118. In Old Age, Friends Can Keep You Young. Really
By Anita Hamilton TIME Wednesday, Jun. 24, 2009

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Going to the ballpark, visiting friends and playing bingo are simple diversions for many of us. But for the elderly, these social pastimes may play a critical role in preserving their physical and mental health.
In fact, a new study suggests that the less time older people spend engaged in social activity, the faster their motor function tends to decline. "Everybody in their 60s, 70s and 80s is walking more slowly than they did when they were 25," says Dr. Aron Buchman, a neurologist at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and lead author of the study, which was published in the June 22 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. "Our study shows the connection between social activity and motor function and opens up a whole new universe of how we might intervene."
An increasing body of evidence has suggested that participating in mentally stimulating activity, socializing frequently and exercising may help protect against age-related decline at least cognitive decline. As early as 1995, neuroscientist Carl Cotman, who studies aging and dementia at the University of California at Irvine, published a paper in Nature showing that physical exercise produces a protein that helps keep neurons from dying and spurs the formation of new neural connections in the brain. More recently, Cotman demonstrated in studies of elderly dogs and mice that enriching their social environment is associated with improvement in brain function.

A. 어휘
ballpark 야구장. diversions 기분전환, 오락. the elderly 노인들.
pastime 기분전환, 오락. critical 결정적인, 비평의. preserve 보존하다.
engage 종사하다, 참여하다. motor function 운동기능. decline 쇠약해지다.
neurologist 신경학자. lead author 수석 저자. issue 版(판).
archive 공적인 기록, 문서보관소. internal medicine 내과의학.
intervene 개입하다, 간섭하다. body 덩어리. evidence 증거.
mentally stimulating activity 두뇌를 자극하는 활동.
socializing 사교활동을 하는 것. frequently 頻繁(빈번)하게.
cognitive decline 인식능력의 쇠퇴. aging 老化(노화).
dementia 치매. Nature 세계적인 과학 학술지.
keep neurons from dying 뉴론이 죽는 것을 막아준다.
spur 격려하다, 자극하다, 拍車(박차)를 가하다. formation 형성.
enrich ...를 높이다, 부유하게 하다.

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Researchers are also finding that social activity may be linked to the same protective effect in people. A recent study of 2,500 adults ages 70 to 79, published in the journal Neurology, found that those who were able to stay mentally sharp were also those who exercised once a week or more, had at least a ninth-grade literacy level and were socially active.
But what has social activity got to do with motor skills? In Buchman's study, which looked at 906 seniors, average age 80, in northeastern Illinois over a five-year period, increased social activity was associated with adeptness in a range of physical tasks, including walking in a straight line, standing one-legged and on tiptoes, turning full circle without falling and placing pegs on a board. On a social-activity scale of 1 to 5 with 1 indicating participation in various social activities once a year, and 5 showing activity every day or nearly every day a one-point difference in social activity corresponded to a five-year difference in motor function. With each one-point drop on the social-activity scale, study participants' rate of physical decline increased 33%. In participants whose score fell one point over the course of a single year, that translated to a 40% increased risk of death and a 65% higher risk of a disability.

A. 어휘
protective effect 보호효과. journal 잡지, 정기간행물.
neurology 신경학. mentally sharp 정신적으로 활발한.
literacy level 교육수준. literacy 문자해득, 교육(교양)이 있음.
motor 근육에 운동을 전달하는, 운동성. senior 연장자, 원로, 상관.
adeptness 숙련됨. a range of 일련의. physical tasks 신체적 과업.
straight line 직선. peg 못. board 판자. scale 尺度(척도).
indicate 가리키다. participation 참여. one-point difference 1점 차이.
correspond to 대응하다, 상응하다, 부합하다. motor function 운동기능.
participant 참가자. physical decline 신체적 쇠퇴.
translate 옮기다, 해석하다. disability 장애.