科学美国人60秒 有弹性的步态可以改善情绪

A good mood may put a spring in your step. But the opposite can work too: purposefully putting a spring in your step can improve your mood. That’s the finding from a study in the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry¹.

好心情可能会使你的步伐有着春天般的活力，但知道吗反之亦然：有意识地使步调快活能改善情绪。该发现出自《行为疗法与实验精神病学杂志》的一项研究。

Scientists showed volunteers a list of negative and positive words, like afraid and anxious, or sunny and pretty. Then the subjects had to walk on a treadmill² while watching a gauge³ that moved left or right.

科学家向志愿者展示了一列积极词汇和消极词汇的列表，比如害怕和焦虑、阳光和美丽。然后志愿者们必须一边在跑步机上走，一边看着一个向左或向右移动的计量仪。

But here’s what the participants did not know: if their stance—for example, slumped⁴ shoulders—seemed to indicate a down mood the gauge moved to the left. If their walk was more upbeat, say with swinging arms, the gauge moved to the right. The scientists asked half the subjects to adjust their walking style until the gauge moved to the right, and the other half so that the gauge went the left. Each group quickly learned what adjustments moved the gauge in the desired direction.

但志愿者们并不知道：如果他们的姿态暗示的是消极的情绪，比如垂肩，计量仪就会移到左边;如果他们的步调很欢快，比如摆动手臂，计量仪就会移到右边。科学家要求一半志愿者调整他们的行走方式直到计量仪移到右边，另一半则反之。每一组都很快了解到什么样的调整能使计量仪移动到预期的那一边。

Then the subjects had to write down as many words from the list that they remembered. And those who walked with a depressed⁵ gait recalled more negative terms, while the ones who were asked to walk in a more upbeat style came up with many more positive words.

然后志愿者被要求尽可能多地写下他们记住的列表中的单词。那些走路步调消极的人回忆起了更多消极词汇，而那些走路步调欢快的人回忆起了更多积极词汇。

Past research has shown that depressed people tend to remember negative words and happier people tend to remember happy words. So this study suggests that the way we walk influences our mental state. And that we can change our state by changing our gait.

过去的研究显示了，沮丧的人更倾向于记忆消极词汇，快乐的人则更倾向于记忆积极词汇。这项研究表明，人们走路的方式会影响其精神状态。因而我们可以通过改变步调来改善心情。

1 psychiatry   

n.精神病学，精神病疗法

参考例句：

• The study appeared in the Amercian science Journal of Psychiatry.这个研究发表在美国精神病学的杂志上。
• A physician is someone who specializes in psychiatry.精神病专家是专门从事精神病治疗的人。

2 treadmill   

n.踏车；单调的工作

参考例句：

• The treadmill has a heart rate monitor.跑步机上有个脉搏监视器。
• Drugs remove man from the treadmill of routine.药物可以使人摆脱日常单调的工作带来的疲劳。

3 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

4 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

5 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。