Ever traipsed to the shops only to find once there you've completely forgotten what you went for? Or struggled to remember the name of an old acquaintance? For years we've accepted that a scatty brain is as much a part of ageing as wrinkles and grey hair. But now a new book suggests we've got it all wrong.

走到商店卻忘記要買(mǎi)什么了？老熟人的名字怎么都想不起來(lái)？數(shù)年來(lái)我們以為腦功能下降和皺紋叢生、頭發(fā)花白一樣，是人類(lèi)老去現(xiàn)象的組成部分，然而日前一部新書(shū)告訴我們一切都不是那么回事。

According to the Secret Life Of The Grown-up Brain, by science writer Barbara Strauch, when it comes to the important stuff, our brains actually get better with age. In fact, she argues that a raft of new studies have found that our brain hits its peak between our 40s and 60s - much later than previously thought.

科學(xué)作家芭芭拉在其新書(shū)《成熟大腦的秘密生活》中寫(xiě)道，在重大事情處理方面，我們的大腦隨年齡變得更聰明。她稱(chēng)實(shí)際上已經(jīng)有一系列研究發(fā)現(xiàn)人類(lèi)腦功能在40歲到60歲時(shí)達(dá)到巔峰狀態(tài)——遠(yuǎn)比我們?cè)?jīng)認(rèn)為的要晚。

Furthermore, rather than losing many brain cells as we age, we retain them, and even generate new ones well into middle age. For years it's been assumed that the brain, much like the body, declines with age. But the longest, largest study into what happens to people as they age suggests otherwise.

而且，隨著年齡增大，我們并不會(huì)損失腦細(xì)胞，相反，我們會(huì)保留它們甚至在中年階段產(chǎn)生出新的腦細(xì)胞。數(shù)年來(lái)人們以為大腦和身體一樣會(huì)隨著年齡退化。然而一項(xiàng)關(guān)于年齡和功能的規(guī)模最大時(shí)間也最長(zhǎng)的研究表明，事實(shí)并不是這樣。

This continuing research has followed 6,000 people since 1956, testing them every seven years. It has found that, on average, participants performed better on cognitive tests in their late 40s and 50s than they had in their 20s. Specifically, older people did better on tests of vocabulary, spatial orientation skills (imagining what an object would look like if it were rotated 180 degrees), verbal memory (how many words you can remember) and problem solving.

該研究自1956年起跟蹤調(diào)查了6000名受試者，每隔七年對(duì)他們進(jìn)行一次測(cè)試。結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，在認(rèn)知測(cè)試中的表現(xiàn)方面，平均而言受試者在40歲末以及50歲末比他們?cè)?0多歲時(shí)表現(xiàn)要好。具體來(lái)說(shuō)，年長(zhǎng)者在這幾方面表現(xiàn)更好：詞匯量測(cè)試、空間方向技能（將物體旋轉(zhuǎn)180度，看該物體像什么），詞匯記憶（能記住多少個(gè)單詞）以及問(wèn)題解決能力。

Where they fared less well was number ability (how quickly you can multiply, add, subtract and divide) and perceptual speed - how fast you can push a button when prompted. However, with more complex tasks such as problem-solving and language, we are at our best at middle age and beyond. In short, researchers are now coming up with scientific proof of that we do get wiser with age.

年長(zhǎng)者表現(xiàn)不太好的方面則是：（數(shù)字能力加減乘除運(yùn)算的速度）以及感知速度——聽(tīng)到指令按下按鈕的速度。盡管如此，在處理復(fù)雜任務(wù)例如問(wèn)題解決以及語(yǔ)言方面，我們?cè)谥心晟踔聊昙o(jì)更大時(shí)表現(xiàn)最佳。一言概之，研究人員正在以科學(xué)證據(jù)證明：我們?cè)谧兝?，但同時(shí)也變得更加智慧。

Neuroscientists are also finding that we are happier with age. A recent US study found older people were much better at controlling and balancing their emotions. It is thought that when we're younger we need to focus more on the negative aspects of life in order to learn about the possible dangers in the world, but as we get older we've learnt our lessons and are subconsciously aware that we have less time left in life - and it therefore becomes more important for us to be happy.

此外，神經(jīng)學(xué)家還發(fā)現(xiàn)人們?cè)嚼显娇鞓?lè)。美國(guó)最近的一項(xiàng)研究表明，年長(zhǎng)者能夠更好地控制和平衡情緒。有人認(rèn)為，當(dāng)我們年輕時(shí)，我們需要集中精力于生活的負(fù)面內(nèi)容，從而了解這個(gè)世界中的潛在危險(xiǎn)。然而當(dāng)我們老去時(shí)，得到的教訓(xùn)已經(jīng)足夠，潛意識(shí)中了解到所剩時(shí)日不多——故而快樂(lè)對(duì)于我們而言顯得更加重要。