研究發現：提前退休會加速認知能力下降

終日勞作的人都渴望早日退休，然而新研究發現，提前退休沒有你想象的那麼好。雖然退休後你可以過上安逸舒服的生活，但是你的大腦卻會加速衰退。

It’s hard to think of an early retirement as anything other than a positive. Who wouldn’t want to trade in their suit and tie for a pair of beach shorts? While retiring ahead of schedule may be easier on the body, a new set of research has found that it may not be so beneficial for the mind.

很難想象提前退休竟然不是一件好事。誰不想把西裝領帶換成沙灘短褲呢？儘管提前退休會讓你的身體更加輕鬆，但一項新的研究發現，提前退休可能對大腦不是那麼有益。

The study, conducted at Binghamton University, finds that an early retirement can accelerate the usual rate of cognitive decline among the elderly.

一項由賓漢頓大學開展的研究發現，提前退休會加速老年人認知能力的衰退。

The research team analyzed China’s new rural pension scheme (NRPS), as well as China’s most recent Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS), in order to investigate the effects of early retirement and pension benefits on individual cognition among adults over the age of 60. For reference, CHARLS is a representative national survey of China’s population over the age of 45 that tests respondents regarding mental cognition, episodic memory, and overall mental wellbeing.

爲了研究提前退休和養老金福利對60歲以上老年人個體認知的影響，研究團隊分析了中國的新型農村養老保險和中國最新的退休縱向調查。其中，退休縱向調查是對中國45歲以上人羣進行的一項具有代表性的全國性調查，旨在測試受訪者的心理認知、情景記憶和總體心理健康水平。

episodic memory: 情景記憶，情節記憶；事件記憶

Life expectancy rates in China have steadily increased over the past few decades, coinciding with a decline in fertility. These two trends have resulted in a large elderly population in the Asian nation, subsequently creating an urgent need for more robust pension programs.

在過去的幾十年裏，中國人的預期壽命一直在穩步增長，同時生育率也在下降。這兩種趨勢導致了中國的大量人口老齡化，隨之產生了社會對更強有力的養老金計劃的迫切需求。

After going over all of the data, the research team noted a clear trend: individuals receiving pension benefits were experiencing much more rapid mental decline than their counterparts still on the workforce. The most prominent indicator of mental decline among retirees was delayed recall, a trait widely considered to be an accurate predictor of dementia. Surprisingly, females seemed to experience even sharper mental decline after retiring early. Overall, the results support the hypothesis that decreased mental activity accelerates cognitive decline.

在查閱了所有的數據之後，研究團隊注意到了一個明顯的趨勢：領取養老金的個人所經歷的智力下降速度比仍在工作的人快得多。退休人員智力下降最顯著的特徵是記憶延遲，這一特徵被廣泛認爲是癡呆症的準確預測指標。令人驚訝的是，女性在提前退休後似乎智力衰退更嚴重。總的來說，研究結果支持了腦力活動減少會加速認知能力下降的假設。

"Individuals in the areas that implement the NRPS score considerably lower than individuals who live in areas that do not offer the NRPS program,” says study author and assistant professor economics Plamen Nikolov in a release. “Over the almost 10 years since its implementation, the program led to a decline in cognitive performance by as high as almost a fifth of a standard deviation on the memory measures we examine.”

研究報告的作者、經濟學助理教授普拉門·尼科洛夫在一份新聞稿中說道：“在新農保實施的地區，老年個體的得分遠遠低於那些沒有實施新農保地區的人。在該計劃實施後的近10年裏，我們檢測到老年人的認知能力比標準水平下降了近五分之一。”

deviation[ˌdiːviˈeɪʃn]: n. 偏差；誤差；背離

This study’s findings were similar to previous research that had focused on the impact of retirement on elderly individuals living in the United States, England, and the European Union. So, this is hardly a trend limited to Asia.

這項研究的結果與先前關於退休對美國、英國和歐盟地區老年人影響的一項研究結果相似，因此，這種趨勢並不僅限於亞洲。

Nikolov had actually conducted previous studies that found retirement led to a number of positive physical health benefits for retirees, such as improved sleep patterns, less stress, and reduced alcohol consumption. However, retirement is also usually accompanied with a decline in social activities and less overall interaction with people, which has also been linked to cognitive decline.

實際上，尼科洛夫之前的研究表明，退休對退休人員的身體健康有一些好處，比如改善睡眠模式、減少壓力和飲酒量。然而，退休通常也伴隨着社交活動和人際交往的減少，這也與認知能力的下降有關。

"For cognition among the elderly, it looks like the negative effect on social engagement far outweighed the positive effect of the program on nutrition and sleep,” Nikolov theorizes.

尼科洛夫總結道：“在老年人的認知方面，退休所導致的社交活動方面的負面影響遠遠超過了營養和睡眠方面的正面影響。”

The research team are hopeful that their findings will be considered by older adults when mulling retirement. They recommend instituting social get-togethers and work shops for recent retirees to help lessen the predicted decline in social interaction and critical thinking that often comes along with retirement.

研究團隊希望他們的研究發現能夠在老年人計劃退休時得到考慮。他們建議爲剛退休的老年人建立社交聚會和研習會，以幫助緩解預期的社會互動減少和退休後批判性思考減少所帶來的影響。

mull[mʌl]: v. 斟酌