Creasey H, Rapoport S I
Ann Neurol. 1985 Jan;17(1):2-10. doi: 10.1002/ana.410170103.
Postmortem and computed tomographic studies demonstrate many anatomical, morphological, and neurochemical differences between brains of old and young human beings. The variability of the results is great, however, and brains of some old subjects have characteristics of brains of younger controls. Furthermore, important aspects of brain functional activity are not reduced in the elderly. These include resting cerebral oxidative metabolism and "crystallized" intelligence as represented by verbal subtests on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. In the absence of superimposed disease (which frequently limits aging studies), overall function can be maintained at high and effective levels because of the plasticity and redundancy capabilities of the human brain.
尸检和计算机断层扫描研究表明，老年人和年轻人的大脑在许多解剖学、形态学和神经化学方面存在差异。然而，结果的变异性很大，一些老年受试者的大脑具有年轻对照组大脑的特征。此外，大脑功能活动的重要方面在老年人中并未减退。这些方面包括静息时的大脑氧化代谢以及韦氏成人智力量表言语分测验所代表的“晶体”智力。在没有叠加疾病（这常常限制衰老研究）的情况下，由于人类大脑的可塑性和冗余能力，整体功能可以维持在较高且有效的水平。
