| [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. |
