Mental well-being A New York state of mind

　　心理幸福感 都市心理

　　Urban brains behave differently from rural ones

　　都市人和鄉村人大腦的不同活動

　　HELL is a city much like London, opined Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1819.

　　1819年，波比?雪萊曾說道： 倫敦就像地獄。

　　Modern academics agree.

　　現在，現代學者們同意他的觀點。

　　Last year Dutch researchers showed that city dwellers have a 21% higher risk of developinganxiety disorders than do their calmer rural countrymen, and a 39% higher risk ofdeveloping mood disorders.

　　去年，荷蘭研究員們表示倫敦城市居民患焦慮性障礙癥的風險比倫敦的寧靜鄉村里的居民的風險要高21%，而患上心境障礙的風險要比鄉村居民的風險高31%。

　　But exactly how the inner workings of the urban and rural minds cause this difference hasremained obscureuntil now.

　　但是，直到現在，對于城市居民和鄉村居民各自的大腦活動是怎么引起患病的不同風險，人們還不太清楚。

　　A study just published in Nature by Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg of the University of Heidelbergand his colleagues has used a scanning technique called functional magnetic-resonanceimaging to examine the brains of city dwellers and country bumpkins when they areunder stress.

　　在德國海登堡大學的Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg和他的同事們剛剛在Nature上發表的研究中，Andreas和他的同事們使用了一種叫做機能性磁共振成像的掃描技術來觀測城市居民和鄉村居民在承受心理壓力時的大腦活動。

　　In Dr Meyer-Lindenberg s first experiment, participants lying with their heads in a scannertook maths tests that they were doomed to fail .

　　在Meyer-Lindenberg博士的首次試驗中，試驗者們都躺著，他們的頭部都在一個掃描器中，同時做著他們必定做不來的數學題。

　　To make the experience still more humiliating, the team provided negative feedbackthrough headphones, all the while checking participants for indications of stress, such as highblood pressure.

　　為了使試驗變得更令人難堪，研究者們會通過對講機給試驗者們傳達消極的反饋，試驗首末研究者們檢測試驗者們的心理壓力指標，比如高血壓。

　　The urbanites general mental health did not differ from that of their provincialcounterparts.

　　都市人的總體心理健康和鄉村人的沒有什么區別。

　　However, their brains dealt with the stress imposed by the experimenters in different ways.

　　不過，都市人和鄉村人的大腦處理研究人員對他們施加的壓力的方式不同。

　　These differences were noticeable in two regions: the amygdalas and the perigenualanterior cingulate cortex .

　　這些差異在杏仁核和前扣帶皮層兩個區域較為明顯。

　　The amygdalas are a pair of structures, one in each cerebral hemisphere, that are founddeep inside the brain and are responsible for assessing threats and generating the emotion offear.

　　杏仁核是成對的，兩個大腦半球中各有一個，它們在大腦的深處，有辨識危險和產生恐懼心理的作用。

　　The pACC is part of the cerebral cortex that regulates theamygdalas.

　　前扣帶皮層是大腦皮層的一部分，它們控制著杏仁核。

　　People living in the countryside had the lowest levels of activity in their amygdalas.

　　鄉村人的杏仁核顯示出最低的活躍水平。

　　Those living in towns had higher levels.

　　城鎮人的杏仁核則顯示出較高的活躍水平。

　　City dwellers had the highest.

　　而都市人的是最高的。

　　Not that surprising, to those of a Shelleyesque disposition.

　　對于那些和雪萊的觀點一致的人來說，這一點也不奇怪。

　　In the case of the pACC, however, what mattered was not where someone was living now,but where he or she was brought up.

　　然而，試驗者們的前扣帶皮層的活動則跟他們在哪里長大有關，跟他們現在生活在那里無關。

　　The more urban a person s childhood, the more active his pACC, regardless of where he wasdwelling at the time of the experiment.

