A brief course of brain exercises helped older adults hold on to improvements in reasoning skills and processing speed that could be detected as long as 10 years after the course ended，according to results from the largest study ever done on cognitive training（認(rèn)知訓(xùn)練）．
The findings，published on Monday in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society，offer welcome news in the search for ways to keep the mind sharp as 76 million baby boomers（嬰兒潮出生的一代人） in the United States advance into old age．
The federally-sponsored trial of almost 3，000 older adults，called the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly study （ACTIVE），looked at how three brain training programs--focusing on processing speed，memory and reasoning ability--affected cognitively-normal adults as they aged．
People in the study had an average age of 74 when they started the training，which involved 10 to 12 sessions lasting 60 to 75 minutes each．The training course was designed to improve specific cognitive abilities that begin to decline as people age．It did not aim to prevent dementia（癡呆） can underlying disease such as Alzheimer's（阿爾茨海默癥）．After five years，researchers found that those with the training performed better than their untrained counterparts（相對(duì)應(yīng)的人） in all three measures．
Although gains in memory seen at the study's five-year mark appeared to drop off over the next five years，gains in reasoning ability and processing speed lasted 10 years after the training．
"What we found was pretty astonishing．Ten years after the training，there was evidence the effects were durable for the reasoning and the speed training，"said George Rebok，an expert on aging and a professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore，who led the study．
The participants in all three training groups also reported that the training made it easier for them to do daily activities such as managing their medications，cooking meals or handling their finances than those who did not get the training．But standard tests of these activities showed no differences between the groups．
"The speed-of-processing results are very encouraging，"said study co-author Jonathan King，program director for cognitive aging in the Division of Behavioral and Social Research at the National Institute on Aging （NIA），part of the National Institutes of Health，which helped fund the research．
King said the self-reported improvements in daily function were interesting，but added，"We do not yet know whether they would truly allow older people to live independently longer．"However，the researchers said even a small gain would be likely to ease the burden on caregivers and healthcare providers．
"If we delay the attack of difficulties in daily activities even by a small amount，that can have major public health implications in terms of helping to control healthcare costs，delaying entry into institutions and hospitals，"Rebok said．

Title：Brain Training Courses Keep Seniors（71）

Sharp/Sharp-minded

Sharp/Sharp-minded

Basic information about the study	●The study was （72） sponsored sponsored by the federal government
	●There were about 3，000 participants who were 74 years old on （73） average average
	●They were given cognitive training，whose （74） focuses focuses were processing speed，memory and reasoning ability
Findings of the study	●The training made the participants better at processing，（75） memorizing memorizing and reasoning
	●With the brain exercises，older adults saw（76） gains/improvements gains/improvements in reasoning skills and processing speed for 10 years after the training
	●According to the participants'own report，they had an（77） easier easier time with daily activities．
（78） Importance/Significance/Benefit Importance/Significance/Benefit of the study	The findings help in looking for ways to keep the mind sharp with the baby boomers（79） aging aging
Opinions of the researchers	●It is unknown whether the effects of brain training would enable older adults to live independently longer．
	●However，even a small gain could reduce the burden of （80） attending attending the elders．