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An active lifestyle and a healthy, fish-rich diet
are not only good for your heart, they may also help tackle the memory
loss associated with old age, two leading neuroscientists
said on
Wednesday.
As people live longer, finding ways of halting the
decline in mental agility
is becoming increasingly important, said Professor Ian Robertson,
director of the Institute of Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin.
"The biggest threat to being able to function well and properly is our
brains," he told journalists.
"There is very strong evidence, particularly in the over-50s, that the
degree to which you maintain your mental faculties depends on a handful of
quite simple environmental factors," he said.
Those who remained physically fit, avoided high stress levels and
enjoyed a rich and varied social life are better equipped to stay alert as
they age. Mental stimulation, learning new things and simply thinking
young also help.
A new survey compiled for the University of Kent
and the charity Age Concern showed ageism
was rife in Britain where people, on average, see
youth as ending at 49 and old age beginning at 65.
But Robertson said such attitudes were not helpful given the number of
80-year-olds who remain "sharp as pins."
"If you start to think of yourself as old when you are 60, which is no
longer justified, you will behave old," he said.
Research conducted by his Trinity College colleague
Professor Marina Lynch showed healthy eating was another key requirement
for staying on the ball
.
Lynch said new research showed fish oils may reduce the cell inflammation
that triggers a decline in memory.
(Agencies) |
周三，兩位世界著名的神經(jīng)科學(xué)家提出了自己的新觀點，他們認為積極的生活方式、健康的飲食，特別是富含魚類的飲食不僅對心臟有好處，還有助于解決由于衰老而導(dǎo)致的記憶力衰退。
隨著人類的壽命越來越長，尋找能夠抑制人類精神敏銳度下降的方法正變得越來越重要，愛爾蘭都柏林三一學(xué)院神經(jīng)科學(xué)協(xié)會負責人伊恩·羅伯遜教授說。
他告訴記者說：“對身體機能健康正常運轉(zhuǎn)威脅最大的是我們的大腦。”
“有強有力的證據(jù)表明，一個人到底能夠保持怎樣的智力水平取決于一些非常簡單的環(huán)境因素，對于那些過了50歲的人來說，更是如此。”他說。
那些身體健康、懂得為自己減壓、享受多姿多彩的生活的人，當他們上了年紀之后，通常心智會更敏銳一些。智力上的刺激、學(xué)習(xí)新知識、保持年輕的心態(tài)同樣也有益處。
一份為肯特大學(xué)和“老年問題”慈善機構(gòu)進行的調(diào)查顯示英國普遍存在對老年人的歧視。在英國人們普遍認為到49歲就不再年輕了，而65歲是步入老年的標志。
但是羅伯遜說這種看法對于那些80多歲思維還非常敏捷的人來說沒有什么幫助。
“如果你60歲的時候就老覺得自己已經(jīng)老了，這樣你的一舉一動就真的會像老人一樣。盡管人們已經(jīng)不再認為60歲是步入老年的標志。”
他的同事、三一學(xué)院教授瑪莉娜·林奇進行的研究表明健康飲食是保持思維敏捷的另一個必要條件。
林奇說最新的研究結(jié)果顯示魚油能降低細胞炎癥，而細胞炎癥正是導(dǎo)致記憶力減退的原因之一。
（中國日報網(wǎng)站 薛曉文譯） |
Updated: 2005-09-09 09:05
