Birren J E, Fisher L M
Center on Aging, School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles 90024-1687.
Annu Rev Psychol. 1995;46:329-53. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ps.46.020195.001553.
Over 100 years of observations have established that slowness of behavior is a characteristic of becoming old, although it is now recognized that health, use of medications, and physical activity may modify the extent of the slowing. Early research indicated that there is a limited contribution to slowing by peripheral sensory-motor factors. Substantial evidence has pointed to the central nervous system as the locus of the slowing. Recent investigators have expressed divided opinions about whether there is a pervasive general slowing of behavior by the central nervous system or whether there are specific localized mechanisms. This is not unlike early disputed views of the brain as having localized or global behavioral functions: Both principles appear to be simultaneously true. Sufficient research has been conducted to indicate that there are specific factors as well as a general process associated with the slowing of behavior with advancing age. Whether such slowing is a primary or secondary cause of age differences in cognitive processes is a significant scientific issue. A marked broadening of research on aging has been accompanied by an interest in identifying both the neurophysiological correlates of slowing as well as its role in specific cognitive processes. Yet another aspect of the changing research picture is the trend to move beyond the mere use of chronological age as the sole basis for comparing performance differences. Measurement of more independent variables is suggested as part of clusters or causal complexes that will indicate sources of the changes in speed and other aspects of behavior. These causal complexes include biological indicators such as disease, physiological capacity for work, and length of life, as well as causal complexes of social factors involving such variables as education, occupation, and ethnicity. There has been considerable discussion of markers of aging. In this approach, factors found to be closely associated with advancing age are used as measures of the effectiveness of attempts to modify the course of aging, e.g. by diet, exercise, new learning, and drugs. Along with other biomarkers of aging, speed of behavior may prove to be a criterion for assessing the impact of interventions on the rate and processes of aging. As a marker of aging, speed needs further exploration that will compare the slowness observed in different subgroups of adults with a wide range of outcomes in their productivity, capacity for adaptation to life's demands, and health. The present status of information about slowness of behavior with advancing age indicates that it is one of the most reliable features of human life.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
100多年来的观察表明，行为迟缓是衰老的一个特征，不过现在人们认识到，健康状况、药物使用和身体活动可能会改变这种迟缓的程度。早期研究表明，外周感觉运动因素对行为迟缓的影响有限。大量证据表明，中枢神经系统是行为迟缓的发生部位。最近的研究者对于中枢神经系统是否导致行为普遍迟缓，还是存在特定的局部机制，意见不一。这与早期关于大脑具有局部或整体行为功能的争议观点并无不同：这两种观点似乎都同时成立。已有足够的研究表明，行为迟缓与年龄增长相关的因素既有特定因素，也有一般过程。这种行为迟缓是认知过程中年龄差异的主要原因还是次要原因，是一个重大的科学问题。对衰老研究的显著拓展伴随着人们对确定行为迟缓的神经生理相关性及其在特定认知过程中的作用的兴趣。不断变化的研究图景的另一个方面是，不再仅仅以实际年龄作为比较表现差异的唯一基础的趋势。建议测量更多的独立变量，作为集群或因果复合体的一部分，这些变量将表明速度变化和行为其他方面的来源。这些因果复合体包括疾病、生理工作能力和寿命等生物学指标，以及涉及教育、职业和种族等变量的社会因素因果复合体。关于衰老标志物的讨论很多。在这种方法中，与年龄增长密切相关的因素被用作衡量改变衰老进程（如通过饮食、运动、新的学习和药物）尝试效果的指标。与其他衰老生物标志物一样，行为速度可能被证明是评估干预措施对衰老速度和过程影响的一个标准。作为衰老的一个标志物，速度需要进一步探索，将在不同成年亚组中观察到的行为迟缓与他们在生产力、适应生活需求的能力和健康方面的广泛结果进行比较。关于行为随年龄增长而迟缓的现有信息表明，这是人类生活中最可靠的特征之一。（摘要截断于400字）
