【導(dǎo)讀】也許人們一直認(rèn)為，身體好，才會精神好；不過現(xiàn)在可能反過來了。

Psychosomaticmedicine

身心醫(yī)學(xué)

Thinkyourself well

Youcan. But it helps to think well of yourself in the first place

你可以擁有很好的體魄。但首先，你要“自我感覺好”，這會有幫助的。

THE link between mind and body is terraininto which many medical researchers, fearing ridicule, dare not tread. Butperhaps more should do so. For centuries, doctors have recognised the placeboeffect, in which the illusion of treatment, such as pills without an activeingredient, produces real medical benefits. More recently, respectable researchhas demonstrated that those who frequently experience positive emotions livelonger and healthier lives. They have fewer heart attacks, for example, andfewer colds too.

許多醫(yī)學(xué)研究者都不敢探究軀體和心理的關(guān)系，因?yàn)樗麄兒ε?，踏進(jìn)這一領(lǐng)域會受人嘲笑。但也許，研究這方面的人應(yīng)該多一些才好。幾個(gè)世紀(jì)以來，醫(yī)生已逐漸認(rèn)可了安慰劑效應(yīng)。因?yàn)榛颊邥a(chǎn)生錯(cuò)覺，認(rèn)為自己在接受治療。比如，服用無活性成分的藥片也能產(chǎn)生實(shí)際療效。根據(jù)最近的可靠的研究表明，平時(shí)積極樂觀的人會活得更長久、更健康。比如，他們心臟病發(fā)作的次數(shù)更少，也很少感冒。

Why this happens, though, is only slowlybecoming understood. What is needed is an experiment that points out specificand measurable ways in which such emotions alter an individual’s biology. And astudy published in Psychological Science, by Barbara Fredrickson and BethanyKok at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, does precisely that.

然而，人們才開始慢慢了解這種情況發(fā)生的原因。人們需要的是做一場實(shí)驗(yàn)，明確這樣的情緒是通過怎樣具體的、可測量的方式來改變?nèi)说纳頎顩r。北卡羅來納大學(xué)教堂山分校（University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill）的芭芭拉·弗雷德里克松（BarbaraFredrickson）和貝瑟尼·可可（Bethany Kok）就是按照這個(gè)思路做了一項(xiàng)研究，并在《心理科學(xué)》（Psychological Science）上發(fā)表了相關(guān)論文。

Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok concentratedtheir attentions on the vagus nerve. This nerve (illustrated right, in an earlyanatomical drawing) starts in the brain and runs, via numerous branches, toseveral thoracic and abdominal organs including the heart. Among its jobs is tosend signals telling that organ to slow down during moments of calm and safety.

弗雷德里克松博士和可可博士把注意力集中在迷走神經(jīng)（vagus nerve）上。這對神經(jīng)（見右圖，源自早期繪制的人體解剖圖）起于顱腔，通過無數(shù)分支與胸腔、腹腔的幾個(gè)臟器（包括心臟）相連。它的其中一項(xiàng)工作就是為器官發(fā)送信號，讓它們在軀體平靜、安寧的狀態(tài)下放緩節(jié)奏。

How effectively the vagus nerve is workingcan be tracked by monitoring someone’s heart rate as he breathes in and out.Healthy vagal function is reflected in a subtle increase in heart rate while breathingin and a subtle decrease while breathing out. The difference yields an index ofvagal tone, and the value of this index is known to be connected with health.Low values are, for example, linked to inflammation and heart attacks.

他們通過監(jiān)測一個(gè)人吸氣、呼氣時(shí)的心率，追蹤記錄迷走神經(jīng)如何有效地工作。如果吸氣時(shí)心率略微增加，呼氣時(shí)略微下降，則說明迷走神經(jīng)工作正常。兩次心率之差構(gòu)成迷走神經(jīng)張力指數(shù)（index of vagal tone）。人們都知道該指數(shù)與健康程度有關(guān)。例如，低指數(shù)就與炎癥、心臟病發(fā)作幾率有聯(lián)系。

What particularly interested Dr Fredricksonand Dr Kok was recent work that showed something else about the vagal-toneindex: people with high tone are better than those with low at stopping badfeelings getting overblown. They also show more positive emotions in general.This may provide the missing link between emotional well-being and physicalhealth. In particular, the two researchers found, during a preliminary studythey carried out in 2010, that the vagal-tone values of those who experiencepositive emotions over a period of time go up. This left them wondering whetherpositive emotions and vagal tone drive one another in a virtuous spiral. Theytherefore conducted an experiment on 65 of the university’s staff, to try tofind out.

讓弗雷德里克松博士和可可博士特別感興趣的是最近的研究，因?yàn)樗@示了迷走神經(jīng)張力指數(shù)的另一個(gè)性質(zhì)：與張力指數(shù)低的人相比，指數(shù)高的人能更好地防止不良情緒失控。研究也顯示，指數(shù)高的人大體上情緒更樂觀。這也許彌補(bǔ)了心理健康與生理健康之間缺失的環(huán)節(jié)。尤其值得注意的是，兩位研究人員在2010年的初步探究中發(fā)現(xiàn)，人們?nèi)绻w驗(yàn)一段時(shí)間的積極情緒，迷走神經(jīng)張力指數(shù)會就增加。這為他們留下了疑念，積極情緒與迷走神經(jīng)張力是否處于一個(gè)良性循環(huán)之中，互相促進(jìn)？因此，他們對本校的65名員工展開實(shí)驗(yàn)，一探究竟。

