人類的智力究竟是如何隨著時間變化的？是越老越聰明，還是隨著年齡的增長逐漸走下坡路？科學研究證明，人類不同方面的能力會在不同年齡達到巔峰，比如，40歲左右的人觀察他人情緒的能力最強，50歲左右時運算能力最好，而直到70歲左右人們才會達到語言能力的巔峰。

"At almost any given age, most of us are getting better at some things and worse at others," Joshua Hartshorne, an MIT cognitive science researcher and the lead author of a study looking at how intelligence changes as we age, told Business Insider.
喬舒亞?哈茨霍恩是麻省理工學院認知科學研究員，他主導了一項關于衰老與智力變化關系的研究。他告訴商業內幕網：“幾乎在每個特定的年齡，大多數人會對某些事變得更擅長，而在某些事上開始走下坡路。”

The team behind that study quizzed thousands of people aged 10-90 on their ability to do things like remember lists of words, recognize faces, learn names, and do math. Their results suggest that no matter your age, there's almost always a new peak on the horizon.
這項研究的幕后團隊對數千名年齡在10-90歲之間的人進行了單詞記憶、人臉識別、人名記憶以及算數等能力測試。結果表明，無論你多大年紀，總會出現一個智力新高峰。

18歲：大腦信息處理和細節記憶綜合能力的巔峰

Scientists use a test called Digit Symbol Substitution to assess everything from dementia to brain damage. It requires people to use a number of cognitive skills at once — including processing speed, sustained attention, and visual skills. The tool, which typically involves pairing numbers with symbols, is also part of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, one of the most widely used measures of intelligence.
科學家們通過一種名為數字符號替換的測試來評估癡呆癥、腦損傷等各種大腦情況，測試內容通常是將數字和符號配對。該測試要求人們同時使用多種認知能力，如信息處理速度、持久的專注力以及視覺能力等。數字符號替換測試也是韋氏成人智力量表的一種工具。韋氏成人智力量表是應用最廣泛的智力測量標準之一。

Hartshorne employed the test in his study of how intelligence changes over time and found that participants' performance generally peaked in their late teens.
哈茨霍恩應用這項測試，研究智力如何隨著時間變化，并發現參與者最好的表現通常是在二十歲之前那幾年。

22歲：對陌生名字記憶能力的巔峰

Most adults are bad at memorizing bits of information without context, a phenomenon that neuroscientists chock up to the Baker/Baker paradox. A classic example of this idea is that you'll have an easier time remembering a story about someone who bakes than a person with the last name Baker. Because there's no context that links the person to the name, it doesn't become firmly lodged in your memory.
在沒有語境的情況下，大多數成年人不善于記憶瑣碎信息，神經學家將這種現象稱為“貝克悖論”。這一觀點的典型例證是，相比于記住一個叫貝克的人，你更加容易記住一個烘焙師的故事。因為沒有上下文把人物和名字聯系起來，它就不會牢牢地留在你的記憶中。

Young people don't appear to be as saddled by this issue, though — a 2011 study found that humans are best at learning new names in our early 20s.
然而，年輕人似乎沒有這個困擾，2011年的一項研究發現，人類在20出頭時最擅長記憶新名字。

32歲：面部識別能力的巔峰

The human brain has a remarkable capacity to recognize and identify faces, and scientists are just beginning to learn why. On average, we know that our ability to learn and remember new faces appears to peak shortly after our 30th birthday.
人腦記憶和識別面部的能力非常強大，對此科學家們僅有一些初步的了解。一般來說，我們認為人類學習和記憶陌生面孔的能力似乎是在30歲出頭達到頂峰。

43歲：專注力的巔峰

Having trouble focusing? A 2015 study from researchers at Harvard University and the Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory suggests that our ability to sustain attention improves with age, reaching its peak around age 43.
注意力很難集中？哈佛大學和波士頓注意力與學習研究所2015年的一項研究表明，人類保持專注的能力隨著年齡的增長而提高，在43歲左右到達頂峰。

“While younger adults may excel in the speed and flexibility of information processing, adults approaching their mid-years may have the greatest capacity to remain focused,” Joe DeGutis, one of the study's lead authors, said in a statement.
該研究的領頭人之一喬?德蓋迪斯在一份聲明中表示：“雖然年輕人處理信息時的速度和靈活性更勝一籌，但是中年人的專注力是最強的。”

48歲：最善于識別他人的情緒

Dating is tough. One of the reasons could be that we're generally bad at reading other people's emotions until we reach our late 40s. That's according to one component of Hartshorne's study, which involved showing thousands of people images of faces cropped tightly around the eye area. Participants were asked to describe the emotion the person in the photo was feeling. Performance peaked for people aged around 48.
戀愛真的很難。原因之一可能是，在快50歲前我們通常都不善于解讀別人的情緒。這一結論是從哈茨霍恩的研究中得出的。參與者觀看了數千張緊沿著眼睛區域剪裁出的人臉圖像，要求他們描述出圖片中人物的情緒。表現最好的人年齡在48歲左右。

50歲：基本算數能力的巔峰

Many people believe that their math skills go down the drain after they leave school and stop practicing arithmetic. But the next time you try to split up a check, keep this in mind: your ability to do basic subtraction and division doesn't reach its apex until your 50th birthday.
很多人認為他們的數學能力在畢業后不再練習就逐漸退化了。但下次分攤賬單時，切記：你做減法除法的基本運算能力直到50歲才能達到巔峰。

67歲：詞匯能力巔峰

Ever wonder why you always lose at Scrabble? Good news: Your best days may be ahead. According to people's scores on multiple-choice vocabulary tests, most of us don't reach our peak wordsmith-ing abilities until we're in our late 60s or early 70s.
想知道為什么你玩拼字游戲時總是輸嗎？好消息：你未來的表現可能是最好的。根據人們的詞匯多選測試成績，大多數人直到70歲前后遣詞造句的水平才達到巔峰。

英文來源：商業內幕網
翻譯&編輯：董靜
審校：丹妮