Sorry to say, our brains naturally start slowing down at the Cruelty young age of 30. It used to be thought that this couldn't be helped, but new studies show that people of any age can train their brains to work faster. "Your brain is a learning machine," says University of California scientist Dr. Michael Merzenich. Given the right tools, we can train our brains to act like they did when we were younger. All that's required is the practice designed just for the purpose： a few exercises for the mind.
Merzenich has developed a computer-based training method to speed up the process（过程） in which the brain deals with information （positscience.com）. Since much of the data we receive comes through speech, the Brain Fitness Program works with language and hearing to better speed and accuracy （准确性）.
Over the course of training, the program starts asking you to distinguish （辨别） sounds （between "dog" and "bog", for example） at an increasingly faster speed. It's a bit like tennis instructor, says Merzenich, hitting balls at you ~faster and faster to keep you challenged（受到挑战）. You may start out slow, but before long you're pretty quick.
The biggest finding in brain research in the last ten years is that the brain at any age is highly plastic. If you ask your brain to learn, it will learn. And it may even speed up while in the process.
To keep your brain young and plastic you can do one of a million new activities that challenge and excite you： playing table tennis or bridge, doing crossword puzzles, learning a language.... "When it comes to preventing ageing, you really do 'use it or lose it' ," says Barbara Sahakian, professor at Cambridge University.

遗憾的说，我们的脑子在我们尚还年轻的30岁就会残酷走向衰老。人们曾经以为，这是不能避免的，然而最新研究表明，任何年龄的人都可通过一些训练来使头脑更灵活。 “你的脑子是一台学习的机器”，加利福尼亚大学科学家 Michael Merzenich 博士说。如果使用一些适当的工具，我们可以通过训练我们的大脑，使其能像过去一样工作。我们所需要的只是为使大脑大达到特定目标而设计的一些训练。
. Merzenich 开发了一种基于计算机的训练方式，（positscience.com）来提高大脑在处理信息过程的速度。因为我们所接收的大多数据信息来自语言交流，the Brain Fitness Program（大脑适应程序），会通过语言和听力的训练来提高大脑反应的速度和精度。
在训练过程当中，程序会让你辨别声音，（比如，dog和 bog这两个单词的辨别）而且，程序速度会慢慢加快。“这有点像网球教练”，Merzenich说，“以越来越快的速度把球击向你，不断给你挑战。”你可以从慢速开始，过不了多久，你的反应速度就可以很快了。
在大脑研究的近10年来，最大的发现就是大脑在任何年龄都具有可塑性。如果你让大脑不断学习，他就能不停汲取知识。而且，它的学习速度也会不断提高。
.要是你的大脑保持年轻和可塑性的方法有上百万种。你只要从这些能给你挑战和刺激的方式中选取一个即可，比如：打乒乓，打桥牌，做填字游戏，学习一种学言等 ……剑桥大学的教授Barbara Sahakian说：说到避免衰老，要么好好利用，要么就会逝去而无法挽回了“