TED英語演講：運動為大腦帶來的益處

今天你能為大腦做出什麼樣的變革? 行使! 神經科學家Wendy Suzuki說。 獲得靈感去健身房，因為鈴木討論如何鍛鍊提高你的心情和記憶的科學 - 並保護你的大腦免受神經退行性疾病，如阿爾茨海默氏症。下面是小編為大家收集關於TED英語演講：運動為大腦帶來的益處，歡迎借鑑參考。

The brain-changing benefits of exercise

演講者：Wendy Suzuki 溫迪鈴木

中英對照演講稿

What if I told you there was something thatyou can do right now that would have an immediate, positive benefit for yourbrain including your mood and your focus? And what if I told you that samething could actually last a long time and protect your brain from differentconditions like depression, Alzheimer's disease or dementia. Would you do it?Yes!

如果我告訴各位，有件你們現在就可以做的事，對你的大腦會立即產生正面的好處，包括你的心情和專注都會受惠，你會如何呢?如果我告訴各位，這事能持續很久的時間，並保護你的大腦免於不同的病症，比如憂鬱、阿茲海默症，或失智症的侵擾，你會如何?你們願意做這件事嗎?願意!

I am talking about the powerful effects ofphysical activity. Simply moving your body, has immediate, long-lasting andprotective benefits for your brain. And that can last for the rest of yourlife. So what I want to do today is tell you a story about how I used my deepunderstanding of neuroscience, as a professor of neuroscience, to essentiallydo an experiment on myself in which I discovered the science underlying whyexercise is the most transformative thing that you can do for your brain today.

我談的是活動身體的強大效應。只要很單純地去動你的身體，就能對你的大腦產生立即、持久，且有保護作用的益處，且持續一生。所以，今天我要跟各位說個故事，這故事有關身為神經科學教授的我，如何用我對於神經科學的深入瞭解，在我自己身上實驗，從實驗中找到科學理由來說明，為什麼在現今你能做的所有事情當中，運動最能改變你的大腦。

Now, as a neuroscientist, I know that our brains, that is the thing in our headright now, that is the most complex structure known to humankind. But it's onething to talk about the brain, and it's another to see it.

身為神經科學家，我知道我們的大腦，也就是在我們頭裡面的那個東西，是人類所知最複雜的結構。但，談論大腦是一回事，看大腦又是另一回事了。

So here is a real preserved human it's going to illustrate two key areas that we are going to talk abouttoday. The first is the prefrontal cortex, right behind your forehead, criticalfor things like decision-making, focus, attention and your personality. Thesecond key area is located in the temporal lobe, shown right here. You have two temporal lobes in your brain, the right and the left, and deep in the temporallobe is a key structure critical for your ability to form and retain newlong-term memories for facts and events.

這是一個真正儲存起來的人類大腦。它將會說明我們今天要談到的兩個關鍵區域。第一個是「前額葉皮質」，就在你的額頭後面，對決策、專注、注意力，以及你的人格來說很重要。第二個關鍵區域位在「顳葉」，就在圖上的這裡。你的大腦中有兩個顳葉，一右一左，顳葉的深處是個關鍵的結構，重要功能是讓你能夠針對事實和事件來形成並維持新的長期記憶。

And that structure is called thehippocampus. So I've always been fascinated with the hippocampus. How could itbe that an event that lasts just a moment, say, your first kiss, or the momentyour first child was born, can form a memory that has changed your brain, thatlasts an entire lifetime? That's what I want to understand. I wanted to startand record the activity of individual brain cells in the hippocampus assubjects were forming new memories. And essentially try and decode how thosebrief bursts of electrical activity, which is how neurons communicate with eachother, how those brief bursts either allowed us to form a new memory, or didnot.

那個結構就叫做「海馬體」。我一直很迷海馬體。怎麼有可能，一個短暫的事件，比如，你的初吻，或是你的第一個孩子出生的那一刻，能夠形成一個記憶，這記憶能改變你的大腦，且一生都不會忘記?那是我想要了解的。我想要記下受試者在形成記憶時，海馬迴中的每個腦細胞的活動。並真的試圖破解那些短暫的突升電流活動，也就是神經元彼此溝通的方式，那些短暫的突升怎麼讓我們形成新記憶，或沒形成記憶?

But a few years ago, I did something veryunusual in science. As a full professor of neural science, I decided tocompletely switch my research program. Because I encountered something that wasso amazing, with the potential to change so many lives that I had to study it.I discovered and I experienced the brain-changing effects of exercise.

