新概念雙語：囧研究：40歲后全職工作有損大腦

If you’re over 40, working more than 25 hours a week could be affecting your intelligence, new research suggests.

新的研究表明，如果你已年過40，每周工作超過25個(gè)小時(shí)，那么你的智力可能會(huì)受到影響。

Don’t do an IQ test after a full week’s work if you are 40 years or older. You could be disappointed.

如果你已經(jīng)40歲了或者是年過40，工作一周之后不要做智商測試，因?yàn)榻Y(jié)果可能會(huì)令你大失所望。

If you’re over 40, working more than 25 hours of work a week could be impairing your intelligence, according to a study released in February by researchers for the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research in Australia. The team conducted reading, pattern and memory tests in more than 6,000 workers aged over 40, to see how the number of hours worked each week affects a person’s cognitive ability.

根據(jù)澳大利亞墨爾本應(yīng)用經(jīng)濟(jì)和社會(huì)研究所于二月份發(fā)表的一項(xiàng)研究表明，如果你已年過40，每周工作超過25個(gè)小時(shí)，那么你的智力可能會(huì)受到損害。研究團(tuán)隊(duì)對6000余40歲以上的上班族進(jìn)行了閱讀，模式和記憶力測試，以期發(fā)現(xiàn)每周的工作時(shí)間是如何影響人的認(rèn)知能力的。

“Work can stimulate brain activity and can help maintain cognitive functions for elderly workers.” said lead researcher Colin McKenzie, a professor of economics at Keio University in Tokyo.

“工作能夠刺激大腦活動(dòng)并幫助老年工作者維持認(rèn)知功能。”首席研究員科林·麥肯齊——東京慶應(yīng)大學(xué)的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)教授——這樣表示。

“But at the same time, excessively long working hours can cause fatigue and physical and/or psychological stress, which potentially damage cognitive functioning.”

“但與此同時(shí)，過長的工作時(shí)間能夠造成疲勞和身體和/或心理壓力，這就會(huì)潛在地?fù)p害了認(rèn)知功能。”

But why is age 40 the turning point for the mind?

但為何40歲是大腦的轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)呢?

According to McKenzie, our “fluid intelligence”, which is how well we process information, starts declining around the age of 20 and “crystallised intelligence”, or the ability to use skills, knowledge and experience starts decreasing after 30 years of age. McKenzie said that by age 40, most people perform less well at memory tests, pattern recognition and mental agility exercises.

根據(jù)麥肯齊的說法，我們的“流體智力”，即處理信息的水平，在20左右就開始衰退，“晶體智力”，或者說是使用技能，知識和經(jīng)驗(yàn)的能力在30歲后便開始變?nèi)?。麥肯齊表示，到40歲的時(shí)候，大多數(shù)人在記憶力測試，模式識別和心理敏捷性練習(xí)當(dāng)中都會(huì)表現(xiàn)得要差一些。

“Work can be a double-edged sword, in that it can stimulate brain activity, but at the same time, long working hours and certain types of tasks can cause fatigue and stress which potentially damage cognition,” he said.

“工作是一把雙刃劍，因?yàn)樗軌虼碳ご竽X活動(dòng)，但與此同時(shí)，長期的工作時(shí)間和特定類型的工作也會(huì)造成疲勞和壓力，這就潛在地?fù)p害了認(rèn)知。”他表示。

The science behind it

此現(xiàn)象背后的科學(xué)道理

McKenzie’s findings suggest that although economics may now be forcing us to work much longer than in previous generations, biologically and emotionally our minds may not be designed for the stress and repetition of working nine-to-five, five days a week when we are over 40.

麥肯齊的研究表明，雖然當(dāng)前經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展可能會(huì)迫使我們比前幾代人工作更長時(shí)間，但從生物學(xué)和情感上來說，當(dāng)我們年過40，我們的大腦可能就不適應(yīng)朝九晚五，每周五天的的壓力和重復(fù)的工作。