Research Backs a Traditional Balm: Nature

研究證實大自然有療效

By Gretchen Reynolds

Scientists have known for some time that the human brain’s ability to stay calm and focused is limited and can be overwhelmed by the noise and hectic demands of city living, sometimes resulting in a condition informally known as brain fatigue. With brain fatigue, you are easily distracted, forgetful and mentally flighty.
人類大腦保持冷靜、專注的能力相當有限，而且還會無法承受來自都市生活的噪音與忙亂的要求。有時候，這會引起一般所說的大腦疲勞。科學家知道個事實已有相當時日。一旦出現大腦疲勞，你很容易就會無法集中精神、忘東忘西，也很容易情緒浮躁。

But a new study from Scotland suggests that you can ease brain fatigue by simply strolling through a park.
然而根據蘇格蘭科學家最近發表的一項研究報告，你只要在公園散個步，就可以舒緩大腦疲勞。

Researchers have long theorized that green spaces are calming, requiring less of our directed mental attention than busy, urban streets do. Natural settings invoke “soft fascination,” a term for quiet contemplation, during which the brain can reset overstretched of attention and reduce mental fatigue.
研究人員長久以來一直認為，綠色空間具有鎮定的功能；如與都市的街道相比，需要我們全神貫注的程度也比較低。自然的環境會喚起所謂的「軟性陶醉」，指的也就是平靜沉思（靜思）。這個時候，大腦會讓過度伸張的專注資源歸零，同時舒緩精神上的疲憊。

But this theory has been difficult to put to the test. Previous studies have found that people who live near trees and parks have lower levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, in their saliva than those who live primarily amid concrete, and that children with attention deficits tend to concentrate and perform better on cognitive tests after walking through parks. Scientists have studied volunteers and found that the brain wave readouts show that the volunteers are more calm and meditative when they view the natural scenes.
然而這理論始終不易驗證。此前多項相關研究顯示，如果一個人住在樹木與公園附近，唾液中與緊張有關的荷爾蒙可體松濃度往往低於住在水泥叢林內的都市人。如果小孩有注意力無法集中的問題，他們在步行穿過公園之後，往往注意力會更為集中，認知測驗的表現也會更好。科學家針對一些志願者所做的實驗也發現，這些人的腦波讀數顯示，他們在觀賞自然景觀時會比較平靜。

But it had not been possible to study the brains of people while they were actually outside until the recent development of a lightweight, portable version of the electroencephalogram, a technology that studies brain wave patterns.
腦電圖能夠研究各種形態的腦波。然而在輕巧的攜帶型腦電圖儀最近問世之前，科學家始終無法在實驗對象走出戶外時，研究他們的大腦。

For the new study, published in March in The British Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and the University of Edinburgh attached these new, portable EEGs to the scalps of 12 healthy young adults. The electrodes sent brain wave readings wirelessly to a laptop carried in a backpack by each volunteer.
這項最新的研究報告發表於三月號的「英國運動醫學」期刊。愛丁堡赫瑞瓦特大學與愛丁堡大學的研究人員在實驗過程中，把這些新式的攜帶型腦電圖儀固定在12名身體健康的年輕成人頭皮上。這些電極把腦波讀數無線傳送到每一名志願者背包內的一部手提電腦內。

The researchers then sent the participants on a short walk through Edinburgh, first through a historic district, then through a park-like setting and finally through a commercial district. Afterward, the researchers looked for wave patterns that they felt were related to measures of frustration, directed attention, mental arousal and meditativeness or calm. What they found confirmed the idea that green spaces lessen brain fatigue: in the commercial area their brain waves were aroused: in the parkland the readings became more meditative.
接著，研究人員請這些志願者在愛丁堡市內散步，首先通過一處有歷史的區域，接著通過一個類似公園的環境，最後通過一個商業區。事後，研究人員搜尋他們認為與沮喪、注意力集中、情緒激動、沉思（平靜）程度有關的腦波型態。他們的發現證實了綠色空間可以舒緩大腦疲勞的觀念：在商業區，他們的腦波出現明顯波動。如果是公園，讀數變得比較沉思（平靜）。

The study was small, more of a pilot study of the new EEG technology than a definitive examination of the cognitive effects of seeing green.
這項研究的規模很小，比較像新式腦電圖技術的實驗，而不是看到綠色之後的認知效果檢驗。

But even so, said Jenny Roe, a lecturer at Heriot-Watt who oversaw the study, the findings were consistent and strong and valuable. The study suggests that, right about now, you should consider “taking a break from work,” Dr. Roe said, and “going for a walk in a green space or just sitting, or even viewing green spaces from your office window.” This is not a waste of time, Dr. Roe said. “It is likely to have a restorative effect and help with attention fatigue and stress recovery.”
然而主持這項研究的赫瑞瓦特大學講師珍妮‧羅伊表示，即使如此，這些研究結果還是相當一致、強有力，而且很有價值。她說，它顯示，就是現在，你應該考慮「暫時放下工作，在綠色空間裡悠閒散步，或者只是坐下來，甚至透過你的辦公室窗戶欣賞外面的綠色空間」。她說，這絕對不是浪費時間，「它很可能具有協助你恢復精神的效果，而且對於緩解注意力疲乏與壓力也會有幫助」。

原文參照：
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/27/easing-brain-fatigue-with-a-walk-in-the-park/

紐時中文版翻譯：
http://cn.nytimes.com/article/education/2013/04/04/c04park/zh-hk/

2013-04-16聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS陳世欽譯 原文參見紐時週報十一版下