黄河古道4:保持大脑年轻化的七种方法

威廉姆•斯彼得•维德

1. Move It 

1. 让大脑动起来

Quick — what’s the No. 1 thing you can do for your brain’s health? Differential calculus, you say? Chess? Chaos theory? Nope, the best brain sharpener may be … sneakers? Yup. Once they’re on your feet, you can pump up your heart rate. “The best advice I can give to keep your brain healthy and young is aerobic exercise,” says Donald Stuss, PhD, a neuropsychologist and director of the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto.

    速答 —— 为了维护大脑健康，你首先要做的是什么？你是说做微积分吗？下棋？研究混沌理论？都不对，锻炼大脑的最佳利器难道是…运动鞋？对啦。一旦穿上运动鞋，你就可以为心脏加速了。多伦多贝克雷斯特中心罗特曼老年保健医学研究所主任及神经心理学家唐纳德•斯达斯博士说，“要保持大脑年轻而健康，我能给你的最佳忠告就是做有氧运动。”

Mark McDaniel, PhD, professor of psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, agrees, but adds, “I would suggest a combined program of aerobics and weight training. Studies show the best outcomes for those engaged in both types of exercise.”

    华盛顿大学圣路易斯分校的心理学教授马克丹尼尔博士表示同意这一观点，但他补充到：“我建议将有氧运动和举重训练结合起来，研究结果表明这两种运动结合起来训练的效果是最佳的。

As we age, our brain cells, called neurons, lose the tree-branch-like connections between them. These connections, or synapses, are essential to thought. Quite literally, over time, our brains lose their heft. Perhaps the most striking brain research today is the strong evidence we now have that “exercise may forestall some kinds of mental decline,” notes McDaniel. It may even restore memory. Myriad animal studies have shown that, among other brain benefits, aerobic exercise increases capillary development in the brain, meaning more blood supply, more nutrients and — a big requirement for brain health — more oxygen.

    随着衰老，连接我们大脑细胞，即神经元之间的树杈状连接组织就会消失。这些连接组织，或叫神经元突触，对思维是起关键作用的。毫不夸张地说，久而久之，我们大脑的重量就会有所减轻。麦克丹尼尔指出，当前有关大脑研究的最突出的成果大概就是我们已经获得了充分的证据证明“运动可以防止某些类型的智力衰退”。运动甚至可以帮助恢复记忆。大量的动物实验研究表明，在各种健脑方法中，有氧运动促进了大脑内毛细血管的生长，也就是意味着更充足的供血，更多的营养以及 —— 大脑健康所大量需求的 —— 更多的氧气。

The preeminent exercise and brain-health researcher in humans is Arthur Kramer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In a dozen studies over the past few years, with titles such as “Aerobic Fitness Reduces Brain Tissue Loss in Aging Humans,” Kramer and his colleagues have proved two critical findings: Fit people have sharper brains, and people who are out of shape, but then get into shape, sharpen up their brains. This second finding is vital. There’s no question that working out makes you smarter, and it does so, Kramer notes, at all stages of life. Just as important, exercise staves off heart disease, obesity, diabetes and other maladies that increase the risk of brain problems as we age.

    在运动与大脑健康方面最卓越的研究者当属伊利诺大学香槟分校的亚瑟•克雷默。在过去的几年里，克雷默和他的同事们在以“有氧健身减少老年人脑组织损失”为题的系列研究中验证了两项关键的研究成果：健康的人大脑更敏捷，身体状况不佳的人再回到健康状态时，大脑也变得敏捷。第二个研究成果尤为重要。克雷默指出，毫无疑问，健身使你更加聪明，而且在人生的各个阶段都是如此。同样，运动可以避免心脏病、肥胖、糖尿病及其它随着衰老而容易引起大脑疾病的因素。

2. Feed It 

2. 给大脑养分

Another path to a better brain is through your stomach. We’ve all heard about antioxidants as cancer fighters. Eating foods that contain these molecules, which neutralize harmful free radicals, may be especially good for your brain too. Free radicals have nothing to do with Berkeley politics and everything to do with breaking down the neurons in our brains. Many colorful fruits and vegetables are packed with antioxidants, as are some beans, whole grains, nuts and spices.