但幾年前，我做了一件在科學中被認為很不尋常的事。身為神經科學的正教授，我決定完全轉換我的研究計劃。因為我遇到了非常驚人的事，它有潛能可以改變許多人的生命，我得要去研究它。我發現且體驗到運動有改變大腦的效應。

And I did it in a completely inadvertent way. I was actually at the height of all thememory work that I was doing -- data was pouring in, I was becoming known in myfield for all of this memory work. And it should have been going great. It was,scientifically. But when I stuck my head out of my lab door, I noticedsomething. I had no social life. I spent too much time listening to those braincells in a dark room, by myself.

我完全是在無意間發現的。其實當時我正處於所進行的記憶研究工作的頂峰，資料不斷地湧入，在我的領域中，我開始因為這項記憶研究而變得出名。本來應該很順利。在科學上的確很順利。但當我從實驗室門探出頭，我注意到了某件事。我沒有社交生活。我花了太多時間，獨自在黑暗的房間中傾聽那些腦細胞。

I didn't move my body at all. I hadgained 25 pounds. And actually, it took me many years to realize it, I wasactually miserable. And I shouldn't be miserable. And I went on a river-raftingtrip -- by myself, because I had no social life. And I came back --thinking, "Oh, my God, I was theweakest person on that trip." And I came back with a mission. I said,"I'm never going to feel like the weakest person on a river-rafting tripagain." And that's what made me go to the gym.

我完全沒動我的身體。我的體重增加了二十五磅。而且，我花了很多年，才瞭解到我其實很悲慘。而我不應該如此悲慘。我參加一趟泛舟之旅──自己一個人，因為我沒有社交生活。接著我回來了。心想：「我的天，我是那趟旅行中最弱的人。」回來後我就有了一個使命。我說：「我再也不要覺得自己是泛舟之旅中最弱的人了。」這就是我上健身房的動力來源。

And I focused my type-Apersonality on going to all the exercise classes at the gym. I triedeverything. I went to kickbox, dance, yoga, step class, and at first it wasreally hard. But what I noticed is that after every sweat-inducing workout thatI tried, I had this great mood boost and this great energy boost. And that'swhat kept me going back to the gym. Well, I started feeling stronger. I startedfeeling better, I even lost that 25 pounds.

我把我的A型人格專注在去參加健身房中所有的運動課程。我什麼都嘗試了，我去試了自由搏擊、跳舞、瑜伽、階梯課程，一開始真的很辛苦。但我注意到，在我每回嘗試會讓我滿身大汗的運動之後，我的情緒和能量都會大大提升。這就是為什麼我會一直持續回到健身房。我開始感覺比較強壯了。我開始感覺更好了，我甚至把那二十五磅給減掉了。

And now, fast-forward a year and a halfinto this regular exercise program and I noticed something that really made mesit up and take notice. I was sitting at my desk, writing a research grant, anda thought went through my mind that had never gone through my mind before. Andthat thought was, "Gee, grant-writing is going well today."

現在，從我開始做日常鍛鍊至今已有一年半多了，我注意到一件事，它讓我吃驚並吸引了我的注意。我坐在桌前寫研究補助申請書，腦中浮現一個想法，那是我以前從來沒有想過的。那個想法就是：「天，今天的研究補助申請寫得真順利。」

And all the scientists --yeah, all the scientists always laugh whenI say that, because grant-writing never goes well. It is so hard; you're alwayspulling your hair out, trying to come up with that million-dollar-winning I realized that the grant-writing was going well, because I was able tofocus and maintain my attention for longer than I had before. And my long-termmemory -- what I was studying in my own lab -- seemed to be better in me. Andthat's when I put it together.

所有的科學家──是啊，當我那麼說時，科學家都會笑出來，因為寫補助申請從來就不會順利。它真的很難搞，你總是要想破頭，試圖提個能贏得百萬美元的想法。但我發現，補助申請能寫得很順利，是因為我專注和維持注意力的時間，都比以前更長。且我的長期記憶──我的實驗室的研究主題──似乎在我身上也變得更好。就在那時，我把一切都連起來了。

Maybe all that exercise that I had includedand added to my life was changing my brain. Maybe I did an experiment on myselfwithout even knowing it. So as a curious neuroscientist, I went to theliterature to see what I could find about what we knew about the effects ofexercise on the brain. And what I found was an exciting and a growingliterature that was essentially showing everything that I noticed in myself.

