研究表明，不識字的人患癡呆癥的可能性是識字的人的兩倍

研究表明，不識字的人患癡呆癥的可能性是識字的人的兩倍

Whether or not you can read and write could be a factor in your ability to stave off dementia as you grow older, according to a new study from scientists at Columbia University.

根據(jù)哥倫比亞大學(xué)科學(xué)家的一項新研究，隨著年齡的增長，你是否會讀寫可能是你避免癡呆的一個因素。

They published their results Wednesday in the online issue of the journal Neurology. Researchers studied 983 adults over age 65 living in New York City's Washington Heights area who had four or less years of schooling.

他們的研究結(jié)果周三發(fā)表在《神經(jīng)病學(xué)》雜志的網(wǎng)絡(luò)版上。研究人員調(diào)查了居住在紐約華盛頓高地地區(qū)的983名65歲以上的成年人，他們接受了四年或更少的教育。

Visiting the participants' homes, the scientists performed tests of the memory, language and visual or spatial abilities. During those visits, they made dementia diagnoses based on the standard criteria.

科學(xué)家們拜訪了參與者的家，對他們的記憶、語言、視覺或空間能力進(jìn)行了測試。在這些訪問中，他們根據(jù)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)做出了癡呆診斷。

The illiterate participants performed worse on those tests.

不識字的參與者在這些測試中表現(xiàn)更差。

They found, those who had never learned to read or write were nearly three times as likely to have dementia than those who could read.

他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，那些從未學(xué)過讀寫的人患癡呆的幾率幾乎是識字的人的三倍。

One reason for the brain decline, the authors write, is that those who don't learn to read have "a lower range of cognitive function" than those who are literate.

作者寫道，大腦衰退的一個原因是，不閱讀的人的“認(rèn)知功能范圍”低于識字的人。

The findings are part of a long term study on aging

這些發(fā)現(xiàn)是一項關(guān)于衰老的長期研究的一部分

Jennifer Manly, a neuropsychology professor at Columbia University and the senior author on the study, told CNN that scientists have been monitoring a cohort of adults over age 65, many from diverse backgrounds in the Washington Heights area, since 1992.

哥倫比亞大學(xué)神經(jīng)心理學(xué)教授、這項研究的資深作者珍妮弗·曼利告訴CNN，自1992年以來，科學(xué)家們一直在監(jiān)測一群65歲以上的成年人，其中很多人來自華盛頓高地地區(qū)的不同背景。

Over the past three decades, they've studied 6,500 New Yorkers as they've aged, she said.

她說，在過去的三十年里，他們研究了6500名上了年紀(jì)的紐約人。

While it's long been known that educational attainment can be tied to better health outcomes, a major goal of the study was to determine how literacy can or cannot correlate with someone's ability to maintain brain health during their golden years.

雖然人們早就知道，受教育程度與健康狀況的改善有關(guān)，但這項研究的一個主要目標(biāo)是確定，在人的黃金歲月里，讀寫能力與保持大腦健康的能力之間的關(guān)系。

For instance, many of the illiterate adults in Washington Heights came from the Dominican Republic, she said, and may have had to drop out of school to work.

例如，華盛頓高地的許多文盲成年人來自多米尼加共和國，她說，他們可能不得不輟學(xué)去工作。

Policymakers should take note, a scientist says

一位科學(xué)家表示，政策制定者應(yīng)該注意這一點

Manly said the study had implications for how nations think about their educational policy.

曼利說，這項研究對各國如何考慮其教育政策具有啟示意義。

"The reason they didn't go to school was due to Dominican education policy," she said.

“他們沒有上學(xué)的原因是多米尼加的教育政策，”她說。

After the eighth grade, school attendance is no longer mandatory in the Dominican Republic, according to the non-profit Borgen Project.

根據(jù)非營利組織“伯根項目”的說法，在多米尼加共和國，八年級之后，上學(xué)不再是強(qiáng)制性的。

Manly said that in the US, policymakers should reckon with the fact that "educational quality shapes later life brain health."

曼利說，在美國，政策制定者應(yīng)該考慮到這樣一個事實:“教育質(zhì)量決定了晚年的大腦健康。”

"Increasing opportunities for children and adults to obtain literacy may be protective for brain health later in life," she said.

她說:“提高兒童和成年人讀寫能力可能會在晚年保護(hù)大腦健康。”

Manly likened the positive effects that learning to read can have on the mind to the positive effects that exercise can have on the body.

曼利把學(xué)習(xí)閱讀對大腦的積極影響比作鍛煉對身體的積極影響。

"For individuals and families, health behaviors should include education," she said.

“對個人和家庭來說，健康行為應(yīng)該包括教育，”她說。