Laughter as a Form of Exercise

大笑也是種運(yùn)動(dòng)

　　Is laughter a kind of exercise? That offbeat question is at the heart of a new study of laughing and pain that emphasizes how unexpectedly entwined our bodies and emotions can be.

　　開懷大笑也可以作為一種運(yùn)動(dòng)嗎?這個(gè)不尋常的問題是一項(xiàng)有關(guān)歡笑和疼痛的新研究的核心內(nèi)容，研究的重點(diǎn)在于發(fā)現(xiàn)我們的身體和情緒會(huì)如何意外地交織影響。

　　For the study, which was published this year in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, researchers at Oxford University recruited a large group of undergraduate men and women.

　　這項(xiàng)研究今年發(fā)表在《皇家學(xué)會(huì)學(xué)報(bào)B》(Royal Society B)中，牛津大學(xué)(Oxford University)的研究者招募了一大批本科男女學(xué)生參與其中。

　　They then set out to make their volunteers laugh.

　　然后，在試驗(yàn)中他們把志愿者逗笑。

　　Most of us probably think of laughter, if we think of it at all, as a response to something funny - as, in effect, an emotion.

　　我們中的大多數(shù)人如果真的思考過大笑這件事情，恐怕會(huì)認(rèn)為大笑是面對(duì)有趣事物時(shí)發(fā)生的反應(yīng)——從效果上來說，它是種情感。

　　But laughter is fundamentally a physical action. "Laughter involves the repeated, forceful exhalation of breath from the lungs," says Robin Dunbar, a professor of evolutionary psychology at Oxford, who led the study. "The muscles of the diaphragm have to work very hard." We've all heard the phrase "laugh until it hurts," he points out. That pain isn't metaphoric; prolonged laughing can be painful and exhausting.

　　但是，大笑本質(zhì)上是一種機(jī)體運(yùn)動(dòng)�！按笮π枰�肺部進(jìn)行重復(fù)有力的呼氣，”研究領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者、牛津大學(xué)進(jìn)化心理學(xué)教授(Robin Dunbar)說：“橫膈的肌肉必須非常用力�！彼�指出，我們都聽過“笑得肚子疼”這種說法。這種疼并非僅僅隱喻，長(zhǎng)時(shí)間的大笑可以引起疼痛，令人精疲力盡。

　　Rather like a difficult workout.

　　這非常類似一次艱苦的鍛煉。

　　But does laughter elicit a physiological response similar to that of exercise and, if so, what might that reveal about the nature of exertion?

　　但是，大笑引起的生理反應(yīng)是否也與運(yùn)動(dòng)一致呢?如果是的話，這會(huì)揭示體力勞動(dòng)的什么本質(zhì)?

　　To find out, Dr. Dunbar and his colleagues had their volunteers watch, both alone and as part of a group, a series of short videos that were either comic or dryly factual documentaries.

　　為了尋求答案，鄧巴博士與他的團(tuán)隊(duì)讓志愿者們單獨(dú)或成組觀看一系列短視頻，有的是搞笑喜劇，有的是干巴巴的紀(jì)實(shí)紀(jì)錄片。

　　But first, the volunteers submitted to a test of their pain threshold, as determined by how long they could tolerate a tightening blood pressure cuff or a frozen cooling sleeve.

　　在此之前，志愿者進(jìn)行了痛閾的測(cè)試，測(cè)試方法是看他們能在收緊的血壓袖帶或冰凍的冷卻袖套中忍受多久。

　　The decision to introduce pain into this otherwise fun-loving study stems from one of the more well-established effects of strenuous exercise: that it causes the body to release endorphins, or natural opiates. Endorphins are known "to play a crucial role in the management of pain," the study authors write, and, like other opiates, to induce a feeling of euphoric calm and well-being (they are believed to play a role in "runner's high").

　　為什么要在這么歡樂的研究主干中引入疼痛呢?這是基于劇烈運(yùn)動(dòng)一個(gè)廣為人知的效果：它能令身體釋放內(nèi)啡肽，即天然阿片類。研究作者寫道，已知內(nèi)啡肽“對(duì)疼痛管理有重要作用”，與其他阿片類藥物一樣，能夠誘導(dǎo)出欣快的鎮(zhèn)靜和良好感覺(據(jù)信正是它們引起了“跑者高潮”)。

　　It's difficult to study endorphin production directly, however, since much of the action takes place within the working brain and requires a lumbar puncture to monitor, Dr. Dunbar says. That is not a procedure volunteers willingly undergo, particularly in a study about laughing. Instead, he and his colleagues turned to pain thresholds, an indirect but generally accepted marker of endorphin production. If someone's pain threshold rises, he or she is presumed to be awash in the natural analgesics.

　　不過，鄧巴博士說，內(nèi)啡肽的產(chǎn)生難以直接研究，因?yàn)榇蠖鄶?shù)活動(dòng)發(fā)生在大腦里，需要進(jìn)行腰椎穿刺才能監(jiān)控。這一操作可能令志愿者難以接受，尤其是在一項(xiàng)與笑有關(guān)的研究中。他和他的團(tuán)隊(duì)于是轉(zhuǎn)而用痛閾取而代之，這是普遍接受的內(nèi)啡肽產(chǎn)生的間接標(biāo)記。如果一個(gè)人痛閾升高，研究者就認(rèn)為他或她的體內(nèi)已經(jīng)充滿了天然止痛劑。

　　And in Dr. Dunbar's experiments, pain thresholds did go up after people watched the funny videos, but not after they viewed the factual documentaries.

