Understanding what distinguishes people who battle with Alzheimer’s as they age from those whose mental acuteness remains strong

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问题     Understanding what distinguishes people who battle with Alzheimer’s as they age from those whose mental acuteness remains strong well into their 80s, 90s and even older, is a major focus of current psychiatric research. Previous studies have pointed to the potentially protective value of exercise, social support and even language skills. And other studies have also shown that having a strong sense of purpose in life is, unsurprisingly, associated with greater overall mental health, happiness, and even longevity. A study published recently in the Archives of General Psychiatry expands on that research, finding that people who reported feeling a greater sense of purpose in life were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those who reported feeling less fulfilled.
    The study, conducted by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, analyzed medical records and life outlook among 951 participants from the Rush Memory and Aging Project. At the beginning of the study, participants’ overall sense of purpose in life was measured by assessing their level of agreement with 10 statements—such as, "I have a sense of direction and purpose in life,"—derived from a psychological well-being scale.
    After an average of four years of follow-up, 16.3% (155) participants had developed Alzheimer’s disease. When researchers analyzed the relationship between the psychological well-being scale and risk of Alzheimer’s, they found that participants who reported higher levels of fulfillment were significantly less likely to have developed the degenerative mental disease than those who expressed less sense of validation in life. In fact, participants with high scores on the life purpose test were 2.4 times less likely to develop Alzheimer’s compared with those who had the lowest scores.
    Researchers say that what drives the correlation between reduced risk and heightened sense of purpose is not clear, and should be explored with future research. Still, they expressed optimism at the findings, which add to studies that have linked sense of fulfillment in life everything from better sleep to improved psychological health. What’s more, because a sense of purpose is something that can be cultivated, researchers say that these findings could point toward new treatments designed to improve sense of fulfillment in older adults. If these findings are replicated, they say, "the implications could be far-reaching, and efforts to increase purpose in life may help reduce the rapidly increasing burden of cognitive impairment in old age."
    Perhaps Marlow and Frances Cowan can offer some insight into how to make the most of life as you age. It’s hard to watch the elderly couple’s playful—and off-hand—piano performance in a lobby at the Mayo Clinic without admiring their sense of fulfillment, and breaking into a grin.
According to the study, participants with high levels of life fulfillment ________.

选项 A、account for 16.3% of those who developed Alzheimer’s
B、are generally less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease
C、are more likely to develop degenerative mental disease
D、are less healthy than those who have less sense of validation

答案B

解析 根据题干中的关键词high levels of life fulfillment可定位到第三段。该段承接上一段内容,进一步分析该研究的结果。其中第二句将心理幸福感和患老年痴呆症风险联系起来,而第三句表明在人生目标感测试中得分高的参与者比得分最低的参与者患老年痴呆症的可能性低2. 4倍,B项与之基本吻合。A项是对原文16. 3%所代表内容的错误理解,文中指的是患老年痴呆症的这部分人,他们占整体参与者的16. 3%。C项和该段第二句的语义正好相反,该句中的were significantly less likely to表示的是“更不可能患精神退化疾病”。D项中的less healthy与文意相左,由句末2. 4倍的比例可知,他们比感觉不那么受认可的人患老年痴呆症的可能性低,故他们的健康程度应该相对较高。
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