Train Your Brain to Stay Sharp 训练头脑保持敏锐
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- 创建于 2009年10月02日
- 最后更新于 2024年5月25日
- 发布于 2012年3月20日
- 作者：Mike Lee
- 点击数：289
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Most of us start worrying about dementia after retirement – and that may be too little, too late 部份人都是从退休后才开始担心自己会不会得到失智症──不过，到那时才开始担心，可能根本做得不够，也来不及啰
How to Ward Off Dementia 如何防止失智症
Experts say that if you really want to ward off dementia, you need to start taking care of your [brain] in your 30s and 40s – or even earlier. “More and more research is suggesting that lifestyle is very important to your brain’s health,” says Dr. Paul Nussbaum, a neuropsychologist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “If you want to live a long, healthy life, then many of us need to start as early as we can.”
专家指出，如果你真的想预防得失智症，就必须在三、四十岁或甚至更早的时候，就开始保健自己的头脑。「愈来愈多研究显示，生活方式对脑部健康非常重要，」「匹兹堡大学」医学院神经心理学家保罗．纳斯鹏博士表示，「如果想活得健康又长寿，大家就需要尽早开始做好准备才行。」
So what can you do to beef up your brain? Nussbaum offers 20 tips that may help.
那么，怎样才能强化头脑呢？纳斯鹏博士提供了二十个秘诀，可能有所帮助。
1. Join clubs or organizations that need volunteers. If you start volunteering now, you won’t feel lost and unneeded after you retire. 参加有招募志工的社团或组织。现在就开始担任志工，退休以后就不至于有失落感，觉得自己不被需要。
2. Develop a hobby or two. Hobbies help you develop a robust brain because you’re trying something new and complex. 培养一两个嗜好。嗜好让人尝试新鲜、复杂的事情，因此有助于培育出强健的头脑。
3. Practice writing with your non-dominant hand several minutes every day. This will exercise the opposite side of your brain and fire up thoseneurons. 每天花几分钟用非惯用手练习写字，就能缎练另一侧的脑部，并刺激该部位的神经元。
4. Take dance lessons. In a study of nearly 500 people, dancing was the only regular physical activity associated with a significant decrease in the incidence of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. 上舞蹈课。一项针对近五百人所进行的研究显示，舞蹈是唯一证实和阿兹海默症等失智症发病率显着减少有关的日常身体活动。
5. Start gardening. Not only does gardening reduce stress, but gardeners use visual and spatial reasoning to lay out a garden. 开始从事园艺。园艺不仅能减轻压力，从事园艺的人在设计规划庭园时，还会用到视觉和空间上的推估能力。
6. Buy a pedometer and walk 10,000 steps a day. Cardiovascular health is important to maintain blood flow to the brain. 买个计步器，每天走一万步。心血管健康对于维持血液输送到脑部极为重要。
7. Read and write daily. These activities stimulate a wide variety of brain areas that process and store information. 每天阅读、写作。这些活动会刺激脑部各种和处理、储存信息有关的区域。
8. Start knitting: Using both hands works both sides of your brain. And it’s a stress reducer. 开始编织吧。使用双手可以同时训练两侧脑部，而且还可以纾解压力。
9. Learn a new language. You work your brain by making it go back and forth between one language and the other. A researcher in England found that being bilingual seemed to delay symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease for four years. 学习新语言。交替使用两种语言可以锻炼头脑。英格兰一位研究人员发现，使用双语似乎可以让阿兹海默症的病征延缓四年发生。
单词发音
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dementia [dɪˋmɛnʃɪə] n. 痴呆 a medical condition that affects especially older people, causing gradual worsening of the memory and other mental abilities, and leading to confused behavior
ward off 避开; 挡住; 防止 to try to prevent; avert
ward [wɔrd] v. 避开；挡开；避免[（+off）]
fire up 激发; 煽动 arouse or excite feelings and passions
neuron [ˋnjʊrɑn] n.【解】神经单位（细胞）；神经元 a nerve cell that carries information between the brain and other parts of the body
incidence [ˋɪnsədns] n. 发生率；影响范围
spatial [ˋspeʃəl] adj. 空间的；空间性的 relating to the position, area and size of things
reasoning [ˋriznɪŋ] n. 推论，推理
pedometer [pɪˋdɑmətɚ] n. 步数计；步程计
