2016年06月四级第2套仔细阅读 Passage 1 原文翻译及答案解析

Declining mental function is often seen as a problem of old age, but certain aspects of brain function actually begin their decline in young adulthood, a new study suggests.

认知功能下降通常被视为老年问题，但一项新研究表明，大脑功能的某些方面实际上在成年早期就开始下降。

The study, which followed more than 2,000 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 60, found that certain mental functions—including measures of abstract reasoning, mental speed and puzzle-solving—started to dull as early as age 27.

该研究追踪了2000多名18至60岁的健康成年人，发现某些认知功能——包括抽象推理、思维速度和解谜能力——早在27岁就开始减弱。

Dips in memory, meanwhile, generally became apparent around age 37.

与此同时，记忆力的下降通常在37岁左右变得明显。

On the other hand, indicators of a person's accumulated knowledge—like performance on tests of vocabulary and general knowledge—kept improving with age, according to findings published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.

另一方面，根据发表在《衰老神经生物学》杂志上的研究结果，个人积累知识的指标——如词汇和常识测试的表现——随着年龄增长持续改善。

The results do not mean that young adults need to start worrying about their memories. Most people's minds function at a high level even in their later years, according to researcher Timothy Salthouse.

这些结果并不意味着年轻人需要开始担心自己的记忆力。研究员蒂莫西·萨尔特豪斯表示，大多数人即使在晚年大脑功能仍保持高水平。

"These patterns suggest that some types of mental flexibility decrease relatively early in adulthood, but that the amount of knowledge one has, and the effectiveness of integrating it with one's abilities, may increase throughout all of adulthood if there are no diseases," Salthouse said in a news release.

萨尔特豪斯在一份新闻稿中说：“这些模式表明，某些类型的认知灵活性在成年期相对较早下降，但一个人拥有的知识量，以及将其与能力有效整合的能力，如果没有疾病，可能在整个成年期持续增长。”

The study included healthy, educated adults who took standard tests of memory, reasoning and perception at the outset and at some point over the next seven years.

该研究纳入了健康、受过教育的成年人，他们在研究开始时以及接下来的七年内某个时间点接受了记忆、推理和感知的标准测试。

The tests are designed to detect subtle (细微的) changes in mental function, and involve solving puzzles, recalling words and details from stories, and identifying patterns in collections of letters and symbols.

这些测试旨在检测认知功能的细微变化，包括解谜、回忆故事中的单词和细节，以及识别字母和符号集合中的模式。

In general, Salthouse and his colleagues found, certain aspects of cognition (认 知能力) generally started to decline in the late 20s to 30s.

总体而言，萨尔特豪斯和他的同事发现，认知能力的某些方面通常在20多岁到30多岁开始下降。

The findings shed light on normal age-related changes in mental function, which could aid in understanding the process of dementia (痴呆), according to the researchers.

研究人员表示，这些发现有助于阐明认知功能正常的老龄化变化，这可能有助于理解痴呆症的发展过程。

"By following individuals over time," Salthouse said, "we gain insight in cognition changes, and may possibly discover ways to slow the rate of decline."

萨尔特豪斯说：“通过长期跟踪个体，我们深入了解认知变化，并可能发现减缓衰退速度的方法。”

The researchers are currently analyzing the study participants' health and lifestyle to see which factors might influence age-related cognitive changes.

研究人员目前正在分析参与者的健康和生活方式，以了解哪些因素可能影响与年龄相关的认知变化。