【路透社 20150302】记性随着年龄增大而衰退？

独秀文译青年

The Financial Times once carried a diary item about a worried father who had overheard his son talking about how he planned to become rich. He was going to work for “Golden Sachs”.

英国《金融时报》曾刊登过一则日记，讲的是一位烦恼的父亲偶然听到自己的儿子在谈论他如何计划变成富人。他打算以后到高盛公司工作。

I was worried too. I had heard the story directly from the father – but I couldn’t remember who it was. After two days, I asked the diary writer, who put me out of my misery. When I recounted my lapse in the FT cafeteria, a senior colleague laughed: “It’s old age. It’s going to get worse.”

我也开始担心起来。我是直接从这位父亲那里听到这个故事的——但我记不起来这位父亲是谁了。两天后，我跑去问这位日记作者，他让我的烦恼一扫而空。当我在英国《金融时报》的食堂讲述我的短暂失忆时，一位资深同事笑了：“这是因为你年龄大了，以后会更糟糕。”

That was more than a decade ago. Has it got worse? Hard to say. It has certainly happened often enough for me to watch Rick Perry’s recent memory meltdown in the Republican presidential hopefuls’ debate with a “there but for a written reminder?.?.?.”

这是10多年前的事了。现在情况变糟了吗？很难说。对我来说，这种事情确实经常发生，看到里克·佩里(Rick Perry)最近在共和党总统候选人辩论中的失忆，我想“要是有个备忘录就好了……”

Some of the US press blamed Mr Perry’s recall failure on inadequate preparation, lack of intelligence or absence of real belief that three government departments should be abolished (he couldn’t remember the third). But most were reluctant to suggest the 61-year-old was showing his years. “Brain researchers note that countless memory lapses like these happen to the rest of us every day,” the New York Times said.

美国一些媒体将佩里的失忆归咎于准备不充分、缺乏智慧或者对这三个政府部门（他记不起来第三个部门是什么）应该被撤销的观点并不真正认同。但多数媒体不愿提出，61岁的佩里上了年纪。《纽约时报》写道：“大脑研究人员指出，我们其他所有人每天都会经历无数次类似这样的短暂失忆。”

Companies, and countries, seem happy to turn to those approaching, or exceeding, pension age in times of trouble. Lucas Papademos, Greece’s new prime minister, is 64. Mario Monti, appointed to head Italy’s government, is 68. (Silvio Berlusconi, his predecessor, is 75 and is, by all accounts, vigorous.)

企业和国家似乎愿意在遇到麻烦时求助于这些接近或超过退休年龄的人。希腊新任总理卢卡斯·帕帕季莫斯(Lucas Papademos)今年64岁。意大利新任总理马里奥·蒙蒂(Mario Monti) 68岁。（他的前任总理西尔维奥·贝卢斯科尼(Silvio Berlusconi)现年75岁，而所有人都公认他精力充沛。）

That is comforting for everyone who expects to continue working into their late sixties or even later.

对于所有希望工作到快70岁甚至更大年龄的人而言，这令人欣慰。

So, should employers assume there is no problem? Popular opinion thinks there is, convinced that memory deteriorates as you get older. While the press may be reluctant to blame Mr Perry’s problem on his age, the internet shows no such reticence. Google “Rick Perry” and “senior moment” and you get more than 31m results.

那么，雇主是否应假定这其中没有任何问题？大众的意见是会有问题的，他们相信，年纪越大，记忆力越差。尽管媒体不愿将佩里的问题归咎于年龄，但互联网可就没有这么沉默了。用谷歌(Google)搜索“Rick Perry”和“senior moment（老年失忆症）”，结果超过了3100万条。

The UK online NHS health advice service says that around 40 per cent of people over 65 experience some kind of memory loss.

英国国民卫生服务体系(NHS)在线健康咨询服务称，在65岁以上的人群中，约40%经历过某种失忆。

What can we do to prevent or arrest it, apart from remaining physically and mentally active? A recent study suggests we should resist the age stereotype that assumes we are going to lose our memories.

