It’s hard to think of an early retirement as anything other than a positive. Who wouldn’t want to trade in their suit and tie for a pair of beach shorts? While retiring ahead of schedule may be easier on the body, a new set of research has found that it may not be so beneficial for the mind.

　　很难想象提前退休竟然不是一件好事。谁不想把西装领带换成沙滩短裤呢？尽管提前退休会让你的身体更加轻松，但一项新的研究发现，提前退休可能对大脑不是那么有益。

　　The study, conducted at Binghamton University, finds that an early retirement can accelerate the usual rate of cognitive decline among the elderly.

　　一项由宾汉顿大学开展的研究发现，提前退休会加速老年人认知能力的衰退。

　　The research team analyzed China’s new rural pension scheme (NRPS), as well as China’s most recent Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS), in order to investigate the effects of early retirement and pension benefits on individual cognition among adults over the age of 60. For reference, CHARLS is a representative national survey of China’s population over the age of 45 that tests respondents regarding mental cognition, episodic memory, and overall mental wellbeing.

　　为了研究提前退休和养老金福利对60岁以上老年人个体认知的影响，研究团队分析了中国的新型农村养老保险和中国最新的退休纵向调查。其中，退休纵向调查是对中国45岁以上人群进行的一项具有代表性的全国性调查，旨在测试受访者的心理认知、情景记忆和总体心理健康水平。

　　Life expectancy rates in China have steadily increased over the past few decades, coinciding with a decline in fertility. These two trends have resulted in a large elderly population in the Asian nation, subsequently creating an urgent need for more robust pension programs.

　　在过去的几十年里，中国人的预期寿命一直在稳步增长，同时生育率也在下降。这两种趋势导致了中国的大量人口老龄化，随之产生了社会对更强有力的养老金计划的迫切需求。

　　After going over all of the data, the research team noted a clear trend: individuals receiving pension benefits were experiencing much more rapid mental decline than their counterparts still on the workforce. The most prominent indicator of mental decline among retirees was delayed recall, a trait widely considered to be an accurate predictor of dementia. Surprisingly, females seemed to experience even sharper mental decline after retiring early. Overall, the results support the hypothesis that decreased mental activity accelerates cognitive decline.

　　在查阅了所有的数据之后，研究团队注意到了一个明显的趋势：领取养老金的个人所经历的智力下降速度比仍在工作的人快得多。退休人员智力下降最显著的特征是记忆延迟，这一特征被广泛认为是痴呆症的准确预测指标。令人惊讶的是，女性在提前退休后似乎智力衰退更严重。总的来说，研究结果支持了脑力活动减少会加速认知能力下降的假设。

　　"Individuals in the areas that implement the NRPS score considerably lower than individuals who live in areas that do not offer the NRPS program,” says study author and assistant professor economics Plamen Nikolov in a release. “Over the almost 10 years since its implementation, the program led to a decline in cognitive performance by as high as almost a fifth of a standard deviation on the memory measures we examine.”

　　研究报告的作者、经济学助理教授普拉门·尼科洛夫在一份新闻稿中说道：“在新农保实施的地区，老年个体的得分远远低于那些没有实施新农保地区的人。在该计划实施后的近10年里，我们检测到老年人的认知能力比标准水平下降了近五分之一。”

　　This study’s findings were similar to previous research that had focused on the impact of retirement on elderly individuals living in the United States, England, and the European Union. So, this is hardly a trend limited to Asia.

　　这项研究的结果与先前关于退休对美国、英国和欧盟地区老年人影响的一项研究结果相似，因此，这种趋势并不仅限于亚洲。

　　Nikolov had actually conducted previous studies that found retirement led to a number of positive physical health benefits for retirees, such as improved sleep patterns, less stress, and reduced alcohol consumption. However, retirement is also usually accompanied with a decline in social activities and less overall interaction with people, which has also been linked to cognitive decline.

　　实际上，尼科洛夫之前的研究表明，退休对退休人员的身体健康有一些好处，比如改善睡眠模式、减少压力和饮酒量。然而，退休通常也伴随着社交活动和人际交往的减少，这也与认知能力的下降有关。

　　"For cognition among the elderly, it looks like the negative effect on social engagement far outweighed the positive effect of the program on nutrition and sleep,” Nikolov theorizes.

　　尼科洛夫总结道：“在老年人的认知方面，退休所导致的社交活动方面的负面影响远远超过了营养和睡眠方面的正面影响。”

　　The research team are hopeful that their findings will be considered by older adults when mulling retirement. They recommend instituting social get-togethers and work shops for recent retirees to help lessen the predicted decline in social interaction and critical thinking that often comes along with retirement.

　　研究团队希望他们的研究发现能够在老年人计划退休时得到考虑。他们建议为刚退休的老年人建立社交聚会和研习会，以帮助缓解预期的社会互动减少和退休后批判性思考减少所带来的影响。

　　重点词汇

　　episodic memory: 情景记忆，情节记忆；事件记忆

　　deviation[ˌdiːviˈeɪʃn]: n. 偏差；误差；背离

　　mull[mʌl]: v. 斟酌