1、練習雙語：站著辦公可能讓你更聰明據說坐的時間越長，臀部越大，腿越粗，愛美的女生們你們還敢坐著看書工作么？This is an odd admission for a psychiatrist to make, but Ive never been very good at sitting still. Km antsy in my chair and jump at any opportunity to escape it. When Im trying to work out a difficult problem, I often stand and move about the offi

2、ce.一個精神科醫生說這個顯得挺奇怪的，但我從不擅長于安穩坐著。在椅子上的我總是坐 立不安，能逃則逃。當我想解決一個困難的問題時，我通常會站起來，在辦公室里走動。Weve known for a while that sitting for long stretches of every day has myriad health consequences, like a higher risk of heart disease and diabetes, that culminate in a higher mortality rate. But now a new study has fo

3、und that sitting is also bad for your brain. And it might be the case that lots of exercise is not enough to save you if youre a couch potato the rest of the time.我們早就知道，每天長時間地坐著對健康會有許多影響，比如，心臟病和糖尿病的風險 會更高，最終導致更高的死亡率。但現在，一項新研究證明了坐姿對你的大腦也有害。如果 你的其余時間都坐在沙發上，那么可能大量的運動也不足以拯救你。A study published last week

4、, conducted by Dr. Prabha Siddarth at the University of California at Los Angeles, showed that sedentary behavior is associated with reduced thickness of the medial temporal lobe, which contains the hippocampus, a brain region that is critical to learning and memory.加州大學洛杉磯分校(University of Californi

5、a at Los Angeles)的普拉巴希達斯(Prabha Siddarth)博士進行的一項研究表明，久坐行為與大腦內顛葉的厚度減少有關，大腦內顆葉中 含有的海馬體是學習和記憶的關鍵區域。該研究于上周發表。The researchers asked a group of 35 healthy people, ages 45 to 70, about their activity levels and the average number of hours each day spent sitting and then scanned their brains with M.R.l. The

6、y found that the thickness of their medial temporal lobe was inversely correlated with how sedentary they were; the subjects who reported sitting for longer periods had the thinnest medial temporal lobes.研究人員向35名年齡在45到70歲之間的健康人士詢問了他們的活動水平和每天坐著 的平均小時數，然后使用MRI對他們的大腦進行了掃描。研究人員發現，他們大腦內顛葉 的厚度與他們久坐的程度負相關；

7、報告自己坐著的時間較長的研究對象大腦內顆葉最薄。The implication is that the more time you spend in a chair the worse it is for your brain health, resulting in possible impairment in learning and memory.這意味著，你在椅子上坐的時間越久，就越不利于你的大腦健康，可能會導致學習和記 憶受損。Of course, the study cannot prove that this link is causal. Its possible that p

8、eople with pre-existing cognitive problems might just be more sedentary. Still, the researchers screened the subjects to rule out major medical and psychiatric disorders, so this explanation is unlikely.當然，這項研究不能證明這種聯系的因果性。前期存在認知問題的人也有可能會坐得更 久。但研究人員對受試者進行了篩選，排除了重大醫療和精神疾病，因此這種解釋的可能性 不大。Whats also int

9、riguing is that this study did not find a significant association between the level of physical activity and thickness of this brain region, suggesting that exercise, even strenuous exercise, may not be enough to protect you from the harmful effects of sitting.同樣有趣的是，這項研究并沒有在體育活動水平和大腦這塊區域的厚度之間發現顯著的

10、相關性，這就表明，運動-甚至是劇烈運動-可能不足以使你免受久坐的危害。This all puts me in mind of the Peripatetics, followers of Aristotle, who conducted their philosophical inquiries while strolling about the Lyceum in ancient Athens. Sounds as if they were on to something.這一切都讓我想起了逍遙學派-這是追隨亞里士多德的學派，他們會一邊進行哲學探討, 一邊在古希臘的萊森學園(Lyceum)中

11、漫步。聽起來他們這樣好像有點道理。But what is it about walking - besides increased blood flow to the brain - that might facilitate thinking? Perhaps its the fact that you are constantly bombarded by new stimuli and inputs as you move about, which helps derail linear thinking and encourages a more associative, unfocu

12、sed thought process.但是除了增進了血液向大腦的流動，是什么讓步行促進了思考？或許是因為當你在四處 走動時，你會不斷地接收新的刺激和輸入，幫助你脫離了線性思維，并助長了更富有聯想的、 分散的思維過程。I remember once forgetting the combination to my lock in the gym. Standing there naked, dripping wet and in a panic that I would be late to an important meeting, I tried one wrong combination

13、 after another. When that didnt work, I walked around the locker room in a daze for a few minutes, came back to the lock and - voila - opened it instantly.記得有一次，我忘了健身房儲物柜的密碼。我赤身裸體站在那里大汗淋漓，擔心自己會 趕不上一個重要會議，不禁驚恐萬分。我試了一個又一個錯誤的密碼，全都失敗了。我不知 所措地在更衣室里轉了兒分鐘，然后回到儲物柜-哇-一下就打開了。Intriguingly, you dont even have t

14、o move much to enhance cognition; just standing will do the trick. For example, two groups of subjects were asked to complete a test while either sitting or standing. The test - called Stroop - measures selective attention. Participants are presented with conflicting stimuli, like the word green pri

15、nted in blue ink, and asked to name the color. Subjects thinking on their feet beat those who sat by a 32-millisecond margin.有趣的是，你甚至不需要為增強認知而做太多動作。只要站著就可以做到這一點。例如， 兩組受試者被要求在坐著或站立時完成測試。該測試名為Stroop,是用來測試選擇性注意力 的。參與者看到相互沖突的刺激物，比如用藍色墨水印出的綠色字樣，并被要求說出這種 顏色的名稱。站著思考的受試者比坐著的受試者快32毫秒。The cognitive benefits o

16、f strenuous physical exercise are well known. But the possibility that the minimal exertion of standing more and sitting less improves brain health could lower the bar for everyone.劇烈運動對認知的益處是眾所周知的。但是，盡量多站少坐，這樣的微小努力也可以改 善大腦健康，這種可能性可以幫助所有人降低鍛煉標準。Its also yet another good argument for getting rid of s

17、itting desks in favor of standing desks for most people. For example, one study assigned a group of 34 high school freshman to a standing desk for 27 weeks. The researchers found significant improvement in executive function and working memory by the end of the study. (True, there was no control gro

18、up of students using a seated desk, but its unlikely that this change was a result of brain maturation, given the short study period.)這也是大多數人擺脫坐式辦公桌，轉向立式辦公桌的又一個好理山。例如，一項研究讓 34名高一學生使用站立式書桌學習27周。研究結束時，研究人員發現他們的執行功能和工 作記憶得到顯著改善。(研究中的確沒有使用坐式書桌的對照組，但考慮到研究時間較短， 這種改變不太可能是大腦發育成熟的結果。)I know, this all runs count