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WASHINGTON, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Those childhood music lessons could pay off decades later -- even for those who no longer play an instrument -- by keeping the mind sharper as people age, according to a preliminary study published by the American Psychological Association (APA).The study recruited 70 healthy adults age 60 to 83 who were divided into groups based on their levels of musical experience. The musicians performed better on several cognitive tests than individuals who had never studied an instrument or learned how to read music, according to the research findings published Wednesday online in the APA journal Neuropsychology."Musical activity throughout life may serve as a challenging cognitive exercise, making your brain fitter and more capable of accommodating the challenges of aging," said lead researcher Brenda Hanna-Pladdy, a clinical neuropsychologist at the University of Kansas Medical Center. "Since studying an instrument requires years of practice and learning, it may create alternate connections in the brain that could compensate for cognitive declines as we get older."The three groups of study participants included individuals with no musical training; with one to nine years of musical study; or with at least 10 years of musical training. All of the participants had similar levels of education and fitness and didn' t show any evidence of Alzheimer's disease.All of the musicians were amateurs who began playing an instrument at about 10 years of age. More than half played the piano while approximately a quarter had studied woodwind instruments such as the flute or clarinet. Smaller numbers performed with stringed instruments, percussion or brass instruments.The high-level musicians who had studied the longest performed the best on the cognitive tests, followed by the low-level musicians and non-musicians, revealing a trend relating to years of musical practice. The high-level musicians had statistically significant higher scores than the non-musicians on cognitive tests relating to visuospatial memory, naming objects and cognitive flexibility, or the brain's ability to adapt to new information.The brain functions measured by the tests typically decline as the body ages and more dramatically deteriorate in neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. The results "suggest a strong predictive effect of high musical activity throughout the lifespan on preserved cognitive functioning in advanced age," the study stated.Half of the high-level musicians still played an instrument at the time of the study, but they didn't perform better on the cognitive tests than the other advanced musicians who had stopped playing years earlier. This suggests that the duration of musical study was more important than whether musicians continued playing at an advanced age, Hanna-Pladdy says."Based on previous research and our study results, we believe that both the years of musical participation and the age of acquisition are critical," Hanna-Pladdy says. "There are crucial periods in brain plasticity that enhance learning, which may make it easier to learn a musical instrument before a certain age and thus may have a larger impact on brain development."The preliminary study was correlational, meaning that the higher cognitive performance of the musicians couldn't be conclusively linked to their years of musical study. More research is needed to explore that possible link.

CHIAYI, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chen Yunlin, the Chinese mainland chief negotiator with Taiwan, discussed cooperation prospects on Friday with fishermen and farmers in Chiayi in southern Taiwan.Chen, president of the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), led a 50-member delegation and spoke at a seminar attended by more than 70 business people from both the mainland and Taiwan.He said small and medium-sized enterprises on both sides "played an important role in cross-Strait economic development, employment and in maintaining social stability.""Small- and medium-sized businesses are an important part of cross-Strait economic exchanges," he said, adding that among the more than 80,000 Taiwanese enterprises investing on the mainland, over 50 percent are small and medium-sized companies.Chen said that efforts should be made to enhance cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises on the mainland and those in central and southern Taiwan.The mainland delegation arrived in Chiayi from Kaohsiung after investigating the investment environment with local business leaders. They arrived in Taipei on Wednesday at the invitation of Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF). Both the SEF and the ARATS are authorized by the two sides to handle cross-Strait affairs.Chen said that since 2005, the mainland bought a large amount of farm and fishing products from Taiwan, which greatly boosted sales of Taiwanese products."Many renowned mainland distribution firms are present here at the seminar to seek cooperation opportunities with Taiwan's farmers and fishermen so that the sale of Taiwanese products on the mainland could increase steadily," he said.Chiang said the farming and fishing industries were the most important sectors in southern Taiwan.He added that the tax-reduction plan of the cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement's (ECFA) "early harvest" program, which took effect on January 1, covered 13 categories for farming products and five categories for fishing goods. Chiang said the plan was an opportunity for the industry to expand its exports to the mainland.He noted that the "early harvest" program's duty exemption also covered sectors like textiles, machinery components, and "all related to small- and medium-sized enterprises."Chiang said Friday's seminar was meant to promote cooperation between smaller businesses across the Strait, to deepen the effect of the ECFA to benefit both sides.The mainland delegation will continue its trip in southern Taiwan and return to Taipei late Saturday. They will visit Taipei's Neihu Industrial Park on Sunday before leaving the island on Monday.

