让大脑灵光一闪的技巧

让大脑灵光一闪的技巧

为什么有些人为了获得新想法绞尽脑汁，头脑中却仍是空空如也，而有些人看起来几乎不费吹灰之力就能生出奇思妙想？

Whether creativity is an innate gift or a cognitive process that anyone can jump-start is a question so intriguing that researchers keep studying it from different angles and discovering new and surprising techniques.

灵感是这样降临的创造力究竟是与生俱来的天赋还是任何人都能启动的一

个认知过程？这个问题激发了研究人员的兴趣，他们从各个角度对此进行了研究，结果发现了全新的、出人意料的新技巧。

Several recent studies suggest that the best route to an 'aha moment' involves stepping away from the grindstone─whe ther it's taking a daydream break, belting back a drink or two or simply gazing at something green.

新近的几项研究表明，想要获得“灵光一闪的瞬间”，最佳途径包括从枯燥无味的日常生活中抽身出来──不论你是做白日梦歇一歇、下班回来后小酌一两杯还是光盯着绿色的东西看什么都不干。

Of course, personality can make a difference. People who rate high in openness to new experiences in personality tests also may be more distractible and curious, according to /zx/21.html a 2010 study in Creativity Research Journal. Among 158 college students, those who were less inhibited and more receptive to lots of stimuli also were able to generate more ideas than others, says the study by British researchers.

当然，人们迥异的性格会使情况变得截然不同。2010年发表在《创造力研

究期刊》(Creativity Research Journal)上的一项研究表明，那些在性格测试中对新生事物的开放度上得分高的人可能也会有更大的好奇心，也更易分心。这项由英国工作人员进行的研究还表明，在158名大学生中，那些不那么拘谨、更易接受众多刺激的学生也会比其他人产生更多的想法。

But personality isn't the only path to inspiration, researchers say. Walking away from a problem to do simple, routine tasks, and letting the mind wander in the process, can spark creative new connections or approaches to solving dilemmas, says a 2012 study in Psychological Science. That helps explain why 'a lot of /zx/17.html great ideas occur at transition times,' when people are waking up or falling asleep, bathing, showering or jogging, says Jennifer Wiley, a psychology professor at University of Illinois at Chicago and lead author of a 2012 research summary in Current Directions in Psychological Science.

但研究人员也表示，性格并非是通向灵感的唯一途径。2012年发表在《心

理科学》(Psychological Science)期刊上的一项研究表明，从问题中抽身出来、去做一些简单的日常工作，让思绪在此过程中自由游荡，这样可以使人们在解决困境时产生一些具有创造力的新联想、新思路。《最新心理科学指南》(Current Directions in Psychological Science)2012年一项研究综述的首席作者、伊

利诺大学芝加哥分校(University of Illinois at Chicago)心理学教授詹妮弗?威利(Jennifer Wiley)称，这也就解释了为什么“许多伟大的想法都诞生在辗转过渡期”，像人们醒来或睡去、泡澡淋浴或慢跑的时刻。

For years, Amy Baxter, a physician and pain researcher, looked for ways to use cold to relieve children's pain from vaccination shots. But her light bulb moment didn't come until she was driving home from work, tired after an all-night shift in the emergency room.

内科医生、疼痛研究者艾米-巴克斯特(Amy Baxter)多年来都在寻找使用冷冻来缓解儿童疫苗接种疼痛感的方法。但她的灵光一刻迟迟没有出现，直到有一次下了急诊室夜班，疲惫不堪的巴克斯特驾车回家，途中她突然开窍了。

The steering wheel on her car was vibrating because the tires were poorly aligned, and she noticed as she pulled into her driveway that the vibration had made her hands numb. With help from her husband Louis, she made the connection: Combining vibration and cold might be enough to ease the pain of a shot. 'After an overnight shift, your mind is expansive,' Dr. Baxter says. 'Connections are made that wouldn't otherwise happen.' 由于四个车轮排列不齐，巴克斯特的汽车方向盘一直在摆动震颤，她注意到，当她将车驶进自己的车道时，这种震颤感令她双手发麻。在丈夫路易斯 (Louis)的帮助下，巴克斯特产生了这样一种联想：将震颤和冷冻结合起来使用可能会消除打针时的疼痛感。巴克斯特医生说，“在上了一整夜的班后，你的思路拓展了。这些联想不会在其他情况下产生。”

She applied a vibrating massager and a bag of frozen peas to the arm of her 7-year-old son Max, then rolled over his skin a small metal wheel used by neurologists to test sensitivity. Max felt nothing. That discovery sparked the development of 'Buzzy,' a toylike vibrating bee fitted with a tiny ice pack. With help from a 2008 federal grant, she produced the device and began marketing it online. Buzzy is now being used in 500 hospitals to ease patients' pain from injections and infusions, says Dr. Baxter, chief executive of MMJ Labs, Atlanta.

巴克斯特先将振动按摩器和一包冷冻青豆在她7岁儿子马克斯(Max)的手臂上进行试用，然后她将神经病学家专用的小金属轮在儿子的皮肤上滚动以检测灵敏度。马克斯对此毫无感觉。这个发现促成了"Buzzy"的研发，这是一种装有一个小冰袋、形似震动蜜蜂玩具的物件。在2008年获得联邦政府的资金支持后，巴克斯特生产了这种设备并开始在网上进行推广销售。亚特兰大MMJ实验室首席执行长巴克斯特医生说，目前，有500家医院都在使用Buzzy以消除患者在注射和输液时的疼痛感。

Dr. Baxter's groggy, wee-hour epiphany wasn't a fluke. Students in a 2011 study solved more problems requiring fresh new insights when they tackled them at off-peak times of day─in the evening for morning people, and in the morning for night owls, says the study, published in Thinking & Reasoning.

巴克斯特医生在凌晨疲惫之时的顿悟并非侥幸。2011年发表在《思考与推理》(Thinking & Reasoning)杂志上的一项研究指出，更多的学生往往在一天的低潮期中解决了更多需要全新视角才能解决的问题。早起人的低潮期在晚上，夜