　　童年時，一個人在城市里生活的越久，那么在實驗中，他的前扣帶皮層會越活躍，前扣帶皮層的活躍水平與他在實驗期間的住所無關。

　　The amygdalas thus seem to respond to the here-and-now whereas the pACC isprogrammed early on, and does not react in the same, flexible way as the amygdalas.

　　因此，杏仁核看起來是對一個人生活現狀的反饋，然而，前扣帶皮層在一個人的幼年時期就開始記憶，它跟杏仁核的反饋不同，相比之下，杏仁核的活動跟靈活。

　　Second-to-second changes in its activity might, though, be expected to認為 be correlated withchanges in the amygdalas, because of its role in regulating them.

　　盡管人們認為前扣帶皮層活動的每秒變化可能和杏仁核中的變化有關，因為它有控制杏仁核的作用。

　　fMRI allows such correlations to be measured.

　　機能性磁共振成像使得這種關聯可測。

　　In the cases of those brought up in the countryside, regardless of where they now live, thecorrelations were as expected.

　　實驗中，不論試驗者現在住在哪里，只要他們在鄉村長大，那么在他們的大腦中，前扣帶皮層和杏仁核之間的聯系是在預料之中的。

　　For those brought up in cities, however, these correlations broke down.

　　然而，對于那些在城市里長大的人，這些聯系中斷了。

　　The regulatory mechanism of the native urbanite, in other words, seems to be out of kilter.

　　換而言之，對于從小生活在城市里的人而言，他們的前扣帶皮層的調節機制似乎失常了。

　　Further evidence, then, for Shelley s point of view.

　　那么，這是印證雪萊的觀點的又一個證據。

　　Moreover, it is also known that the pACC-amygdala link is often out of kilter in schizophrenia,and that schizophrenia is more common among city dwellers than country folk.

　　另外，人們都知道，在精神分裂癥患者的大腦中，前扣帶皮層和杏仁核的聯系常常會失常，并且，精神分裂癥在都市人群中比在鄉村人群中更常見。

　　Dr Meyer-Lindenberg is careful not to claim that his results show the cause of this connection.

　　Meyer-Lindenberg博士十分嚴謹，沒有公布他的實驗結果，這些結果顯示了前扣帶皮層和杏仁核相聯系的原因。

　　But they might.

　　但是事實可能就像實驗結果那樣。

　　Dr Meyer-Lindenberg and his team conducted several subsequent experiments to check theirfindings.

　　為了檢驗他們的發現，Meyer-Lindenberg博士和他的研究團隊連續進行了幾次實驗。

　　They asked participants to complete more maths testsand also tests in which they mentallyrotated an objectwhile investigators chided them about their performance.

　　在實驗中，他們要求試驗者做更多的數學題，同時，研究者們還是會對試驗者們的表現指指點點。

　　The results matched those of the first test.

　　實驗結果還是和第一次實驗結果相吻合。

　　They also studied another group of volunteers, who were given stress-free tasks tocomplete.

　　他們還對一組試驗者進行研究，在實驗中，這些試驗者需要完成一些簡單輕松的任務。

　　These experiments showed no activity in either the amygdalas or the pACC, suggesting thatthe earlier results were indeed the result of social stress rather than mental exertion.

　　在這些實驗中，試驗者的大腦中既沒有顯示杏仁核的活動，也沒有顯示前扣帶皮層的活動，這表明之前的實驗結果確實是由社會壓力引起的，而不是由心理活動引起的。

　　As is usually the case in studies of this sort, the sample size was small and the result showed an association, rather than adefinite, causal relationship.

　　和這類研究的其他情形一樣，這次實驗的樣本容量太小了，并且研究結果只是種猜想，而不是一種肯定的、有根據的關系。

　　That association is, nevertheless, interesting.

　　不過，這種猜想很有趣。

　　Living in cities brings many benefits, but Dr Meyer-Lindenberg s work suggests that Shelleyand his fellow Romantics had at least half a point.

