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身體奧秘：如何讓大腦靈光一閃？（雙語）
2013-04-25 14:55
來源：可可
作者：
Why is it that some people rack their brains for new ideas, only to come up empty─while others seem to shake them almost effortlessly out of their sleeves?
為什麼有些人為了獲得新想法絞盡腦汁，頭腦中卻仍是空空如也，而有些人看起來幾乎不費吹灰之力就能生出奇思妙想？
Whether creativity is an innate gift or a cognitive process that anyone can jump-start is a question so intriguing that researchers keep studying it from different angles and discovering new and surprising techniques.
靈感是這樣降臨的創造力究竟是與生俱來的天賦還是任何人都能啟動的一個認知過程？這個問題激發了研究人員的興趣，他們從各個角度對此進行了研究，結果發現了全新的、出人意料的新技巧。
Several recent studies suggest that the best route to an 'aha moment' involves stepping away from the grindstone─whether it's taking a daydream break, belting back a drink or two or simply gazing at something green.
新近的幾項研究表明，想要獲得「靈光一閃的瞬間」，最佳途徑包括從枯燥無味的日常生活中抽身出來──不論你是做白日夢歇一歇、下班回來後小酌一兩杯還是光盯著綠色的東西看什麼都不幹。
Of course, personality can make a difference. People who rate high in openness to new experiences in personality tests also may be more distractible and curious, according to a 2010 study in Creativity Research Journal. Among 158 college students, those who were less inhibited and more receptive to lots of stimuli also were able to generate more ideas than others, says the study by British researchers.
當然，人們迥異的性格會使情況變得截然不同。2010年發表在《創造力研究期刊》(Creativity Research Journal)上的一項研究表明，那些在性格測試中對新生事物的開放度上得分高的人可能也會有更大的好奇心，也更易分心。這項由英國工作人員進行的研究還表明，在158名大學生中，那些不那麼拘謹、更易接受眾多刺激的學生也會比其他人產生更多的想法。
But personality isn't the only path to inspiration, researchers say. Walking away from a problem to do simple, routine tasks, and letting the mind wander in the process, can spark creative new connections or approaches to solving dilemmas, says a 2012 study in Psychological Science. That helps explain why 'a lot of great ideas occur at transition times,' when people are waking up or falling asleep, bathing, showering or jogging, says Jennifer Wiley, a psychology professor at University of Illinois at Chicago and lead author of a 2012 research summary in Current Directions in Psychological Science.
但研究人員也表示，性格並非是通向靈感的唯一途徑。2012年發表在《心理科學》(Psychological Science)期刊上的一項研究表明，從問題中抽身出來、去做一些簡單的日常工作，讓思緒在此過程中自由遊蕩，這樣可以使人們在解決困境時產生一些具有創造力的新聯想、新思路。《最新心理科學指南》(Current Directions in Psychological Science)2012年一項研究綜述的首席作者、伊利諾大學芝加哥分校(University of Illinois at Chicago)心理學教授詹妮弗?威利(Jennifer Wiley)稱，這也就解釋了為什麼「許多偉大的想法都誕生在輾轉過渡期」，像人們醒來或睡去、泡澡淋浴或慢跑的時刻。
For years, Amy Baxter, a physician and pain researcher, looked for ways to use cold to relieve children's pain from vaccination shots. But her light bulb moment didn't come until she was driving home from work, tired after an all-night shift in the emergency room.
內科醫生、疼痛研究者艾米-巴克斯特(Amy Baxter)多年來都在尋找使用冷凍來緩解兒童疫苗接種疼痛感的方法。但她的靈光一刻遲遲沒有出現，直到有一次下了急診室夜班，疲憊不堪的巴克斯特駕車回家，途中她突然開竅了。
The steering wheel on her car was vibrating because the tires were poorly aligned, and she noticed as she pulled into her driveway that the vibration had made her hands numb. With help from her husband Louis, she made the connection: Combining vibration and cold might be enough to ease the pain of a shot. 'After an overnight shift, your mind is expansive,' Dr. Baxter says. 'Connections are made that wouldn't otherwise happen.'
