別想那么多了，會早死的

別想那么多了，會早死的

Long live the lazy and idle-minded.

懶惰萬歲。

A new study reveals that too much brain activity as we age may lead to a shorter life span, contrary to the widely held belief that staying mentally active into old age helps keep the brain spry.

一項新的研究表明，隨著年齡的增長，大腦活動過多可能導致壽命縮短，這與人們普遍認為的保持老年精神活躍有助于保持大腦活力的觀點相反。

The surprising results come from a new report in the journal Nature, by researchers who analyzed post-death brain tissue. They compared the tissue of centenarians to those who died in their 60s and 70s.

這一令人驚訝的結(jié)果來自于《自然》雜志的一份新報告，該報告由分析死后腦組織的研究人員撰寫。他們將百歲老人的組織與六七十歲的老人進行了比較。

The team from Harvard Medical School found that, compared to those who lived longest, those who died at younger ages had lower levels of a protein that quiets brain activity. The protein, RE1-Silencing Transcription (REST), can protect against Alzheimer’s disease, according to previous studies.

哈佛醫(yī)學院的研究小組發(fā)現(xiàn)，與那些壽命最長的人相比，那些在較年輕時死亡的人大腦中一種能使大腦活動安靜的蛋白質(zhì)含量較低。根據(jù)先前的研究，這種蛋白質(zhì)可以重新沉默轉(zhuǎn)錄(REST)，預防老年癡呆癥。
 

The findings “could have such far-ranging consequences for physiology and life span,” Bruce Yanker, genetics and neurology professor at Harvard Medical School, said in a statement.

哈佛醫(yī)學院遺傳學和神經(jīng)學教授布魯斯·揚克(bruce yanker)在一份聲明中說，這些發(fā)現(xiàn)“可能對生理學和壽命產(chǎn)生深遠的影響”。

Yanker is currently studying how drugs that target the protein could treat diseases such as Alzheimer’s, or aging itself. But scientists still don’t know exactly how it relates to life span.

揚克目前正在研究以這種蛋白質(zhì)為靶點的藥物如何治療阿爾茨海默病或衰老本身等疾病。但科學家們?nèi)匀徊恢浪c壽命的確切關系。

To better understand that relationship, scientists worked with mice and worms, since it’s not currently possible to measure REST in living humans. They tinkered with REST levels in worms to find that those who had more of it exhibited busier brains and also lived longer; conversely, when researchers cut the supply of REST in Methuselah roundworms, which are known for having unusually long life spans, they experienced increased neural activity and died much sooner than usual. Additionally, mice who lacked REST had more active minds with unusual spikes in brain activity similar to seizures.

為了更好地理解這種關系，科學家們對老鼠和蠕蟲進行了研究，因為目前還無法測量活人的休息時間。他們對蠕蟲的休息水平進行了調(diào)整，發(fā)現(xiàn)那些休息水平更高的人大腦更活躍，壽命更長;相反，當研究人員切斷瑪士撒拉蛔蟲的休息時間時，它們的神經(jīng)活動增加，死亡時間也比平常早得多。此外，缺乏休息的老鼠思維更活躍，大腦活動的異常峰值與癲癇相似。

According to Yanker, their research could also reveal potential benefits of other activities which impact neural rhythms, such as meditation, which he says might help treat memory loss.

據(jù)揚克說，他們的研究還可能揭示其他影響神經(jīng)節(jié)律的活動的潛在益處，比如冥想，他說冥想可能有助于治療記憶喪失。

“An exciting future area of research will be to determine how these findings relate to such higher-order human brain functions,” he said.

他說：“一個令人興奮的未來研究領域,將是確定這些發(fā)現(xiàn)是如何與高階的人腦功能相互作用的。”