　　雖然生活在城市中能給人們帶來很多好處，但是Meyer-Lindenberg博士的研究表明，雪萊和其他浪漫主義者的觀點對了一半。

　　Mental well-being A New York state of mind

　　心理幸福感 都市心理

　　Urban brains behave differently from rural ones

　　都市人和鄉村人大腦的不同活動

　　HELL is a city much like London, opined Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1819.

　　1819年，波比?雪萊曾說道： 倫敦就像地獄。

　　Modern academics agree.

　　現在，現代學者們同意他的觀點。

　　Last year Dutch researchers showed that city dwellers have a 21% higher risk of developinganxiety disorders than do their calmer rural countrymen, and a 39% higher risk ofdeveloping mood disorders.

　　去年，荷蘭研究員們表示倫敦城市居民患焦慮性障礙癥的風險比倫敦的寧靜鄉村里的居民的風險要高21%，而患上心境障礙的風險要比鄉村居民的風險高31%。

　　But exactly how the inner workings of the urban and rural minds cause this difference hasremained obscureuntil now.

　　但是，直到現在，對于城市居民和鄉村居民各自的大腦活動是怎么引起患病的不同風險，人們還不太清楚。

　　A study just published in Nature by Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg of the University of Heidelbergand his colleagues has used a scanning technique called functional magnetic-resonanceimaging to examine the brains of city dwellers and country bumpkins when they areunder stress.

　　在德國海登堡大學的Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg和他的同事們剛剛在Nature上發表的研究中，Andreas和他的同事們使用了一種叫做機能性磁共振成像的掃描技術來觀測城市居民和鄉村居民在承受心理壓力時的大腦活動。

　　In Dr Meyer-Lindenberg s first experiment, participants lying with their heads in a scannertook maths tests that they were doomed to fail .

　　在Meyer-Lindenberg博士的首次試驗中，試驗者們都躺著，他們的頭部都在一個掃描器中，同時做著他們必定做不來的數學題。

　　To make the experience still more humiliating, the team provided negative feedbackthrough headphones, all the while checking participants for indications of stress, such as highblood pressure.

　　為了使試驗變得更令人難堪，研究者們會通過對講機給試驗者們傳達消極的反饋，試驗首末研究者們檢測試驗者們的心理壓力指標，比如高血壓。

　　The urbanites general mental health did not differ from that of their provincialcounterparts.

　　都市人的總體心理健康和鄉村人的沒有什么區別。

　　However, their brains dealt with the stress imposed by the experimenters in different ways.

　　不過，都市人和鄉村人的大腦處理研究人員對他們施加的壓力的方式不同。

　　These differences were noticeable in two regions: the amygdalas and the perigenualanterior cingulate cortex .

　　這些差異在杏仁核和前扣帶皮層兩個區域較為明顯。

　　The amygdalas are a pair of structures, one in each cerebral hemisphere, that are founddeep inside the brain and are responsible for assessing threats and generating the emotion offear.

　　杏仁核是成對的，兩個大腦半球中各有一個，它們在大腦的深處，有辨識危險和產生恐懼心理的作用。

　　The pACC is part of the cerebral cortex that regulates theamygdalas.

　　前扣帶皮層是大腦皮層的一部分，它們控制著杏仁核。

　　People living in the countryside had the lowest levels of activity in their amygdalas.

　　鄉村人的杏仁核顯示出最低的活躍水平。

　　Those living in towns had higher levels.

　　城鎮人的杏仁核則顯示出較高的活躍水平。

　　City dwellers had the highest.

　　而都市人的是最高的。

　　Not that surprising, to those of a Shelleyesque disposition.

　　對于那些和雪萊的觀點一致的人來說，這一點也不奇怪。

　　In the case of the pACC, however, what mattered was not where someone was living now,but where he or she was brought up.

　　然而，試驗者們的前扣帶皮層的活動則跟他們在哪里長大有關，跟他們現在生活在那里無關。

　　The more urban a person s childhood, the more active his pACC, regardless of where he wasdwelling at the time of the experiment.

