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什么了？老熟人的名字怎么都想不起來？數(shù)年來我們以為腦功能下降和皺紋叢生、頭發(fā)花白一樣，是人類老去現(xiàn)象的組成部分，然而日前一部新書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.

科學作家芭芭拉在其新書《成熟大腦的秘密生活》中寫道，在重大事情處理方面，我們的大腦隨年齡變得更聰明。她稱實際上已經(jīng)有一系列研究發(fā)現(xiàn)人類腦功能在40歲到60歲時達到巔峰狀態(tài)——遠比我們曾經(jīng)認為的要晚。

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，我們并不會損失腦細胞，相反，我們會保留它們甚至在中年階段產(chǎn)生出新的腦細胞。數(shù)年來人們以為大腦和身體一樣會隨著年齡退化。然而一項關于年齡和功能的規(guī)模最大時間也最長的研究表明，事實并不是這樣。

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年起跟蹤調查了6000名受試者，每隔七年對他們進行一次測試。結果發(fā)現(xiàn)，在認知測試中的表現(xiàn)方面，平均而言受試者在40歲末以及50歲末比他們在20多歲時表現(xiàn)要好。具體來說，年長者在這幾方面表現(xiàn)更好：詞匯量測試、空間方向技能（將物體旋轉180度，看該物體像什么），詞匯記憶（能記住多少個單詞）以及問題解決能力。

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.

年長者表現(xiàn)不太好的方面則是：（數(shù)字能力加減乘除運算的速度）以及感知速度——聽到指令按下按鈕的速度。盡管如此，在處理復雜任務例如問題解決以及語言方面，我們在中年甚至年紀更大時表現(xiàn)最佳。一言概之，研究人員正在以科學證據(jù)證明：我們在變老，但同時也變得更加智慧。

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)學家還發(fā)現(xiàn)人們越老越快樂。美國最近的一項研究表明，年長者能夠更好地控制和平衡情緒。有人認為，當我們年輕時，我們需要集中精力于生活的負面內(nèi)容，從而了解這個世界中的潛在危險。然而當我們老去時，得到的教訓已經(jīng)足夠，潛意識中了解到所剩時日不多——故而快樂對于我們而言顯得更加重要。