How the Aging Brain Affects Thinking

The brain controls many aspects of thinking — remembering, planning and organizing, making decisions, and much more.

大脑控制着思维的许多方面——记忆、计划和组织、决策等等。

These cognitive abilities affect how well we do everyday tasks and whether we can live independently .

这些认知能力影响我们完成日常任务的能力以及我们是否能够独立生活。

Some changes in thinking are common as people get older.

随着人们年龄的增长，思维方式的一些变化是很常见的。

For example, older adults may:

例如，老年人可能：

Aging may also bring positive cognitive changes.

衰老也可能带来积极的认知变化。

For example, many studies have shown that older adults have larger vocabularies and greater knowledge of the depth of meaning of words than younger adults.

例如，许多研究表明，老年人比年轻人拥有更多的词汇量，对单词含义的深度了解也更多。

Older adults may also have learned from their many years of accumulated knowledge and experiences.

老年人也可能从他们多年积累的知识和经验中学到了东西。

Whether and how older adults apply this knowledge, and how the brain changes as a result, is an area that researchers are actively exploring.

老年人是否以及如何应用这些知识，以及大脑如何因此而变化，是研究人员正在积极探索的一个领域。

Despite the changes in cognition that may come with age, older adults can still do many of the things they have enjoyed their whole lives.

尽管随着年龄的增长，认知可能会发生变化，但老年人仍然可以做许多他们一生喜欢的事情。

Research shows that older adults can still:

研究表明，老年人仍然可以：

Volunteers are needed for clinical trials to understand normal brain aging and why some people stay cognitively healthy longer than others.

临床试验需要志愿者来了解正常的大脑衰老以及为什么有些人比其他人保持认知健康的时间更长。

By joining one of these studies, you may learn more about what might protect your brain as you age.

通过加入其中一项研究，您可能会更多地了解随着年龄的增长，什么可以保护您的大脑。

As a person gets older, changes occur in all parts of the body, including the brain.

随着人年龄的增长，身体的各个部位都会发生变化，包括大脑。

These changes in the brain can affect mental function, even in healthy older people.

大脑的这些变化会影响心理功能，即使是健康的老年人也是如此。

For example, some older adults may find that they don’t do as well as younger individuals on complex memory or learning tests.

例如，一些老年人可能会发现他们在复杂的记忆或学习测试中表现不如年轻人。

However, if given enough time to learn a new task, they usually perform just as well.

然而，如果有足够的时间来学习新任务，他们通常表现得同样好。

Needing that extra time is normal as people age.

随着人们年龄的增长，需要额外的时间是正常的。

There is growing evidence that the brain maintains the ability to change and adapt so that people can manage new challenges and tasks as they age.

越来越多的证据表明，大脑保持着改变和适应的能力，以便人们能够随着年龄的增长应对新的挑战和任务。

Some people in their 80s, 90s, and beyond defy the common assumption that cognitive decline goes hand in hand with aging.

一些 80 多岁、90 多岁甚至更老的人违背了认知能力下降与衰老密切相关的普遍假设。

These people, called cognitive super agers , have memory performance comparable to people 20 to 30 years younger.

这些人被称为“认知超级老年人”，他们的记忆力表现与年轻 20 至 30 岁的人相当。

NIA supports research to study cognitive super agers, including the “Resilience and Resistance to Alzheimer’s Disease in Centenarians and Offspring” study at Boston University Medical Campus and the “Study to Uncover Pathways to Exceptional Cognitive Resilience in Aging” at Northwestern University.

NIA 支持认知超级老年人的研究，包括波士顿大学医学校区的“百岁老人及其后代对阿尔茨海默氏病的恢复力和抵抗力”研究以及西北大学的“揭示衰老过程中卓越认知恢复力途径的研究”。

Research is ongoing to understand what sets these people apart to help others prevent (or even reverse) age-related cognitive decline.

正在进行研究以了解这些人的独特之处，以帮助其他人预防（甚至逆转）与年龄相关的认知能力下降。

Talk with your doctor if you’re concerned about changes in your thinking and memory.

如果您担心自己的思维和记忆发生变化，请咨询您的医生。

They can help you determine whether those changes are normal or whether it could be something else.

他们可以帮助您确定这些变化是否正常，或者是否可能是其他原因。

There is growing scientific evidence of the brain-body connection.

越来越多的科学证据表明大脑与身体之间存在联系。

Not only can changes in our brain affect our thinking, but also changes in our physical health may affect our brains.

大脑的变化不仅会影响我们的思维，身体健康的变化也可能会影响我们的大脑。

For example, an NIA-funded study of almost 3,000 older adults showed that healthy lifestyle factors — physical activity, not smoking, not drinking heavily, following the Mediterranean-style diet, and engaging in mentally stimulating activities — can have important benefits.

例如，NIA 资助的一项针对近 3,000 名老年人的研究表明，健康的生活方式因素——身体活动、不吸烟、不酗酒、遵循地中海式饮食以及从事精神刺激活动——可以带来重要的好处。

People who engaged in four or five of these behaviors had a 60% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s compared to those who only followed one or none.

与只遵循一种或不遵循这些行为的人相比，从事其中四到五种行为的人患阿尔茨海默病的风险要低 60%。

People who followed two or three of the activities had a 37% lower risk.

参加其中两到三项活动的人的风险降低了 37%。

In another study, older adults with higher levels of physical activity showed slower rates of cognitive decline than peers who were less active.

在另一项研究中，体育活动水平较高的老年人比活动较少的同龄人认知能力下降的速度更慢。

Another example of how physical health can affect brain health has to do with the heart.

身体健康如何影响大脑健康的另一个例子与心脏有关。

Observational studies have found that high blood pressure in middle age, along with other cerebrovascular risk factors, such as diabetes and smoking, increase the risk of developing dementia.

观察性研究发现，中年高血压以及糖尿病和吸烟等其他脑血管危险因素会增加患痴呆症的风险。

Results from observational studies such as these can’t prove cause and effect, but they point to how a combination of modifiable behaviors may affect the brain as people age and identify promising avenues to be tested further.

诸如此类的观察性研究的结果无法证明因果关系，但它们指出了随着人们年龄的增长，可改变的行为组合如何影响大脑，并确定了有待进一步测试的有希望的途径。

McKnight Brain Research Foundation 407-237-4485 https://mcknightbrain.org

麦克奈特大脑研究基金会 407-237-4485 https://mcknightbrain.org

Dana Foundation 212-223-4040 danainfo@dana.org https://dana.org

达纳基金会 212-223-4040 danainfo@dana.org https://dana.org

This content is provided by the NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA).

本内容由 NIH 国家老龄化研究所 (NIA) 提供。

NIA scientists and other experts review this content to ensure it is accurate and up to date.

NIA 科学家和其他专家审查此内容以确保其准确且最新。