除了在身体和心理上保持活力以外，我们能够采取什么措施预防或阻止这种情况呢？最近的一项研究建议，我们应抵制那种认为我们将逐渐丧失记忆力的年龄成见。

The study, by Becca Levy and Martin Slade of the Yale School of Public Health and Alan Zonderman and Luigi Ferrucci of the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, is a long-term project. It followed and tested hundreds of men and women over 38 years.

该研究是一个长期项目，由耶鲁公共卫生学院的贝卡·利维和马丁·斯莱德以及巴尔的摩的国立老化研究所的艾伦·赞德曼和路易吉·费鲁奇负责。该研究在38年间对数百名男女进行了跟踪和测试。

Researchers assessed their memory every six years from 1968 until 1991 and then every two years. They presented participants with 10 cards with geometric figures on them for 10 seconds, removed each card, and asked them to reproduce the figures.

从1968年至1991年，研究人员每6年对他们的记忆力进行一次评估，而后每两年评估一次。他们发给参与者10张画有几何图案的卡片，让他们看10秒，然后每次取走一张卡片，让他们回忆上面的图案。

They also presented participants with stereotypes, such as “old people are absent-minded” and “old people cannot concentrate well” and asked to what extent they agreed.

他们还向参与者列出一些成见，例如“老人通常健忘”和“老人无法很好的集中精力”，然后问他们在多大程度上同意这些看法。

The results were striking. The more positive people were about ageing, and the fewer negative stereotypes they held, the more they retained their powers of memory. Those with gloomy views of old age tended to lose their memories earlier.

结果令人吃惊。人们对于变老的态度越积极，他们拥有的负面成见就越少，他们就越能保持记忆力。那些对年老持悲观看法的人往往会更早丧失记忆。

When the pessimistic participants were 70, their memories were only as good as the optimistic 73-year-olds’. The gap then widened. By 80, the gloomy ones had fallen six years behind the optimists. By the age of 90, they had the same recall powers as the cheerful 99-year-olds.

当悲观的参与者到了70岁，他们的记忆力与73岁的乐观参与者相同。之后差距越来越大。到了80岁，悲观人士的记忆力比乐观人士落后6年。到了90岁，两者则差了9年。

“Overall, there was a 30.2 per cent greater memory decline for those aged 60 and above in the more negative age-stereotype group compared to the less negative age-stereotype group,” the study said.

研究称：“总体而言，相对于有着不太负面的年龄成见的组别，在拥有较为负面的年龄成见的组别中，60岁及以上的参与者的记忆力下滑速度快了30.2%。”

Was it because those with negative views of old age were in worse health, which might have affected their memories? Although they had already adjusted for health, the researchers looked at a subset of participants who reported that they were in excellent health and had no more than one chronic condition. The result was the same: those with more negative views of ageing experienced greater deterioration.

这是因为那些对变老持悲观态度的人的健康情况更差吗——因为这可能会影响他们的记忆力？尽管研究人员已经就健康因素进行了调整，但他们仍对一部分参与者进行了研究，这些人报告称，自己健康状态很好，慢性病最多为一种。结果是一样的：那些对变老持负面观点的人记忆力丧失得更严重。

The study found another effect. Researchers asked participants when they thought people became old. They noted whether respondents suggested an age younger or older than they were – whether a 70-year- old said old age set in at 65 or at 75. Those who believed they were not old yet had better memories.

这项研究发现了另一种效应。研究人员询问参与者他们认为人何时变老。他们记下了受访者报出的年龄是比自己的实际年龄大还是小——例如，一个70岁的人认为老年分界线是65岁还是75岁。那些认为自己还不算老的人记忆力更好。

“You are as old as you feel” is an old story. It is, it seems, also true. Remember that.

“你什么时候感觉自己老了，你就老了”，这是句老话。现在看来似乎仍然正确。记住这句话吧。