研究表明，不识字的人患痴呆症的可能性是识字的人的两倍

研究表明，不识字的人患痴呆症的可能性是识字的人的两倍

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.

根据哥伦比亚大学科学家的一项新研究，随着年龄的增长，你是否会读写可能是你避免痴呆的一个因素。

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.

他们的研究结果周三发表在《神经病学》杂志的网络版上。研究人员调查了居住在纽约华盛顿高地地区的983名65岁以上的成年人，他们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.

科学家们拜访了参与者的家，对他们的记忆、语言、视觉或空间能力进行了测试。在这些访问中，他们根据标准标准做出了痴呆诊断。

The illiterate participants performed worse on those tests.

不识字的参与者在这些测试中表现更差。

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.

他们发现，那些从未学过读写的人患痴呆的几率几乎是识字的人的三倍。

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.

作者写道，大脑衰退的一个原因是，不阅读的人的“认知功能范围”低于识字的人。

The findings are part of a long term study on aging

这些发现是一项关于衰老的长期研究的一部分

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.

哥伦比亚大学神经心理学教授、这项研究的资深作者珍妮弗·曼利告诉CNN，自1992年以来，科学家们一直在监测一群65岁以上的成年人，其中很多人来自华盛顿高地地区的不同背景。

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

她说，在过去的三十年里，他们研究了6500名上了年纪的纽约人。

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.

虽然人们早就知道，受教育程度与健康状况的改善有关，但这项研究的一个主要目标是确定，在人的黄金岁月里，读写能力与保持大脑健康的能力之间的关系。

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，华盛顿高地的许多文盲成年人来自多米尼加共和国，她说，他们可能不得不辍学去工作。

Policymakers should take note, a scientist says

一位科学家表示，政策制定者应该注意这一点

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

曼利说，这项研究对各国如何考虑其教育政策具有启示意义。

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

“他们没有上学的原因是多米尼加的教育政策，”她说。

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

根据非营利组织“伯根项目”的说法，在多米尼加共和国，八年级之后，上学不再是强制性的。

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

曼利说，在美国，政策制定者应该考虑到这样一个事实:“教育质量决定了晚年的大脑健康。”

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

她说:“提高儿童和成年人读写能力可能会在晚年保护大脑健康。”

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.

曼利把学习阅读对大脑的积极影响比作锻炼对身体的积极影响。

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

“对个人和家庭来说，健康行为应该包括教育，”她说。