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More tips to exercise your brain 更多训练头脑的小秘诀
10. Play board games such as Scrabble and Monopoly. Not only are you taxing your brain, you’re socializing, too. Playing solo games such as solitaire or online computer brain games can be helpful, but Nussbaum prefers games that encourage you to socialize. 玩拼字游戏或是大富翁等纸板游戏。这不仅能逼自己用头脑，也可以和其他人社交联谊。玩接龙或在线脑力测验等一个人玩的游戏，虽然也有帮助，但纳斯鹏博士较推荐能和其他人社交联谊的游戏。
11. Take classes throughout your lifetime. Learning produces structural and chemical changes in the brain, and education appears to help people live longer. If they do have Alzheimer’s, it often becomes apparent only in the very later stages of the disease. 活到老学到老，终身上课进修。学习会让脑部产生结构性和化学性的变化，接受教育似乎能让人更长寿。如果证实罹患了阿兹海默症，常常也是在患病的后期才会出现明显症状。
12. Listen to classical music. Any kind of music may work, but there’s some research that shows positive effects for classical music, though researchers don’t understand why. 聆听古典音乐。任何种类的音乐大概都有用，但是有些研究显示古典音乐有正面效果，虽然研究人员仍不了解原因何在。
13. Learn a musical instrument. It may be harder than it was when you were a kid, but you’ll be developing a dormant part of your brain. 学习一种乐器。这可能比儿时学乐器更难，但却能让脑部休眠的部份动起来。
14. Travel. When you travel (whether it’s to a distant vacation spot or on a different route across town), you’re forcing your brain to navigate a new and complex environment. 旅游。（无论是去遥远的度假景点，或是在市内探索不同路线都行）旅游会强迫头脑在错综复杂的新环境中引导行进。
15. Pray. Daily prayer appears to help your immune system. People who attend a formal worship service regularly live longer and report happier, healthier lives. 祈祷。每天祈祷似乎对免疫系统有益，固定参加正式礼拜活动的人比较长寿，他们也往往活得更快乐、更健康。
16. Learn to meditate. It’s important for your brain that you learn to shut out the stresses of everyday life. 学习冥想。学会阻绝日常生活中的压力，对脑部而言非常重要。
17. Get enough sleep. Studies have shown a link between interrupted sleep and dementia. 睡眠充足。研究显示睡眠中断和失智症有关连。
18. Eat more foods containing omega-3 fatty acids: Salmon, sardines, tuna, ocean trout, mackerel or herring, plus walnuts (which are higher in omega-3s than salmon) and flaxseed. 食用更多含有omega-3脂肪酸的食物：如鲑鱼、沙丁鱼、鲔鱼、海鳟、鲭鱼、鲱鱼、核桃（比鲑鱼所含的omega-3脂肪酸更高）、以及亚麻子。
19. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants in fruits and vegetables mop up some of the damage caused by free radicals, one of the leading killers of brain cells. 多吃水果和蔬菜。水果蔬菜中的抗氧化物，可清除自由基造成的破坏，自由基是杀死脑细胞的元凶之一。
20. Eat at least one meal a day with family and friends. You’ll slow down, socialize, and research shows you’ll eat healthier food than if you ate alone or on the go. 每天至少和家人、朋友一起吃一餐。这会让人放慢脚步、与人社交互动，而且研究显示，比起独自一人吃饭或是匆忙地吃，和家人朋友一起用餐所吃的食物比较符合健康。
－by Linda Shrieves
单词发音
More Information
Scrabble [ˋskræb!] n.（大写）英文拼字游戏
Monopoly [məˋnɑp!ɪ] n. 大富翁(一种多人策略图版游戏)
solitaire [͵sɑləˋtɛr] n. 单人玩的牌戏；接龙
shut out 摆脱; 挡住 stop (someone or something) from doing something or being in a certain state
sardine [sɑrˋdin] n. 沙丁鱼
trout [traʊt] n. 鳟鱼，鲑鳟鱼
mackerel [ˋmækərəl] n. 鲭，青鱼，青花鱼，马鲛鱼
herring [ˋhɛrɪŋ] n. 鲱，鲱鱼
walnut [ˋwɔlnət] n. 胡桃；胡桃树
flaxseed [ˋflæks͵sid] n. 亚麻籽（仁）
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Mastering your camera can help your brain 熟悉照相机功能有益头脑
You know you have to add mental exercise to your daily activities if you’re going to live to a healthy and happy old age. Crossword puzzles, computer games and scientifically proven brain-enhancing programs designed by companies such as Posit Science should be on your agenda for mental stimulation. Even photography can become a brain game. That is, photographs on a digital camera.
