科學(xué)60秒:傳染病會吞噬我們的聰明才智
來源：滬江聽寫酷
2011-04-28 00:00
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Over the years, people have ____1____ a lot of theories to explain why intelligence differs, from person to person and even around the world. Health, wealth, schooling, nutrition, even climate have all come up. Now, researchers at the University of New Mexico suggest that parasites might play a role. They find that the prevalence of infectious diseases can be a powerful predictor of regional smarts. Their work appears in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.
It takes a lot of energy to build and operate a human brain. This ____2____ organ commands 87 percent of the body's metabolic budget in infants, and about 25 percent in adults. So things that ____3____ our energy are likely to hinder our intellectual growth. That's why malnourishment's not good for the mind.
But what about parasites? Fighting off nasty bugs can ____4____ you. So the scientists got to wondering whether excessive infections might ____5____ impaired cognitive development. Looking at IQs from around the world, they found that high levels of infectious disease ____6____ lower average national intelligence.
Although the authors have not demonstrated cause-and-effect, it's nice to think that ____7____ parasites could bring up our IQs.
Over the years, people have ____1____ a lot of theories to explain why intelligence differs, from person to person and even around the world. Health, wealth, schooling, nutrition, even climate have all come up. Now, researchers at the University of New Mexico suggest that parasites might play a role. They find that the prevalence of infectious diseases can be a powerful predictor of regional smarts. Their work appears in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.
It takes a lot of energy to build and operate a human brain. This ____2____ organ commands 87 percent of the body's metabolic budget in infants, and about 25 percent in adults. So things that ____3____ our energy are likely to hinder our intellectual growth. That's why malnourishment's not good for the mind.
But what about parasites? Fighting off nasty bugs can ____4____ you. So the scientists got to wondering whether excessive infections might ____5____ impaired cognitive development. Looking at IQs from around the world, they found that high levels of infectious disease ____6____ lower average national intelligence.
Although the authors have not demonstrated cause-and-effect, it's nice to think that ____7____ parasites could bring up our IQs.
put forth
needy
sap
take a lot out of
correlate with
go hand in hand with
taking down
多年以來，人們提出了許多理論來解釋人與人之間，甚至是全世界范圍內(nèi)人們的智力為何各不相同。健康、財富、教育程度、營養(yǎng)好壞、甚至是氣候條件都曾被列為影響智力的因素。如今，新墨西哥大學(xué)的研究人員又提出來一個新因素——寄生蟲。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)傳染病的流行會極大影響該地區(qū)的整體智力水平。他們的研究成果發(fā)表在《英國皇家學(xué)會會報》上。
大腦的形成發(fā)育及運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)需要大量的能量。這個有如“油老虎”般的器官會“吃掉”嬰兒新陳代謝所產(chǎn)生能量的87%，而成人新陳代謝所產(chǎn)生能量的1/4左右會被它“吃掉”。因此，消耗我們能量的東西很可能會阻礙我們的智力發(fā)展。這也正是為什么營養(yǎng)不良會對智力發(fā)育不利。
可這又干寄生蟲什么事呢？消滅這些令人討厭的蟲子會使你疲憊不堪。于是，科學(xué)家們就想知道過度感染是否會與人的認(rèn)知能力受損密切相關(guān)。在研究了世界各地人們的智商情況后，科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)，傳染病高發(fā)國家往往伴隨著較低的平均智力水平。
盡管科學(xué)家們在研究報告中并未論證其因果關(guān)系，不過，消滅寄生蟲能提高我們的智商，這個想法倒是不錯。