也許，我加在生活中的那些運動在改變我的大腦。也許我在自己身上做了實驗而不自知。身為好奇的神經科學家，我去查研究文獻，看看有沒有什麼已知資訊與運動對大腦的效應有關。我發現的文獻很讓人興奮，且還在不斷增加中，基本上，文獻完全點出了我在身上注意到的所有改變。

Better mood, better energy, better memory, better attention. And the more Ilearned, the more I realized how powerful exercise was. Which eventually led meto the big decision to completely shift my research focus. And so now, afterseveral years of really focusing on this question, I've come to the followingconclusion: that exercise is the most transformative thing that you can do foryour brain today for the following three reasons.

更好的心情、更高的能量、更好的記憶、更佳的注意力。我學得越多，我就越能瞭解運動有多強大。最終，這導致了我做出重大決定，完全轉變我的研究重心。所以，在真正投入這個問題幾年後，我得到了下列的結論：在現今你能做的所有事情當中，運動最能改變你的大腦，理由是以下三個。

Number one: it has immediate effects onyour brain. A single workout that you do will immediately increase levels ofneurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and noradrenaline. That is going toincrease your mood right after that workout, exactly what I was feeling. My labshowed, that a single workout can improve your ability to shift and focusattention, and that focus improvement will last for at least two hours. Andfinally, studies have shown that a single workout will improve your reactiontimes which basically means that you are going to be faster at catching thatcup of Starbucks that falls off the counter, which is very, very important.

第一：運動對你的大腦有立即的效應。你做的每一次運動，都會立即增加神經傳遞質的量，如多巴胺、血清素、正腎上腺素。這會在你運動之後馬上提升你的心情，那正是我的感受。我的實驗室顯示，單一次運動就能改善你轉移和聚焦的能力，而那專注的改善會持續至少兩個小時。最後，研究顯示，單一次運動就會改善你的反應時間，基本上，那就表示如果一杯星巴克咖啡從櫃檯滑落，你能更快速接住它，這點是非常非常重要的。

But these immediate effects are transient,they help you right after. What you have to do is do what I did, that is changeyour exercise regime, increase your cardiorespiratory function, to get thelong-lasting effects. And these effects are long-lasting because exerciseactually changes the brain's anatomy, physiology and function. Let's start withmy favorite brain area, the hippocampus. The hippocampus -- or exerciseactually produces brand new brain cells, new brain cells in the hippocampus,that actually increase its volume, as well as improve your long-term memory,OK? And that including in you and me.

但這些立即的效應很短暫，在運動剛結束時幫助你。你們得要做我所做的，也就是改變你的運動規律，增加你的心肺功能，才能得到持久的效應。這些效應之所以能持久，是因為運動確實能改變大腦的結構、生理機能，以及功能。我們從我最愛的大腦區域海馬體開始。海馬體──運動確實能製造出全新的腦細胞，海馬體中新的腦細胞能增加容積，還能改善你的長期記憶。對你我皆是如此。

Number two: the most common finding inneuroscience studies, looking at effects of long-term exercise, is improvedattention function dependent or your prefrontal cortex. You not only get betterfocus and attention, but the volume of the hippocampus increases as well. Andfinally, you not only get immediate effects of mood with exercise but thoselast for a long time. So you get long-lasting increases in those good mood neurotransmitters.

第二：在神經科學研究中最常見的研究發現，在長期運動的效應這方面，就是改善注意力功能，而這功能取決於你的前額葉皮質。你不但會有更佳的專注和注意力，海馬體的容量也會增加。最後，你做運動會得到的不只是心情上的立即效應，還會有長期的效應。所以，你的好心情神經傳遞質就能得持續增加。

But really, the most transformative thingthat exercise will do is its protective effects on your brain. Here you canthink about the brain like a muscle. The more you're working out, the biggerand stronger your hippocampus and prefrontal cortex gets. Why is thatimportant? Because the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus are the two areasthat are most susceptible to neurodegenerative diseases and normal cognitivedecline in aging.

但其實，運動能帶來最大的轉變，就是對大腦產生保護效應。可以把大腦想成是肌肉。你運動得越多，你的海馬體和前額葉皮質就會更大、更強壯。為什麼那很重要?因為前額葉皮質和海馬體這兩個區域最容易因神經退化性疾病和老化而使得正常認知退化。

So with increased exercise over your lifetime, you're notgoing to cure dementia or Alzheimer's disease, but what you're going to do isyou're going to create the strongest, biggest hippocampus and prefrontal cortexso it takes longer for these diseases to actually have an effect. You can thinkof exercise, therefore, as a supercharged 401K for your brain, OK? And it'seven better, because it's free.

在你的一生中增加運動並不能治癒失智症或阿茲海默症，但能創造出最強壯、最大的海馬體和前額葉皮質，所以這些疾病要更長的時間才會對你產生實際的影響。因此，你可以把運動想成是大腦的加強版401K退休福利計劃。它還更好，因為它是免費的。

So this is the point in the talk whereeverybody says, "That sounds so interesting, Wendy, but I really will onlywant to know one thing. And that is, just tell me the minimum amount ofexercise I need to get all these changes."