BRASILIA, April 26 (Xinhua) -- A survey conducted by Brazil's Ministry of Health showed Tuesday that half of Brazilians aged over 55 have hypertension.According to the research, which has been carried out annually since 2006, the proportion of Brazilians diagnosed with hypertension increased over the past five years, from 21.6 percent in 2006 to 23.3 percent in 2010.Besides, the diagnosis of hypertension is higher among women (25.5 percent) than men (20.7 percent). But in both sexes, the older people are, the more common the disease becomes, the ministry reported.The ministry also said that, to address the problem, the Brazilian government distributes free medicines to control blood pressure, since 80 percent of Brazilians who suffer from hypertension depend on the public health system.The Ministry of Health signed on April 7 an agreement with the food industry, aiming to reduce salt in processed food.If hypertension is left untreated, some complications including clogged arteries, stroke and myocardial infarction will bring patients more troubles.

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhuanet) -- A new study has shown that gene therapy can reduce symptoms in patients with Parkinson's, media reports said Thursday.The study, published in the journal Lancet Neurology, is the first to show positive results in a test of gene therapy against a sham operation in 45 U.S. Parkinson's patients.The treated group showed a 23.1 percent improvement on a scale of Parkinson's symptoms six months after treatment, compared to a 12.7 percent improvement for patients who received sham surgery, according to the published research."Gene therapy is no longer just a theory," said Michael Kaplitt, a neurosurgeon at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical Center, and one of the study authors. "We are getting much closer to a reality where this treatment can be offered to patients."In patients with Parkinson's disease, their brains get overactive after losing the normal supply of a chemical called GABA. The new treatment, gene therapy, works by inserting billions of copies of a gene into patients' brains that helps them produce more GABA.Kaplitt said the results might spur similar treatments for other brain disorders like Alzheimer's, epilepsy and depression.

BEIJING, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- As the Chinese Lunar New Year hoilday ended Tuesday, waves of Chinese residents began their journey back to work, as they boarded trains, airplanes and buses.The China Meteorological Administration announced Tuesday that a cold front would cause temperatures to fall by 4 to 12 degrees Celsius in most parts of the country, while some areas in the northwest, north and southwest will see rainfall or snow from Wednesday to Friday.Fleets of motorbikes carrying thousands of migrant workers passed through national roads again on Tuesday.The Ministry of Public Security said it set up 8,300 service stations along the country's major highways to provide free food, medicine, and rest stops for motor-riding migrant workers. The stations also sent police cars to clear the way for large groups of motorists.Chen Tianchong, a migrant worker from Muge County, Guigang City of southwest China' s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and 38 of his fellow migrant worker started their journey on motorcycles at 4:30 a.m. on the foggy National Road 324, which is a 2,712-kilometer road linking five provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunan in southern China.A motorcycle usually carried two people, often a couple, sometimes with a child sandwiched in between. They would wrap themselves in thick outerwear to battle the cold weather at night. Limited access to cheap public transportation had forced many migrant workers to make their trips home on their own."I promised my boss that I would go back to the factory in Guangdong before Wednesday," said Chen.Chen said that they might arrive at Dali County, Shunde City of south China's Guangdong Province around eleven at night, after more than 18 hours riding a motorcycle from their hometown. By this way, each family may save more than 1,000 yuan - half of their monthly income.Zhong Fei, another migrant worker also from Guangxi, chose this way home during the Spring Festival for the past three years. Zhong told Xinhua that earning money for his family was the most important thing and the exhausting trip was nothing.From Guangdong alone, one of China's manufacturing bases, over 100,000 migrant workers left for home on motorbikes, said the local police. The Spring Festival travel rush started in China in the late 1980s, when millions of farmers from inland China moved to coastal cities to work.In spite the increasing popularity of motor cycles, the majority of Chinese travelers still prefer trains or buses. Shandong province embraced the post-holiday passenger rush Tuesday, with railway stations witnessing 200,000 passengers in a single day.Highway toll booths near Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and other big cities in China have become clogged.Passengers are also snapping up airplane tickets. China Southern Airlines had increased flights from 30 to 70 flights per day.Official forecasts indicate that this year's Spring Festival holiday may see a record 2.85 billion passenger trips nationwide, as Chinese workers return home from across the country for family reunions and go back to work after the holidays.