On a daily basis, you spend between a third and half your waking hours daydreaming. That may sound like a huge waste of time, but scientists think it must have some purpose, or humans wouldn’t have evolved to do so much of it. So to figure out what's going on here, let’s take a closer look at the mind-wanderer in chief: the bored teenager.
每天你醒着的时候, 三分之一到一半的时间在做白日梦。 这听起来可能是对时间的巨大浪费, 但科学家们认为存在即合理, 否则,人类不会演化成 花如此多时间做白日梦。 因此,为了弄清楚这是怎么回事, 一起仔细看看这位首席走神家: 无聊少年。
Wouldn’t it be cool to discover something, anything. Like even this plant. Just to be one of those explorers who sails around drawing stuff for years on end and everyone thinks they’re a genius. But does anyone even do that anymore? Is there anything left to discover? And would I be tough enough to deal with the dysentery or scurvy or piranhas or whatever? I barely have the endurance to make it through track practice... but I will. Any day now, I’ll have the discipline to show up before sunrise and practice. I’ll win all my races. Winning will become so easy, I’ll pick up other events just for fun. And once I'm in the Olympics, they’ll have no choice but to crown me team captain, which I will graciously accept. And will I be nasty to the teammate who yelled at me? No. I’ll just calmly say, “hope you’re in a better mood.”
如果能有所发现会不会很酷, 即使发现像这植物一样的任何东西? 如那些探险家,常年航行, 并把看到的都画下来, 大家都认为他们是天才一样? 但现在还有人这么做吗? 还有待发现的东西吗? 我能坚强到对付痢疾或败血症、 抑或食人鱼什么的吗? 我几乎没有耐力完成赛道练习, 但我会的。 从现在起的每一天, 我会自律地在日出前起床、训练, 我会赢所有跑步比赛, 胜利将变得易如反掌, 我会选择其他活动,只为好玩。 一旦我参加了奥运会, 他们只能让我当队长, 我会欣然接受。 我会和冲我大吼的队友闹别扭吗? 不会! 我只会平静地说, “希望你心情好多了。”
Okay. Yours and other people's daydreams might sound or feel something like that. Let's see what was going on. To see what parts of the brain are active when you’re doing a task, or thinking, or daydreaming, scientists use brain imaging techniques that show increased blood flow and energy expenditure in those areas.
好了,你和其他人的白日梦 可能听起来或感觉亦与此类似, 我们一起看看到底发生了什么。 为了观察你在执行任务、 思考或做白日梦时 大脑的哪些部分是活跃的, 科学家们使用大脑成像技术, 显示这些区域 血流量和能量消耗增加,
These brain areas are active, working together and communicating with each other. Taken together, they're called the executive network. When your mind starts to wander, a different set of brain areas becomes active. These areas make up the default mode network. The name default mode makes it sound like nothing is going on. And in fact, for many years, scientists associated this pattern of activity with rest. But a closer look reveals that these are the brain areas involved when we revisit a memory, when we think about our plans and hopes, and yes, when our minds are wandering off on a wild daydream. The mind can wander to unproductive or distressing places and brood over negative past events, like an argument. It can also wander to neutral, everyday matters, like planning out the rest of one's afternoon. But where mind-wandering really gets interesting is when it crosses into the realm of free-moving associative thought that you aren’t consciously directing. This kind of mind-wandering is associated with increases in both ideas and positive emotions, and the evidence suggests that daydreaming can help people envision ways to reach their goals and navigate relationships and social situations.
说明这些大脑区域活跃, 它们相互协作和交流, 总的来说,它们被称为执行网络。 当你开始走神时, 一组不同的大脑区域变得活跃, 这些区域就构成了默认模式网络。 默认模式这个名称 听起来好像什么都没发生, 事实上,多年来, 科学家们将这种活动模式 与休息联系在一起。 但仔细观察会发现, 当我们重温记忆、 思考计划和希望时, 没错,还有当我们的思绪 在狂野的白日梦中游荡时, 这些都是活跃的大脑区域。 思维会徘徊在徒劳 或令人苦恼的地方, 会对过去的负面事件 耿耿于怀,比如争吵。 它也可以转到中性的日常事务上, 如计划如何度过下午的剩余时间。 但是,走神真正有趣的地方 是当它跨越到 并非你有意引导的 天马行空的联想领域, 这种走神 与想法和积极情绪的增加有关。 有证据表明,白日梦可以 帮助人们设想实现其目标的方法, 以及驾驭人际关系和社会状况。
Scientists think there may be two essential parts to this process: a generative phase of free-flowing ideas and spontaneous thoughts, courtesy of the default mode network, followed by a process of selecting, developing, and pursuing the best ideas from that generative burst, driven by logical thinking thanks to the executive network. A host of imaging studies suggest that these two networks working in sync is a crucial condition for creative thinking. Taken together, the evidence clearly suggests the logical realm of the executive network and the imaginative realm of the default mode network are closely related. And as you can see, the executive network is still playing a role when the default mode network is doing its thing during daydreaming.
科学家们认为,这一过程 可能有两个基本部分: 由默认模式网络产生的 自由流动的想法 和自发想法的生成阶段, 然后是由执行网络的逻辑思维驱动的 从生成爆发中选择、发展 和追求最佳想法的过程。 许多影像研究表明, 这两个网络同步工作 是创造性思维的关键条件。 综合来看, 这些证据清楚地表明, 执行网络的逻辑领域 和默认模式网络的 想象领域密切相关。 正如你所看到的,当默认 模式网络在做白日梦时, 执行网络仍在发挥作用。
In teenagers, the prefrontal cortex and other areas involved in executive function are still developing, but teens are perfectly capable of thinking through their problems and goals, especially when given space to do so on their own.
在青少年中, 前额叶皮质和其他 与执行功能有关的区域 仍在发育中, 但青少年完全有能力 思考他们的问题和目标, 特别是在给予他们 独立思考空间的时侯。