    另一个改善大脑的途径就是通过胃。我们都听说过抗氧化剂是抗癌的克星。食用含有抗氧化分子的食物，能够中和有害的自由基，对你的大脑是尤其有益的。自由基与伯克利的政治毫无关系，但与大脑神经元的损害却是息息相关的。许多颜色鲜艳的水果和蔬菜都富含抗氧化物，也包括一些豆类、全麦食物、硬果及调味香料。

More important, though, is overall nutrition. In concert with a good workout routine, you should eat right to avoid the diseases that modern flesh is heir to. High blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol all make life tough on your brain, says Carol Greenwood, PhD, a geriatric research scientist at the University of Toronto.

    但是更重要的还是营养的全面性。配合良好的健身习惯，你还要有合理的饮食习惯来防止现代人易患的疾病。多伦多大学致力于老年病研究的科学家卡罗尔•格林伍德博士说，高血压、糖尿病、肥胖症、高胆固醇都会使你的大脑倍受煎熬。

If your diet is heavy, then you’re probably also heavy. The same weight that burdens your legs on the stairs also burdens your brain for the witty reply or quick problem solving. The best things you can eat for your body, Greenwood notes, are also the best things you can eat for your brain. Your brain is in your body, after all. Greenwood’s recommendation is to follow the dietary guidelines from the American Diabetes Association (available at diabetes.org).

    如果你的饮食量很大，那么你的体重也会很重。你上楼梯时腿上承载的负担与你在机智应答或快速解决问题时脑力所承载的负担是一样的。格林伍德指出你为身体所食用的最好的食物也是对大脑最好的食物。毕竟你的大脑是你身体的一部分。格林伍德推荐遵循美国糖尿病协会提供的饮食指南。(在diabetes.org网站上可以找到) 

3. Speed It Up 

 3. 给大脑加速

Sorry to say, our brains naturally start slowing down at the cruelly young age of 30 (yes, 30). It used to be thought that this couldn’t be helped, but a barrage of new studies show that people of any age can train their brains to be faster and, in effect, younger. “Your brain is a learning machine,” says Michael Merzenich, PhD, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco. Given the right tools, we can train our brains to act like they did when we were younger. All that’s required is dedicated practice: exercises for the mind.

    很遗憾地说，我们的大脑实际上在年仅30岁时就开始放慢速度了。我们曾经认为这是无可奈何的，但一系列最新研究表明，任何年龄的人都可以训练大脑，使之变得更敏捷，实际上也就是更年轻。加州大学旧金山分校的神经学家迈克尔•梅策尼希博士说：“人的大脑就是一部学习机器。”只要掌握了正确的手段，就可以把我们的大脑训练的和年轻时一样。你所需要做的就是专心练习：进行思维训练。

Merzenich has developed a computer-based training regimen to speed up how the brain processes information (positscience.com). Since much of the data we receive comes through speech, the Brain Fitness Program works with language and hearing to improve both speed and accuracy. Over the course of your training, the program starts asking you to distinguish sounds (between “dog” and “bog,” for instance) at an increasingly faster rate. It’s a bit like a tennis instructor, says Merzenich, shooting balls at you faster and faster over the course of the summer to keep you challenged. Though you may have started out slow, by Labor Day you’re pretty nimble.

    梅策尼希开发了一个电脑训练法，可以提高大脑对信息处理的速度(positscience.com)。由于我们获得的信息大多是通过说话，因此这个健脑计划（the Brain Fitness Program）是通过语言和听力来提高思维速度和准确性的。在训练的过程中，健脑计划首先要求你以越来越快的速度分辨声音（例如分辨“dog”和 “bog”）. 梅策尼希说这有点儿像网球教练在夏季训练课程中以越来越快的速度向你投球，让你不断受到挑战。虽然一开始你的速度较慢，但到劳动节时，你就会变得相当敏捷了。

Similarly, Nintendo was inspired by the research of a Japanese doctor to develop a handheld game called Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day, which has sold more than two million copies in Japan. No software out there has yet been approved by the FDA as a treatment for cognitive impairment, but an increasing number of reputable scientific studies suggest that programs like Merzenich’s could help slow down typical brain aging, or even treat dementia. The biggest finding in brain research in the last ten years is that the brain at any age is highly adaptable, or “plastic,” as neurologists put it. If you ask your brain to learn, it will learn. And it may speed up in the process.