They measured all of their volunteers’vagal tones at the beginning of the experiment and at its conclusion nine weekslater. In between, the volunteers were asked to go each evening to a websiteespecially designed for the purpose, and rate their most powerful emotionalexperiences that day. Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok asked their volunteers toconsider nine positive emotions, such as hope, joy and love, and 11 negativeones, including anger, boredom and disgust. They were asked to rate, on afive-point scale, whether—and how strongly—they had felt each emotion. Onepoint meant “not at all”; five meant “extremely”. In addition, half theparticipants, chosen at random, were invited to a series of workshops run by alicensed therapist, to learn a meditation technique intended to engender in themeditator a feeling of goodwill towards both himself and others. This group wasencouraged to meditate daily, and to report the time they spent doing so.

他們在實(shí)驗(yàn)開始時(shí)測量了所有志愿者的迷走神經(jīng)張力指數(shù)，九周后實(shí)驗(yàn)結(jié)束時(shí)又再次測量。在實(shí)驗(yàn)期間，他們要求志愿者每天晚上登錄一家專門為此設(shè)計(jì)的網(wǎng)站，為當(dāng)天所經(jīng)歷的各種最強(qiáng)烈情緒評定等級。弗雷德里克松博士和可可博士為志愿者提供了九種可供考慮的積極情緒選項(xiàng)，如期待、開心、熱愛，還有十一種消極情緒，包括憤怒、疲倦、厭惡。兩位博士要求他們以五分制一一打分：是否有這樣的情緒、情緒有多強(qiáng)烈。1分代表“完全沒有”，5分代表“非常強(qiáng)烈”。此外，他們還隨機(jī)邀請了一半志愿者到一個(gè)注冊治療師開的一系列工作坊中，學(xué)習(xí)冥想的技巧，旨在讓冥想者產(chǎn)生一種善待自己、善待他人的情緒。他們鼓勵(lì)這組人每天冥想，并向他們報(bào)告冥想用的時(shí)間。

Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok discovered thatvagal tone increased significantly in people who meditated, and hardly at allin those who did not. Among meditators, those who started the experiment withthe highest vagal-tone scores reported the biggest increases in positiveemotions. Meditators who started with particularly low scores showed virtuallyno such boost.

弗雷德里克松博士和可可博士發(fā)現(xiàn)，冥想的人的迷走神經(jīng)張力顯著增加，而那些不冥想的人幾乎沒有任何變化。在眾多冥想者之中，那些實(shí)驗(yàn)一開始就擁有最高指數(shù)的人，積極情緒增加的幅度最大；而一開始指數(shù)就很低的人，幾乎沒有這樣的奇效。

Taken as a whole, these findings suggesthigh vagal tone makes it easier to generate positive emotions and that this, inturn, drives vagal tone still higher. That is both literally and metaphoricallya positive feedback loop. Which is good news for the emotionally positive, butbad for the emotionally negative, for it implies that those who most need apsychosomatic boost are incapable of generating one. A further (as yetunpublished) experiment by Dr Kok suggests, however, that the grumpy need notgive up all hope. A simpler procedure than meditation, namely reflecting atnight on the day’s social connections, did seem to cause some improvement totheir vagal tone. This might allow even those with a negative outlook on lifeto “bootstrap” their way to a mental state from which they could then advanceto the more powerful technique of meditation.

作為一個(gè)整體來看，這些發(fā)現(xiàn)意味著，這迷走神經(jīng)張力指數(shù)越高，越容易產(chǎn)生積極情緒；反過來，積極情緒又能促進(jìn)指數(shù)的提升。無論是從直觀還是隱含的角度看，這都是一個(gè)正反饋循環(huán)。對于情緒樂觀的人來說，這是個(gè)好消息；但對于消極的人來說，情況正好相反，因?yàn)樗馕吨?，那些最需要振作精神的人卻往往無法產(chǎn)生積極情緒。然而可可博士的進(jìn)一步研究（還未發(fā)表）表明，脾氣不好的人也尚存希望。有一種比冥想簡單的方法，即每天晚上對白天的社交活動進(jìn)行反思，似乎能在一定程度上提高迷走神經(jīng)張力指數(shù)。就算是對生活不抱希望的人，也可能通過這種方式“自我解脫”，達(dá)到另一種精神狀態(tài)，然后他們可以進(jìn)一步使用效果更好的冥想技巧。

Whether, besides improving general health,the mechanism Dr Fredrickson and Dr Kok have discovered helps explain theplacebo effect remains to be investigated. But it might, because part of thateffect seems to be the good feeling engendered by the fact of being treated.More generally, doctors in the ancient world had a saying: “a healthy mind in ahealthy body”. This sort of work suggests that though this proverb is true, abetter one might be, “a healthy mind for a healthy body”.

除了提高綜合健康水平，弗雷德里克松博士和可可博士發(fā)現(xiàn)的機(jī)制是否有助于解釋安慰劑效應(yīng)，還有待進(jìn)一步研究。但這的確有可能，因?yàn)榘参縿┬?yīng)就包括實(shí)驗(yàn)中因治療產(chǎn)生的良好情緒。更為普遍的是，古代的醫(yī)生就有個(gè)說法：“身體好，精氣兒足。”而這個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)則啟發(fā)人們，盡管諺語說得有理，但“精氣兒足，身體好”可能才更準(zhǔn)確。