiinvas
WhichstateofAustraliaisMelbournein?
Underexistinglaw,anewdrugmaybelabeled,promoted,andadvertisedonlyforthoseconditionsinwhichsafetyandeffectiven
A、TheBritish.B、Germans.C、Americans.D、Notmentioned.C
Zambia’scopperindustry,whichonlylastyearstillboastedarosyfuture,seemstobestaggeringtowardsarathergloomierend
我一直以为大学校长是高瞻远瞩、指导学术与教育大方向的决策人,而不是管馒头稀饭的保姆,但这也暂且不提。这一类型的教育者的用心,毋庸置疑,当然是善意的。问题是,我们论“事”的时候,用心如何根本不重要,重要的是实际的后果,而教育的后果何其严重!在这种过度呵护的幼
随机试题
甲到照相馆拍摄个人写真,摄影师乙未经甲同意而偷偷留下甲的照片,并将其卖给丙出版社用做挂历。后来乙又将该照片送给丁服装厂做某牌内衣的广告。在本案中侵犯甲的肖像权的是()。
患者,女,34岁。甲状腺功能亢进症行甲状腺大部切除术后当晚,发热,体温39.5℃,大汗,呕吐胃内容物3次,给予胃复安10mg肌注止吐无效。体检:心率125次/分,切口敷料干燥,双肺呼吸音清晰。该患者的并发症确诊后,估计预后不良,其死亡率可高达
脑神经共有
对于闸阀、球阀和截止阀来说,其作用为(),闸阀安装在水平管道上,球阀可迅速关断或开启,截止阀一般用在严密性较高的场合。
不属于索赔证据的有()。
Everyoneneedsfriends.Weallliketofeelclosetosomeone.Itisnicetohaveaf【K11】______totalk,laughanddothingswith
职业倦怠是个体在长期的职业压力下,缺乏应对资源和应对能力而产生的身心耗竭状态。教师职业倦怠是指由于长期的工作压力,导致教师的认知、态度、情感和行为等方面出现问题。调查显示,很多工作多年的中小学教师都出现了职业倦怠现象。教师们对学校教学工作产生了困惑,认
抗生素的发明和使用,使病菌一度不再是人类的致命威胁。但是,在人类使用抗生素治疗疾病的同时,病菌的耐药性也在增加,由于滥用抗生素,出现了目前难以控制的“超级病菌”。上述事实表明()。
阅读以下说明,回答问题。[说明]某学校拟组建一个小型校园网,具体设计如下。(1)设计要求。①终端用户包括:48个校园网普通用户;一一个有24个多媒体用户的电子阅览室:一个有48个用户的多媒体教室(性能要求高于电子阅览室)。
有以下程序:#include<stdio.h>main(){intc=35;printf("%d\n",e&c);}程序运行后输出结果是()。
最新回复
(
0
)