由於四個車輪排列不齊，巴克斯特的汽車方向盤一直在擺動震顫，她注意到，當她將車駛進自己的車道時，這種震顫感令她雙手發麻。在丈夫路易斯(Louis)的幫助下，巴克斯特產生了這樣一種聯想：將震顫和冷凍結合起來使用可能會消除打針時的疼痛感。巴克斯特醫生說，「在上了一整夜的班後，你的思路拓展了。這些聯想不會在其他情況下產生。」
She applied a vibrating massager and a bag of frozen peas to the arm of her 7-year-old son Max, then rolled over his skin a small metal wheel used by neurologists to test sensitivity. Max felt nothing. That discovery sparked the development of 'Buzzy,' a toylike vibrating bee fitted with a tiny ice pack. With help from a 2008 federal grant, she produced the device and began marketing it online. Buzzy is now being used in 500 hospitals to ease patients' pain from injections and infusions, says Dr. Baxter, chief executive of MMJ Labs, Atlanta.
巴克斯特先將振動按摩器和一包冷凍青豆在她7歲兒子馬克斯(Max)的手臂上進行試用，然後她將神經病學家專用的小金屬輪在兒子的皮膚上滾動以檢測靈敏度。馬克斯對此毫無感覺。這個發現促成了"Buzzy"的研發，這是一種裝有一個小冰袋、形似震動蜜蜂玩具的物件。在2008年獲得聯邦政府的資金支持後，巴克斯特生產了這種設備並開始在網上進行推廣銷售。亞特蘭大MMJ實驗室首席執行長巴克斯特醫生說，目前，有500家醫院都在使用Buzzy以消除患者在注射和輸液時的疼痛感。
Dr. Baxter's groggy, wee-hour epiphany wasn't a fluke. Students in a 2011 study solved more problems requiring fresh new insights when they tackled them at off-peak times of day─in the evening for morning people, and in the morning for night owls, says the study, published in Thinking & Reasoning.
巴克斯特醫生在凌晨疲憊之時的頓悟並非僥倖。2011年發表在《思考與推理》(Thinking & Reasoning)雜誌上的一項研究指出，更多的學生往往在一天的低潮期中解決了更多需要全新視角才能解決的問題。早起人的低潮期在晚上，夜貓子的低潮期則在早上。
Such advice runs counter to the conventional wisdom that solving problems requires focusing a person's attention and blocking out distractions. 'When you are trying hard to focus your attention, you are going to miss new ideas,' Dr. Wiley says.
這樣的建議與「解決問題需要聚精會神、驅散幹擾、摒除雜念」的傳統觀點背道而馳。威利博士說，「當你努力試著集中精神的時候，你將錯過那些新想法。」
Viewing the color green may help make those ideas more apparent, according to research published last year in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. When students were given creativity tests, those whose test-cover pages had a green background gave more creative answers than those whose pages were white, blue, red or gray. Many see green as a symbol of fertility, growth and renewal, triggering the positive mood and striving for improvement that fosters creativity, says the study, led by researchers at University of Munich in Germany. (A 2009 study linked the color blue to increased creativity, but researchers on the latest study explained the disagreement by saying they controlled their results more carefully for the lightness and vividness of the colors used.)
《個性與社會心理學通報》(Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin)去年發表的一項研究顯示，看看綠色的東西可能會有助於讓那些新想法變得更明晰。當學生們在參加創造力測驗時，與那些試卷封面為白色、藍色、紅色或灰色的同學相比，那些分到綠色封面的同學給出的答案更具創造性。該研究稱，許多人將綠色視為孕育、生長和重生的象徵，這激發了人的積極情緒、使其不斷追尋進步，而這些都促進、強化了創造力。該項研究是由德國慕尼黑大學(University of Munich)的研究人員帶頭完成的。(2009年曾有一項研究表明：藍色與增強創造力息息相關。但執行最新研究的工作人員在解釋這兩個不同的結論時說，考慮到所用顏色的深淺和鮮明度，他們在研究結果的控制上更為審慎了。)
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