最新研究：老年人比年轻人心理更健康！

许多研究表明，随着年纪增大，老年人的认知能力会下降。但前不久，加州大学圣迭戈分校医学院的研究人员发现，老年人虽然认知能力下降，但心理健康状态却比年轻人更佳。你能猜到为什么吗？一起到文中找答案吧。

Study suggests older adults show greater mental well-being despite cognitive decline

研究表明，老年人认知能力下降，但心理健康状态更佳

Despite displaying signs of poorer cognitive performance, older adults tend to have greater mental well-being compared to younger adults, according to a new study.

一项新的研究表明，尽管老年人表现出认知能力较差的迹象，但与年轻人相比，往往具有更好的心理健康状态。

A study published this month in Psychology and Aging by researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine indicates that adults over 60 showed greater mental well-being but worse cognitive performance than younger adults. Adults in their 20s tended to have more experience with anxiety, depression and loneliness than seniors.

本月，加利福尼亚大学圣迭戈分校医学院的研究人员在《心理学与衰老》（Psychology and Aging）杂志发表的一项研究表明，20多岁的年轻人比老年人更容易经历焦虑、抑郁和孤独，而60岁以上老年人的心理健康状况更佳，但认知能力较差。

Researchers sampled 62 healthy young adults in their 20s and 54 healthy seniors over the age of 60. The study analyzed the mental health of the participants and had them perform several cognitive tasks, using electroencephalography (EEG) to measure their brain activity. Anxiety, depression and loneliness were the mental well-being factors measured in each participant.

该研究抽样调查了62名20多岁的健康年轻人和54名60岁以上的健康老年人。研究人员分析了每个参与者的心理健康状况。他们让参与者进行了几项认知任务，用脑电图（EEG）检测参与者的大脑活动，再从焦虑、抑郁和孤独感三个维度进行心理健康评估。

Older adults had more trouble completing the cognition tests but displayed higher levels of mental well-being. EEG results showed that the older participants had more activity in their anterior area of the default mode network, which is the part of the brain where individuals may daydream or ruminate. The default mode is typically suppressed when an individual is focused on a task.

老年人在完成认知测试方面有更多的困难，但却表现出更高的心理健康水平。脑电图结果显示，老年人大脑默认模式网络（Default Mode Network）前部的表现更为活跃。当一个人做白日梦或进行思维反刍时，该大脑区域通常是活跃的，而在专注于一项任务时，该大脑区域活动则被抑制。

"We wanted to better understand the interplay between cognition and mental health across aging, and whether they rely on activation of similar or different brain areas," said Jyoti Mishra, PhD, director of the NEATLabs and senior author of the study, in a statement.

神经工程与转化实验室（NEATLabs）主任兼该研究论文资深作者Jyoti Mishra博士称：“我们想更好地了解认知和心理健康在衰老过程中的相互作用，以及它们是否依赖于相似或不同脑区的激活。”

"The default mode network is useful in other contexts, helping us process the past and imagine the future, but it's distracting when you're trying to focus on the present to tackle a demanding task with speed and accuracy," Mishra added.

Mishra说：“默认模式网络在其他情况下是有用的，它能够帮助我们处理过去、想象未来，但当你试图专注于当下，需要快速准确地完成一项艰巨的任务时，它会分散你的注意力。”

On the other hand, younger adults showed more activity in their dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, resulting in better performances for cognition tests. The cortex is the part of the brain with the executive control system and tends to degrade over time with age, according to the researchers. However, the older adults who did perform well on the cognitive tasks used their inferior frontal cortex, the area of the brain used to avoid distractions.

另一方面，在认知测试中年轻人有更好的表现，是因为他们的背外侧前额叶皮质表现更活跃。研究人员表示，该皮质是大脑执行控制系统的一部分，并随着年龄的增长而退化。然而，在认知任务中表现良好的老年人，他们的下额叶皮质表现得更活跃，该大脑区域可避免分心。

"We tend to think of people in their twenties as being at their peak cognitive performance, but it is also a very stressful time in their lives, so when it comes to mental well-being, there may be lessons to be learned from older adults and their brains," Mishra said.

Mishra 说：“我们倾向于认为，20多岁的人正处于认知能力的巅峰，但这也是他们面临巨大生活压力的时期。在心理健康方面，或许可以从老年人以及他们的大脑中有所收获。”

今日词汇

mental well-being 心理健康

cognitive / ˈkɒɡnətɪv / adj. 认知的

electroencephalography (EEG) 脑电图

default mode network 默认模式网络

ruminate / ˈruːmɪneɪt / vt. 反刍；沉思

interplay / ˈɪntəpleɪ / n. 相互影响，相互作用

dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

背外侧前额叶皮质

inferior frontal cortex

下额叶皮质

翻译讨论

The study analyzed the mental health of the participants and had them perform several cognitive tasks, using electroencephalography (EEG) to measure their brain activity. Anxiety, depression and loneliness were the mental well-being factors measured in each participant.

调整前：研究人员评估了每个参与者的心理健康状况，从焦虑、抑郁和孤独方面进行健康因素的调研。参与者还进行了几项认知任务，同时用脑电图（EEG）测量他们的大脑活动。

调整后：研究人员分析了每个参与者的心理健康状况。他们让参与者进行了几项认知任务，用脑电图（EEG）检测参与者的大脑活动，再从焦虑、抑郁和孤独感三个维度进行心理健康评估。

原译文主语选取得有些混乱，比如“参与者还进行了几项任知任务，同时用脑电图测量他们的大脑活动”，导致译文有一些不太连贯。本句可直接选“研究人员”作主语。

译者：应用型笔译班学员 Alice

审校：Jennifer

英文来源：Fox News

*对应译文由译介翻译团队完成，仅供参考，不当之处欢迎大家在评论区讨论！转载请注明来源！

▲ 如需人工翻译服务，请联系微信号kevinssf ！

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