　　在鄧巴博士的研究中，觀看搞笑視頻的人們痛閾確實(shí)出現(xiàn)了升高，但是觀看紀(jì)錄片的人則并無升高。

　　The only difference between the two experiences was that in one, people laughed, a physical reaction that the scientists quantified with audio monitors. They could hear their volunteers belly-laughing. Their abdominal muscles were contracting. Their endorphin levels were increasing in response, and both their pain thresholds and their general sense of amiable enjoyment were on the rise.

　　這兩者之間唯一的區(qū)別是有沒有大笑，這是科學(xué)家可以用音頻監(jiān)視器量化的機(jī)體反應(yīng)。他們能聽到志愿者捧腹大笑。他們的腹肌在收縮，內(nèi)啡肽水平也隨之升高，他們的痛閾和對(duì)愉悅享受的整體觀感也上升了。

　　In other words, it was the physical act of laughing, the contracting of muscles and resulting biochemical reactions, that prompted, at least in part, the pleasure of watching the comedy. Or, as Dr. Dunbar and his colleagues write, "the sense of heightened affect in this context probably derives from the way laughter triggers endorphin uptake." 紐約時(shí)報(bào)中英文網(wǎng) http://www.qqenglish.com

　　換言之，大笑的機(jī)體行為、肌肉的收縮以及由此產(chǎn)生的生化反應(yīng)，至少部分促進(jìn)了看喜劇時(shí)的愉悅感。用鄧巴博士及其團(tuán)隊(duì)的話來說：“這一情境下提升的情緒也許來自大笑激發(fā)的內(nèi)啡肽含量。”

　　The physical act of laughing contributed to the emotional response of finding something to be funny.

　　大笑這種機(jī)體行為造成了發(fā)現(xiàn)有趣事物時(shí)的情緒反應(yīng)。

　　Why the interplay of endorphins and laughing should be of interest to those of us who exercise may not be immediately obvious. But as Dr. Dunbar points out, what happens during one type of physical exertion probably happens in others. Laughter is an intensely infectious activity. In this study, people laughed more readily and lustily when they watched the comic videos as a group than when they watched them individually, and their pain thresholds, concomitantly, rose higher after group viewing.

　　為什么內(nèi)啡肽與大笑的互相作用對(duì)堅(jiān)持運(yùn)動(dòng)的人有意義，原因可能并不那么明朗。但是鄧巴博士指出，在一種體力活動(dòng)中發(fā)生的情況，可能在其他活動(dòng)中也會(huì)發(fā)生。大笑是一種具有強(qiáng)烈傳染性的活動(dòng)。在這一研究中，人們成組觀看喜劇時(shí)，比他們自己?jiǎn)为?dú)觀看時(shí)笑得更輕松更起勁，而他們的痛閾也隨之在成組觀看時(shí)上升得更多。

　　Something similar may happen when people exercise together, Dr. Dunbar says. In an experiment from 2009, he and his colleagues studied a group of elite Oxford rowers, asking them to work out either on isolated rowing machines, separated from one another in a gym, or on a machine that simulated full, synchronized crew rowing. In that case, the rowers were exerting themselves in synchrony, as a united group.

　　鄧巴博士說，一起運(yùn)動(dòng)的人也會(huì)發(fā)生同樣的情況。在一項(xiàng)從2009年開始的試驗(yàn)中，他和他的團(tuán)隊(duì)研究的是牛津的賽艇精英，試驗(yàn)要求他們或者在健身房中單獨(dú)在劃船機(jī)上鍛煉，或者在同一機(jī)器上模擬整組同步劃船。在這一研究中，賽艇運(yùn)動(dòng)員作為一個(gè)團(tuán)體發(fā)揮了自己的同步性。

　　After they exercised together, the rowers' pain thresholds - and presumably their endorphin levels - were significantly higher than they had been at the start, but also higher than when they rowed alone.

　　運(yùn)動(dòng)完成后，賽艇運(yùn)動(dòng)員的痛閾——反應(yīng)了內(nèi)啡肽水平——比開始前有了顯著的提高，而且也高于他們獨(dú)自劃船時(shí)。

　　"We don't know why synchrony has this effect, but it seems very strong," Dr. Dunbar says.

　　“我們不知道為什么同時(shí)劃船能有這樣的效果，但是效果看起來非常明顯�！编嚢筒┦空f。

　　So if you typically run or bike alone, perhaps consider finding a partner. Your endorphin response might rise and, at least theoretically, render that unpleasant final hill a bit less daunting. Or if you prefer exercising alone, perhaps occasionally entertain yourself with a good joke.

　　所以，如果你通常獨(dú)自跑步或騎行，也許應(yīng)該考慮找個(gè)伴了。你的內(nèi)啡肽反應(yīng)會(huì)因此提升，至少理論上如此，這會(huì)讓令人苦惱的最后一座小山丘也不那么望而生畏。如果你還是更喜歡一個(gè)人鍛煉，那就時(shí)不時(shí)要想個(gè)笑話讓自己樂一樂。

　　But don't expect forced laughter to lend you an edge, Dr. Dunbar says. "Polite titters do not involve the repeated, uninhibited series of exhalations" that are needed to "drive the endorphin effect," he says. With laughter, as with exercise, it seems, there really is no gain without some element of pain.

　　但是鄧巴博士說，別指望被動(dòng)的大笑會(huì)帶來什么好處。“禮貌的微笑不需要那種重復(fù)的、無拘無束的呼氣”，但只有這樣才能“驅(qū)動(dòng)內(nèi)啡肽效果”�？磥�，大笑和運(yùn)動(dòng)一樣，不付出就沒收獲。

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