Advanced (Cognitive) Training for Independent and Vital Elderly

Advanced (Cognitive) Training for Independent and Vital Elderly Lyrics

Song Advanced (Cognitive) Training for Independent and Vital Elderly
Artist 英语听力
Album VOA慢速英语:健康报道
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[00:00.00] From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.80] this is the Health Report.
[00:05.44] Some kinds of mental skills naturally decrease
[00:09.57] as people get older.
[00:11.71] Yet research seems to show that some training
[00:15.29] can improve such skills.
[00:18.23] A recently published study also appears to demonstrate
[00:22.61] that the good effects of training can last for many years
[00:27.00] after that training has ended.
[00:29.64] Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland
[00:34.22] wanted to learn how long memory and thinking skills
[00:38.70] would last in older people who trained to keep them.
[00:42.98] The people were part of the ten-year research project.
[00:47.06] They were taught methods meant to improve their memory,
[00:51.11] thinking and ability to perform everyday tasks.
[00:56.23] More than 2,800 volunteered for the study called ACTIVE
[01:01.76] - short for Advanced (Cognitive) Training
[01:04.94] for Independent and Vital Elderly.
[01:08.32] Most studied when they were more than 70 years old.
[01:13.35] The volunteers took one of several short training classes
[01:17.84] meant to help them keep their mental abilities.
[01:21.42] One class trained participants in skills
[01:25.41] including how to remember word lists.
[01:28.15] Another group trained in reasoning.
[01:31.58] A third group received help with speed-of-processing
[01:36.61] - speed of receiving and understanding information.
[01:41.54] A fourth group - the control group did not get any training.
[01:47.36] Earlier results had established that the training
[01:51.14] helped the participants for up to five years.
[01:54.73] Now, lead study writer George Rebok says,
[01:59.40] the research showed most of the training
[02:02.29] remained effective a full ten years later.
[02:05.97] Professor Rebok and his team found that the people
[02:09.75] trained in reasoning and speed-of-processing
[02:13.05] did better on tests than the control group.
[02:16.83] "We are wondering whether those effects
[02:18.92] which endured over time would still be there
[02:21.96] ten years following the training,
[02:23.50] and in fact, that's exactly what we found."
[02:25.54] The effect on memory, however, seemed not to last as long.
[02:31.46] Still, the old people in any of the three classes
[02:36.69] generally reported less difficulty
[02:39.36] in performing daily activities than the control group.
[02:44.33] The total training time for the older people
[02:47.96] was between 10 and 15 hours.
[02:51.30] Professor Rebort and his team are now considering ways
[02:55.89] to provide such training for lower cost.
[02:59.72] "We are trying to make the training more broadly available.
[03:05.79] For example, we have a grant right now
[03:09.08] from the National Institute on Aging to try
[03:11.36] to make a web-based version of the ACTIVE memory training
[03:16.55] and put the training online."
[03:18.29] One question still to be studied
[03:21.64] is how only a few hours of training
[03:24.97] can still be effective after ten years.
[03:28.85] The study appears in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
[03:34.58] And that's the VOA Learning English Health Report.
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