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　　当领导也有最佳年龄?是的，研究发现，对大多数人而言，55岁左右时领导能力最强。亚马逊的杰夫·贝佐斯就是55岁，苹果的蒂姆·库克57岁，埃克森美孚的戴伦·伍兹54岁。科学家指出，55岁是大脑年龄优势和认知衰退达到最佳平衡点的年龄。

　　Aging isn’t only a downhill journey. While some of our mental faculties almost always decline over time, other cognitive abilities can stay the same, or even improve, scientists have discovered. The overall balance of these losses and gains means that for most people, the ideal time to tackle leadership roles is in their mid-50s, according to Darlene Howard, a psychologist emerita at Georgetown University.

　　变老不意味着什么都在走下坡路。科学家发现，尽管我们的一部分大脑功能随着年龄增长而衰退，其他认知能力则会保持不变甚至会变强。乔治城大学的心理学家荣誉退休教授达琳·霍华德指出，综合平衡这些得失的结果显示，多数人的领导能力在55岁左右达到高峰。

　　emerita[i'meritə]: n. 荣誉退休的妇女

　　In healthy individuals, some parts of the brain shrink starting in our 20s. This shrinkage, which is not a loss of neurons but rather changes in size and connections among neurons, leads to differences in cognitive functions. In most cases, these changes are so gradual, it’s easy to adapt to them over time. On average, older adults tend to lose capabilities like mental speed, which can affect reaction times or the ability to connect different types of information, compared to younger individuals. Learning new material can become more difficult (but not impossible), and it may become harder to recall specific words or remained focused on a specific task in the presence of distractions.

　　健康人的大脑会从20多岁开始部分萎缩。这种萎缩不是丧失神经元，而是神经元的大小和联系发生改变，导致认知能力的差异。在大多数情况下，这些改变都是逐渐发生的，随着时间过去人们可以轻松地适应这些改变。平均而言，年长的成年人和年轻人相比，大脑反应速度会变慢，将不同类型信息联系到一起的能力也会减退。学习新知识会变得更困难(但也不是不可能)，而且更难以回忆起特定词汇，或在受干扰的情况下集中注意力处理特定任务。

　　The brain has some flexibility, though. In 2009, Denise Park, a psychologist at the University of Texas at Dallas, and Patricia Reuter-Lorenz at the University of Michigan gave this flexibility a name: STAC, or the Scaffolding Theory of Aging and Cognition. The theory states that as the brain perceives challenges to cognition, it can find new ways to work around them. An older person may use more regions of her brain to accomplish a task than a younger individual, but both people could do the job equally well.

　　不过，大脑也会灵活应对这些改变。2009年，美国达拉斯市的德克萨斯大学的心理学家丹尼斯·帕克和密歇根大学的帕特丽夏·路透-洛伦兹给这种灵活性起了一个名字：变老与认知的脚手架理论(缩写为STAC)。这一理论指出，大脑会察觉到认知的挑战，因此会找到绕过挑战的新工作方式。年纪更大的人在执行任务时可能会比年轻人运用更多的大脑区域，但两者都能同样出色地完成工作。

　　In some cases this adaptation may actually be beneficial. Older adults can have better vocabularies, because, although recalling words may be harder, they’ve had time to learn more of them, Howard said. They can also be better at solving interpersonal or abstract problems. Temporal discounting, or valuing the future just as much if not more than the present, tends to also get better with age, as does the ability to regulate emotions and cope with negative feelings, Howard explained at a forum at the National Press Foundation earlier this month.

　　在某些情况下，大脑的这种应变实际上可能是有益的。霍华德说，年长的人词汇量更大，尽管更难以回忆起词汇，但他们过去所学的词汇更多。而且，他们更善于解决人际问题或抽象问题。霍华德在本月初的国家新闻基金会的一个论坛上解释说，随着年龄增长，时间贴现或未来时间洞察力也会提高，与此同时，调节情绪和应对负面情绪的能力也会改善。