    任天堂公司在一位日本博士的启发下也开发了一种掌上游戏机叫“脑年龄”（ Brain Age）：“每日几分钟练脑”，而且在日本的销售量已超过了两百万。至今尚没有一款电脑软件被美国食品及药物管理局认可作为认知障碍的疗法。但是越来越多有声望的科学研究都提出像梅策尼希这样的健脑计划有助于延缓典型的大脑老化，甚至还可以治疗老年痴呆。近十年里我们对大脑研究最重要的发现，就是大脑在任何年龄段都极具潜力，或是按神经病学家的说法，叫“可塑性”。如果你让大脑学习，它就能学习。而且还能因此提高思维速度。

To keep your brain young and supple, you can purchase software like Merzenich’s, or you can do one of a million new activities that challenge and excite you: playing Ping-Pong or contract bridge, doing jigsaw puzzles, learning a new language or the tango, taking accordion lessons, building a kit airplane, mastering bonsai technique, discovering the subtleties of beer-brewing and, sure, relearning differential calculus.

     为了保持大脑年轻灵活的状态，你可以购买像梅策尼希设计的那种软件，或是在上百万种能给你带来挑战和刺激的新型活动中挑一件来做：打乒乓球或合约桥牌、做拼图游戏、学一门外语或学跳探戈舞、上手风琴课、制作模型飞机组件、掌握盆景技艺、了解啤酒酿造的精细环节，当然还有重新学习微积分。

“Anything that closely engages your focus and is strongly rewarding,” says Merzenich, will kick your brain into learning mode and necessarily notch it up. For his part, Merzenich, 64, has “4,000 hobbies,” including a wood shop and a vineyard.

    梅策尼希说：“只要是能牢牢吸引住你的注意力去做，且回报丰厚的任何事情都会刺激大脑进入学习模式，从而使你的大脑更加敏锐。就拿64岁的梅策尼希来说，他就有“4000个业余爱好，”包括一个木工作坊和一个葡萄园。

4. Stay Calm

4. 保持心态平和

So you may be saying to yourself, I have to sign up right now for Swahili and calculus and accordion lessons before my brain withers away! Stop! Breathe. Relax. Good. 

    你或许因此对自己说，趁着我的大脑还没退化，赶紧报名学习史瓦西里文和微积分，还有手风琴班吧！打住！做下深呼吸。放松。很好。

While challenging your brain is very important, remaining calm is equally so. In a paper on the brain and stress, Jeansok Kim of the University of Washington asserts, in no uncertain terms, that traumatic stress is bad for your brain cells. Stress can “disturb cognitive processes such as learning and memory, and consequently limit the quality of human life,” writes Kim.

    训练大脑固然很重要，但保持心态平和同样很重要。在一篇关于大脑与精神压力的论文中，华盛顿大学的Jeansok Kim明确指出，精神创伤带来的压力对你的脑细胞是有害的。他在文中写道，精神压力会“干扰像学习和记忆这样的认知过程，从而会影响我们的生活质量。”

One example is a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is a primary locus of memory formation, but which can be seriously debilitated by chronic stress. Of course, physical exercise is always a great destressor, as are calmer activities like yoga and meditation. And when you line up your mental calisthenics (your Swahili and swing lessons), make sure you can stay loose and have fun.