如果想要有个健康快乐的老年，就必须在日常活动中增加心智训练。填字游戏、计算机游戏、或是像Posit Science这类公司所设计、经科学证实的增强脑力游戏，都应该列入你刺激心智的例行活动中。就连摄影也可以变成脑力游戏哦，这里是指用数位相机摄影。
Everyone seems to learn how to “point and shoot,” but photographer Judy Diebolt Price says that technique doesn’t begin to tap into the capabilities of digital cameras. And tapping into those capabilities requires leaning some technology. In other words, playing a brain game.
大家似乎都在学如何「对准了就按快门」（译注：指傻瓜相机的用法），但摄影师茱蒂．狄伯特．普莱斯表示，那种技巧根本没利用到数位相机的功能。若要善用那些功能，必须学些技术，换句话说，也就是玩个脑力游戏。
Q & A with Judy Diebolt Price 与茱蒂．狄伯特．普莱斯对谈
Q: You’ve developed a video guide called Babyboomers’ Guide to Digital Photography. Why? 你出了一本影像指南书《婴儿潮世代的数位摄影指南》，为什么想出这本书呢？
A: It answers a lot of questions in simple terms: basically, how to take better pictures, about composition and action shots. It even goes into output – print or PowerPoint. There are people out there who don’t even begin to know the capabilities of the cameras they own. And they are afraid to learn. 这本以简单用语回答了许多问题：基本上像是如何拍出更好的照片、有关构图与动态照片等等。甚至还讨论到最后成品──冲洗照片或是加载PowerPoint上。有很多人根本没去了解自己照相机的功能，而且他们很害怕去学习新事物。
Q: Are we intimidated by these cameras? 这是因为大家被这些相机吓到了吗？
A: I think so. The manuals are difficult to read and, frankly, some of them are not well written. As a result, taking digital photos feels more complicated than it really is. There is so much these cameras can do. It’s like having a little computer in your hand. [But] you can learn it if you open your brain to new information. 我想是吧。使用手册很难读懂，而且老实说，有些手册写得并不好。结果就让人觉得拍数码相片比实际上更复杂。不过，这些相机可以做的事多着呢，就像手上有部迷你计算机一样。如果愿意让头脑吸收新信息，就可以学会了。
Q: Why do I need to learn more about taking photos? 为什么大家需要多学些有关拍照的知识？
A: Learning how to use all the features of the camera is a brain game, if you will. If you want to take more than point-and-shoot photos, you have to learn the brain game. And here’s a game where you can show off your winnings with a disk full of excellent images. 如果你愿意的话，学习运用相机的所有功能就是一种脑力游戏。如果你想拍的不只是「对准了就按快门」的傻瓜照片，就必须学学这种脑力游戏，而且学成这个游戏后，你还可以用一片装满出色影像的光盘，来炫耀自己的傲人成果呢。
－by Jane Glenn Hass
单词发音
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agenda [əˋdʒɛndə] n. 日常工作事项
composition [͵kɑmpəˋzɪʃən] n. 构图 the way that people or things are arranged in a photograph
action shot 动态照片
go into 讨论; 检视
intimidate [ɪnˋtɪmə͵det] v. 恐吓, 威胁
manual [ˋmænjʊəl] n. 手册，便览，简介
winning [ˋwɪnɪŋ] n. 赢得物; 获胜; 胜利; 赢 something won
单词发音
Vocabulary Focus
beef up 增强，加强 to make something stronger or more effective
robust [rəˋbʌst] adj. 强健的；茁壮的；健全的 strong and healthy
lay out 计划 to design the way in which something is created; to make a detailed plan for
tax [tæks] v. 使负重担；使受压力 to need a lot of effort, either physical or mental
dormant [ˋdɔrmənt] adj. 暂停活动的；静止的; 睡着的 describing something that is not active, but which has the ability to be active at a later time
navigate [ˋnævə͵get] v. 找到正确的行动方向 to find a direction across, along or over an area of land, often by using a map
mop up 扫荡(残敌); 肃清(残余分子) to clean up after something
on the go 忙碌 constantly busy or hurriedly going from place to place
tap into 利用，开发 to gain access to and use part of a large supply of something for your own advantage
output [ˋaʊt͵pʊt] n. 产品；作品;【计算机】输出；输出信息 the production of a final product
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