演說到這個時點，大家通常會說：「溫迪，那聽起來好有趣，但我其實只想知道一件事，那就是隻要告訴我最少要做多少運動才能得到所有這些改變。」

And so I'm going to tell you the answer tothat question. First, good news: you don't have to become a triathlete to getthese effects. The rule of thumb is you want to get three to four times a weekexercise minimum 30 minutes an exercise session, and you want to get aerobicexercise in. That is, get your heart rate up. And the good news is, you don'thave to go to the gym to get a very expensive gym membership. Add an extra walkaround the block in your power walk. You see stairs -- take stairs. And power-vacuumingcan be as good as the aerobics class that you were going to take at the gym.

所以，我會告訴各位這個問題的答案。首先，好訊息：你不用變成鐵人三項運動員也可以得到這些效應。經驗法則是，每週要運動三到四次，每次運動至少要有三十分鐘，且你需要做一些有氧運動。也就是要讓你的心跳升高。好訊息是你不需要去健身房付很貴的健身房會費。在你健走的時候，再額外多走一個街區。如果你看見有樓梯可走，走樓梯。power-vacuuming是很好的有氧課程選擇，如果你到健身房運動的話。

So I've gone from memory pioneer toexercise explorer. From going into the innermost workings of the brain, totrying to understand how exercise can improve our brain function, and my goalin my lab right now is to go beyond that rule of thumb that I just gave you --three to four times a week, 30 minutes. I want to understand the optimumexercise prescription for you, at your age, at your fitness level, for yourgenetic background, to maximize the effects of exercise today and also toimprove your brain and protect your brain the best for the rest of your life.

所以，我從記憶的先驅拓荒者，變成了運動探索者。從進入大腦最深處的運作活動，變成試圖瞭解運動如何能改善大腦功能，現在，我的實驗室的目標是要超越我剛剛跟各位說的經驗法則──每週三到四次，每次三十分鐘。我想要了解最理想的運動處方是什麼，針對你，根據你的年齡、你的健康程度、你的基因背景，來把今天的運動效應給最大化，同時把改善及保護你的大腦做到最好，讓你一生都能受益。

But it's one thing to talk about exercise,and it's another to do it. So I'm going to invoke my power as a certifiedexercise instructor, to ask you all to stand up.

但，「談」運動是一回事，「做」運動是另一回事。所以，我要實行我身為認證運動指導員的權力，請各位都站起來。

We're going to do just one minute ofexercise. It's call-and-response, just do what I do, say what I say, and makesure you don't punch your neighbor, OK? Music!

我們只運動一分鐘。它類似「呼喊和迴應」，只要做我做的動作，說我說的話，然後小心不要打到旁邊的人，好嗎?音樂!

(Upbeat music)Five, six, seven, eight, it's right, left,right, left. And I say, I am strong now. Let's hear you.

(快樂的音樂)五、六、七、八，右、左、右、左。我說，我現在很強壯。換你們說。

Audience: I am strong now.

觀眾：我現在很強壯。

Wendy Suzuki: Ladies, I am WonderWoman-strong. Let's hear you!

溫迪鈴木：女士們，我是神力女超人──強壯。換你們說!

Audience: I am Wonder Woman-strong.

觀眾：我是神力女超人──強壯。

WS: New move -- uppercut, right and left. Iam inspired now. You say it!

溫迪：新動作──上勾拳，右、左。我現在受到鼓舞。換你們說!

Audience: I am inspired now.

觀眾：我現在受到鼓舞。

WS: Last move -- pull it down, right andleft, right and left. I say, I am on fire now! You say it.

溫迪：最後一個動作──拉下來，右、左、右、左。我說，我現在如火燃燒!換你們說。

Audience: I am on fire now.

觀眾：我現在如火燃燒。

WS: And done! OK, good job!

溫迪：完成!好，做得好!

Thank you. I want to leave you with onelast thought. And that is, bringing exercise in your life will not only giveyou a happier, more protective life today, but it will protect your brain fromincurable diseases. And in this way it will change the trajectory of your lifefor the better.

謝謝。最後我想留給各位一個想法，就是把運動帶入你的生活不僅讓你今天更快樂、更受保護，還能保護你的大腦，不受無法治癒的疾病所侵害。這麼一來就能改變你人生的軌道，朝著更好的方向。

Thank you very much.(Applause)

非常謝謝。(掌聲)