　　童年時，一個人在城市里生活的越久，那么在實驗中，他的前扣帶皮層會越活躍，前扣帶皮層的活躍水平與他在實驗期間的住所無關。

　　The amygdalas thus seem to respond to the here-and-now whereas the pACC isprogrammed early on, and does not react in the same, flexible way as the amygdalas.

　　因此，杏仁核看起來是對一個人生活現狀的反饋，然而，前扣帶皮層在一個人的幼年時期就開始記憶，它跟杏仁核的反饋不同，相比之下，杏仁核的活動跟靈活。

　　Second-to-second changes in its activity might, though, be expected to認為 be correlated withchanges in the amygdalas, because of its role in regulating them.

　　盡管人們認為前扣帶皮層活動的每秒變化可能和杏仁核中的變化有關，因為它有控制杏仁核的作用。

　　fMRI allows such correlations to be measured.

　　機能性磁共振成像使得這種關聯可測。

　　In the cases of those brought up in the countryside, regardless of where they now live, thecorrelations were as expected.

　　實驗中，不論試驗者現在住在哪里，只要他們在鄉村長大，那么在他們的大腦中，前扣帶皮層和杏仁核之間的聯系是在預料之中的。

　　For those brought up in cities, however, these correlations broke down.

　　然而，對于那些在城市里長大的人，這些聯系中斷了。

　　The regulatory mechanism of the native urbanite, in other words, seems to be out of kilter.

　　換而言之，對于從小生活在城市里的人而言，他們的前扣帶皮層的調節機制似乎失常了。

　　Further evidence, then, for Shelley s point of view.

　　那么，這是印證雪萊的觀點的又一個證據。

　　Moreover, it is also known that the pACC-amygdala link is often out of kilter in schizophrenia,and that schizophrenia is more common among city dwellers than country folk.

　　另外，人們都知道，在精神分裂癥患者的大腦中，前扣帶皮層和杏仁核的聯系常常會失常，并且，精神分裂癥在都市人群中比在鄉村人群中更常見。

　　Dr Meyer-Lindenberg is careful not to claim that his results show the cause of this connection.

　　Meyer-Lindenberg博士十分嚴謹，沒有公布他的實驗結果，這些結果顯示了前扣帶皮層和杏仁核相聯系的原因。

　　But they might.

　　但是事實可能就像實驗結果那樣。

　　Dr Meyer-Lindenberg and his team conducted several subsequent experiments to check theirfindings.

　　為了檢驗他們的發現，Meyer-Lindenberg博士和他的研究團隊連續進行了幾次實驗。

　　They asked participants to complete more maths testsand also tests in which they mentallyrotated an objectwhile investigators chided them about their performance.

　　在實驗中，他們要求試驗者做更多的數學題，同時，研究者們還是會對試驗者們的表現指指點點。

　　The results matched those of the first test.

　　實驗結果還是和第一次實驗結果相吻合。

　　They also studied another group of volunteers, who were given stress-free tasks tocomplete.

　　他們還對一組試驗者進行研究，在實驗中，這些試驗者需要完成一些簡單輕松的任務。

　　These experiments showed no activity in either the amygdalas or the pACC, suggesting thatthe earlier results were indeed the result of social stress rather than mental exertion.

　　在這些實驗中，試驗者的大腦中既沒有顯示杏仁核的活動，也沒有顯示前扣帶皮層的活動，這表明之前的實驗結果確實是由社會壓力引起的，而不是由心理活動引起的。

　　As is usually the case in studies of this sort, the sample size was small and the result showed an association, rather than adefinite, causal relationship.

　　和這類研究的其他情形一樣，這次實驗的樣本容量太小了，并且研究結果只是種猜想，而不是一種肯定的、有根據的關系。

　　That association is, nevertheless, interesting.

　　不過，這種猜想很有趣。

　　Living in cities brings many benefits, but Dr Meyer-Lindenberg s work suggests that Shelleyand his fellow Romantics had at least half a point.

　　雖然生活在城市中能給人們帶來很多好處，但是Meyer-Lindenberg博士的研究表明，雪萊和其他浪漫主義者的觀點對了一半。