研究證實:越聰明,越長壽大綱

A survey of more than 2,000 people living in the UK has found that those with a higher IQ are more likely to live a longer life. Researchers analysed data from the Scottish Mental Surveys - in which almost every 11-year-old in Scotland was given the same IQ test on the same day in 1932 - and tracked the participants' lives up to when they passed away.

基於對2000多名英國居民的調查，研究結果顯示：智商越高的人長壽的機率越大。研究者分析了來源於蘇格蘭心智調查的數據：1932年，幾乎每個11歲的蘇格蘭兒童都在同一天接受了相同的智商測試，之後測試者將接受追蹤調查，直至他們去世。

Even when factors such as economic status and employment level were accounted for, the smarter kids ended up living longer than those with lower IQs. These results correlate to several previous studies that have found a link between IQ and mortality when other factors were filtered out.

即使經濟地位和就業水平等因素都被考慮在內，調查仍舊顯示，智商高的孩子壽命更長。這些結果與先前的研究不謀而合，即在排除其它因素的條件下，智商與死亡率有一定的關聯。

"Subjects who died before 1 January 1997 had a significantly lower mean IQ at age 11 years than subjects who were alive or untraced," says the report, published in the British Medical Journal. "Our data shows that high mental ability in late childhood reduces the chances of death up to age 76 years."

發表於《英國醫學雜誌》的報告顯示：1997年1月1日前去世的調查對象11歲時的平均智商遠遠低於當時還健在的和沒接受追蹤調查的羣體，數據表明，如果一個人在童年後期表現出較高的心智能力，76歲前死亡的機率會有所降低。

The numbers crunched by Lawrence Whalley from the University of Aberdeen and Ian Deary from the University of Edinburgh show that someone with an IQ of 115 at age 11 was 21 percent more likely to be alive at the age of 76 than someone with an IQ of 100 (the general average), as David Z. Hambrick at Scientific American reports.

《科學美國人》的戴維·漢布里克報道稱，由阿伯丁大學的勞倫斯·沃利和愛丁堡大學的伊恩·蒂爾瑞估算的數據顯示，智商值爲115的11歲兒童活到76歲的機率比智商值爲100（平均水平）的兒童高21%。

We don't yet understand why this is the case, but more than 20 longitudinal studies (studies with data points covering a long period of time) carried out around the world have found similar links.

這一現象是如何產生的呢？我們也尚未發現原因所在，但是全世界20多個縱向追蹤研究都發現智商與壽命間有類似的關聯, 這些研究數據均來自長時間的調查。

There are some interesting hypotheses: one is that intelligent people are more likely to strap themselves in while driving, choose to eat a healthy diet, avoid smoking, and exercise more often. Whalley and Deary found that those with a higher IQ were more likely to quit smoking after its negative health effects were publicised in the 1950s. In other words, smart people might just be better at avoiding things that are going to kill them.

下面是一些有趣的猜測：其一，聰明人往往更傾向於約束自己，比如，開車謹慎，飲食健康，拒絕吸菸，鍛鍊身體。沃利和蒂爾瑞發現，20世紀50年代曝光吸菸有害健康之後，智商較高的羣體戒菸的可能性更大。也就是說，聰明人更懂得如何避免健康危機。

Another hypothesis is that a high IQ is a signifier of a sturdy constitution and a body that's going to last - it's essentially a signifier rather than a cause, some scientists believe. One study published in 2005 found that better reaction times specifically helped people live longer - so a high IQ is possibly an indication of an efficient nervous system, rather than being itself a cause of longer life, the researchers proposed.

另一個猜測是，有些科學家認爲，高智商是強健、耐受體質的標誌，而不是長壽的原因。2005年發佈的研究表明，反應越快的人活得越久，研究者因而指出，高智商很有可能就是神經系統高效運轉的標誌，但它本身不是長壽的原因。

Alternatively, or perhaps in addition to the above suggestions, it could be that genes are contributing to the link between IQ and longevity. Hambrick cites a recent study involving twins that provides the first evidence for this hypothesis:

除了上述的猜測，另一種可能性就是基因導致了智商和壽命之間的關聯。漢布里克引用了最近有關雙胞胎的一項研究，爲這一假設提供首個依據：

"Twin studies disentangle the effects of environmental and genetic factors on an outcome such as intelligence or lifespan by comparing identical twins, who share 100 percent of their genes, and fraternal twins, who on average share only 50 percent of their genes. [The researchers] performed statistical analyses to estimate the contribution of genetic factors to the IQ-lifespan relationship. The results were clear and consistent: genes accounted for most of the relationship."

“通過比較同卵雙胞胎（百分之百的基因相同）和異卵雙胞胎（平均只有百分之五十的基因相同），研究者理清了環境和基因因素對智力和壽命的影響，他們分析了數據以推測基因因素對智商和壽命的關係起到的作用。結果明確而一致：大部分二者的關係能用基因解釋。”

It's a complicated area of science, particularly as an IQ score doesn't necessarily directly represent intelligence, and can be affected by social class, education standards, and other cultural factors - if you're preconditioned to think you'll do badly in an exam, for example. Nevertheless, the link is there - and researchers are still trying to find out why.

關於智商與壽命的研究是一個複雜的科學問題：智商值不能直接代表智力。因爲智力還會受到社會階級、教育標準和其他文化因素的影響。因此，可別認爲智商值低就考不好試。無論如何，智商和壽命是一定存在某種關聯的，只是研究者還需要試着去發現箇中原因，揭開奧祕。