为什么要读名著：阅读经典名著能锻炼大脑！

He wrote that the ‘human mind is capable of excitement without the application of gross and violent stimulants’. And it appears that simply reading those words by William Wordsworth prove his point.英国诗人威廉·华兹华斯曾写道：“人的心灵，不用巨大猛烈的刺激，也能够兴奋起来”。要说明这一点，看上去似乎单是读一下这句话就够了。Researchers at the University of Liverpool found the prose of Shakespeare and Wordsworth and the like had a beneficial effect on the mind, providing a 'rocket-boost' to morale by catching the reader's attention and triggering moments of self-reflection.利物浦大学的研究人员发现，莎士比亚和华兹华斯以及其他类似作家的作品对思维具有裨益，能够吸引读者的注意力，让读者自我反省，像“火箭助推器”一样提升人的精神状态。Using scanners, they monitored the brain activity of volunteers as they read pieces of classical English literature both in their original form and in a more dumbed-down, modern translation.研究员们使用扫描仪，监测志愿者们阅读经典英国文学作品时的大脑活动。他们阅读的既有原作，又有简化的现代版译文。And, according to the Sunday Telegraph, the experiment showed the more 'challenging' prose and poetry set off far more electrical activity in the brain than the pedestrian versions.根据《星期日电讯报》的报导，这个实验还表明：比起那些平淡的版本，散文和诗作更具有挑战性，脑电活动也活跃得多。The research also found poetry, in particular, increased activity in the right hemisphere of the brain, an area concerned with 'autobiographical memory', which helped the reader to reflect on and reappraise their own experiences in light of what they had read. The academics said this meant the classics were more useful than self-help books.研究也发现，诗作尤其能够增加人右脑的活动，而右脑和“自传式记忆”有关，能够让读者根据读到的内容回想到他们自己的经历，并且对之重新评价。学者说这就意味着经典作品比励志图书更有用。

（上图左为文学巨匠莎士比亚，右为英国著名小说家狄更斯）

The brain responses of 30 volunteers was monitored in the first part of the research as they read Shakespeare in its original and 'modern' form.实验的第一部分中，30名志愿者阅读了莎比士亚作品的原版和“现代版”，与此同时研究者们监测了他们大脑的反应。In one example, volunteers read a line from King Lear, 'A father and a gracious aged man: him have you madded', before reading the simpler. 'A father and a gracious aged man: him you have enraged'.其中一个例子是志愿者阅读《李尔王》中的一句台词，“A father and a gracious aged man: him have you madded”接下来他们又阅读了一句简单一点的版本，“A father and a gracious aged man: him you have enraged”。（小编注：此句译文为：这样一位父亲，这样一位仁慈的老人家，你们却把他激成了疯狂！）Shakespeare's use of the adjective 'mad' as a verb caused a higher level of brain activity than the straightforward prose.比起直白的现代版诗句，莎士比亚把形容词“mad”用作动词形式，这让大脑的活跃度更高。The next phase of the research is looking at the extent to which poetry can affect psychology and provide therapeutic benefit. Volunteers' brains were scanned while reading four lines by Wordsworth, and four 'translated' lines were also provided.第二个阶段是研究诗作可以影响心理状态到什么程度，给健康带来多少益处。研究者在志愿者阅读华兹华斯的四句诗作原文和“译文”时扫描了它们的大脑。The first version caused a greater degree of brain activity, lighting up not only the left part of the brain concerned with language, but also the right hemisphere that relates to autobiographical memory and emotion.前者能够让大脑的活跃程度更高，不仅让控制语言的左脑变得更活跃，同时也能让控制自传式记忆以及情感的右脑更活跃。'Poetry is not just a matter of style. It is a matter of deep versions of experience that add the emotional and biographical to the cognitive,' said Prof Davis, who will present the findings at the North of England education conference in Sheffield this week.“诗歌不单单是一种文体。诗歌是一种深层次的经验，这种经验是在认知经验的基础上加上情感经验和生平经历而形成的，”戴维斯教授如是说。戴维斯教授将在本周在谢菲尔德举行的北英格兰教育大会上介绍他的研究成果。