    比如，大脑中有一个部位叫海马体，它是记忆形成的基本核心，但长期的精神压力会使其变得十分脆弱。当然，体育锻炼永远是极好的解压方法，但像瑜伽和坐禅这样较安静的活动也同样有效。当你列出一组心智训练计划时，（史瓦西里文课和摇摆舞课），切记要保持轻松愉快的心情。

5. Give It a Rest 

5. 让大脑休息一下

Perhaps the most extreme example of the mental power of staying calm is the creative benefit of sleep. Next time you’re working on a complex problem, whether it be a calculus proof or choosing the right car for your family, it really pays to “sleep on it.”

    大概最能说明保持心态平和能强化智力的典型例子就是睡眠产生创意灵感。以后当你解决复杂的问题时，无论是微积分的证法还是为家庭选一辆合适的车，“睡一觉再说”还是很划得来的。

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have looked at the conditions under which people come up with creative solutions. In a study involving math problems, they found that a good night’s rest doubled participants’ chances of finding a creative solution to the problems the next day. The sleeping brain, they theorize, is vastly capable of synthesizing complex information.

    哈佛医学院的研究者们对人们在产生创造性解决方法时的条件进行了研究。在一项涉及数学问题的研究时，他们发现好好睡一觉后，第二天参与者们找到解决问题的创造性方法的机会增加了一倍。他们的推论是，睡眠中的大脑综合处理复杂信息的能力是极强的。

6. Laugh a Little 

6。 笑一笑

Humor stimulates the parts of our brain that use the “feel good” chemical messenger dopamine. That puts laughter in the category of activities you want to do over and over again, such as eating chocolate or having sex. Laughter is pleasurable, perhaps even “addictive,” to the brain.

     幽默能刺激我们大脑中产生“良好感觉”的化学信使多巴胺的部分，因此吸引我们不断重复去做它所带来欢笑的各种活动，比如吃巧克力或过性生活。欢笑是很愉悦的，或许还会使大脑“上瘾”。

But can humor make us smarter? The jury is still out and more studies are needed, but the initial results are encouraging. Look for a feature on exciting new research about humor and intelligence in the September issue of Reader’s Digest.

    可是幽默能使我们更聪明吗？答案尚未揭晓，还有待于更多的研究探讨，但初步的研究结果是令人鼓舞的。读者可查看在《读者文摘》九月刊上登载的关于幽默和智慧的令人振奋的最新研究发现的专题文章。

7. Get Better With Age 

7.  岁数越大越聪明

In our youth-obsessed culture, no one’s suggesting a revision to the Constitution allowing 20-year-olds to run for President. The age requirement remains at 35. You’ve heard about the wisdom and judgment of older people? Scientists are starting to understand how wisdom works on a neurological level.

    在我们这个崇尚年轻的文化中，没人会提出修改宪法允许20左右岁的人竞选总统。年龄要求仍然保持在35岁。你肯定听说过年长者充满智慧和富于判断力的故事吧。科学家们正在开始了解智慧在神经学层面上是如何表现的。

When you are older, explains Merzenich, “you have recorded in your brain millions and millions of little social scenarios and facts” that you can call upon at any time. Furthermore, he notes, “you are a much better synthesizer and integrator of that information.”

    梅策尼希解释说，当你岁数大些时，“你的大脑里就记录了上千万个你随时会想起的社会情境和事例”。除此之外，他说：“你在这些信息的综合处理方面也就做得更好。”

Older people are better at solving problems, because they have more mental information to draw upon than younger people do. That’s why those in their 50s and 60s are sage. They’re the ones we turn to for the best advice, the ones we want to run our companies and our country.

     岁数大的人更善于解决问题，因为他们比年轻人有更多的心智信息可以利用。这就是为什么那些50多岁和60多岁的人被视为智者。他们就是我们询求最好建议的人，也正是我们需要领导我们的公司和国家的人。

As Barry Gordon, a neurologist at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and author of Intelligent Memory: Improve the Memory That Makes You Smarter, puts it, “It’s nice to know some things get better with age.”

美国约翰霍普金斯大学医学院的神经学家和《理解性识记：改善记忆让你更聪明》一书的作者巴里•戈登是这样说的：“得知岁数越大越聪明真是令人高兴。”