孤独和单调会使大脑萎缩

A lot of things are known to shrivel up in cold conditions. Particularly human extremities like toes and fingers. But brains may also experience shrinkage, at least according to a study published this week in The New England Journal of Medicine.

我们知道很多东西在寒冷的条件下会枯萎。尤其是人类的四肢，比如脚趾和手指。但大脑也可能会经历萎缩，至少根据本周发表在《新英格兰医学杂志》上的一项研究是这样。

14 months of isolation can do strange things to a brain, and may even hinder its ability to make new connections. (Photo: Veronika Zakharova/Shutterstock)

For their research, U.S. and German scientists monitored nine people who spent 14 months at a lonesome research station in the South Pole. At the end of that sojourn, the subjects were found to be literally light-headed. Before-and-after scans of their brains revealed that certain structures had significantly shrunk. In particular, the hippocampus — the cerebral cog critical for learning and memory — slimmed down substantially.

在他们的研究中，美国和德国科学家监测了9名在南极一个孤独的研究站呆了14个月的人。在那次逗留结束时，研究对象被发现确实是头晕。对他们大脑的前后扫描显示，某些结构明显缩小了。特别是，海马体——大脑中对学习和记忆至关重要的部分——大幅萎缩。

But scientists suggest it's not so much the cold that shrinks brains, but rather loneliness and isolation. While living and working at the Antarctic station with sparse company, the test subjects didn't get much in the way of stimulation.

但科学家认为，并不是寒冷让大脑萎缩，而是孤独和孤立。虽然与稀疏公司在南极站生活和工作，测试对象没有得到太多的刺激。

We know that loneliness does a number on our health. Some experts suggest it's as toxic as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. But this study suggests the brain actually starts shedding weight — bits of itself that are critical to socialization — as it gets lonelier.

我们知道孤独会影响我们的健康。一些专家认为，它的毒性相当于每天吸15支烟。但这项研究表明，当大脑变得更加孤独时，它实际上开始减轻体重——它自身的一些部位对社会化至关重要。

Even worse, it seems the brain has a hard time coming back from that experience. As the researchers explain to LiveScience, a brain that sheds weight from the hippocampus loses some of its ability to process emotions and interact with others.

更糟糕的是，大脑似乎很难从那次经历中恢复过来。正如研究人员向《生活科学》杂志所解释的那样，减轻海马体重量的大脑失去了一些处理情绪和与他人互动的能力。

For one of their tests, researchers measured the amount of protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF. The brain relies on that protein to mint new neurons and create neural connections. In all nine of the test subjects, BDNF markedly declined as their Antarctic experience wore on.

在其中一项测试中，研究人员测量了脑源性神经营养因子(BDNF)的蛋白质含量。大脑依靠这种蛋白质来制造新的神经元并建立神经连接。在所有9个试验对象中，BDNF都随着他们在南极的经历而显著下降。

Compared to a healthy control group — nine people who didn't wile away months in the Antarctic — the polar-bound participants showed a notable decline in both brain volume and BDNF protein.

与健康对照组(9名在南极没有虚度数月时光的人)相比，前往极地的参与者的脑容量和BDNF蛋白都出现了显著下降。

A lonely brain only gets lonelier, as it's essentially losing the ability to forge new bonds. It seems a polar ice sheet — even if it's just one of the mind — is a terrible place to live.

一个孤独的大脑只会越来越孤独，因为它基本上失去了建立新联系的能力。极地冰盖似乎是一个可怕的居住地——即使它只是人类思想的一部分。

Doing the same thing over and over again may have a similar effect as living on a polar glacier. (Photo: Di Vanarte/Shutterstock)

As the new research suggests, it's not the cold, but rather the monotony that feasts on a brain. A brain that slogs through the same routine every day, while seeing the same faces over and over again, has trouble forging new meaningful connections and experiences.

新的研究表明，不是寒冷，而是大脑的单调。如果一个人的大脑每天都在做着同样的事情，却一次又一次地看到同样的面孔，那么他就很难建立起新的有意义的联系和经历。

And that's a problem in a society that's experiencing an epidemic of loneliness.

这是一个正在经历孤独流行病的社会的问题。

"Being connected to others socially is widely considered a fundamental human need — crucial to both well-being and survival," psychology professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad noted in a press release related to another study. "Yet an increasing portion of the U.S. population now experiences isolation regularly."

心理学教授Julianne Holt-Lunstad在一份与另一项研究相关的新闻稿中指出:“在社会上与他人保持联系被广泛认为是人类的基本需求——对幸福和生存都至关重要。”“然而，越来越多的美国人现在经常遭受隔离。”

But there is hope. The research team focused on ways to fortify the mind against shrinkage — things like "specific physical exercise routines and virtual reality to augment sensory stimulation," as they tell LiveScience.

但还是有希望的。研究小组把重点放在了增强大脑抵御萎缩的方法上——像他们告诉LiveScience的那样，“具体的体育锻炼和虚拟现实来增强感官刺激。”

Or, of course, you could also try not spending too long at an Antarctic research station. Or even better, avoid making an Antarctic research station out of your life here in civilization.

当然，你也可以试着不要在南极科考站呆太久?；蛘吒玫氖?，不要把你在文明世界的生活变成南极科考站。

Either way, it makes sense to try to make some new friends.

不管怎样，结交新朋友是有意义的。