Recent studies have shown that moving our body in certain ways can improve our ability to think.

    最近的研究表明，以某种方式移动你的身体能提高你思考能力。

    Our Bodies, Our Brains

    Remember the expression: "Talk to the hand."?

    Since it came from: "Talk to the hand, 'cause the face don't give a damn." I'd say it's a negative statement.

    Well, regardless of the words, the image of a pushed out arm is often connected to something negative.

    And an arm beckoning towards oneself is typically connected to something positive.

    In fact, body movement can become so strongly connected to the accompanying thoughts that the mere movement itself can elicit associated feelings, according to studies.

    A recent experiment published in Psychological Science shows that approaching or moving away from an object can actually affect our thought processes. And body movements which are connected to negative emotions tend to enhance cognitive ability. The authors say that's probably because adverse situations typically require more cognitive control to deal with potentially bad consequences.

    Working with 38 subjects, the scientists confirmed that either a step forward （a typically positive movement） or a step backward （usually negative） significantly changed one's ability to perform a mental task.

    Taking four steps back improved a subject's accuracy and timing on the task, whereas taking four steps forward led to longer processing times and more errors.

    Gives you a new angle on the line: "Take a step back and think for a second."

    我们的身体移动和思考有关

    还记得这个成语吗："和手说去吧"?（实际意思是"闭嘴",相当于"shut up"--译者注。）

    这个成语来自于："和手说去吧，因为你从脸上什么也得不到。"（即告诉对方住嘴--译者注）,因此我想说，这句话是个批评用语。

    当然了，即使不考虑谈话的内容，手臂伸出去的这个动作也往往和一些负面的东西联系起来。

    而手臂弯向自己的身体往往和一些积极的东西联系在一起。

    事实上，研究结果表明，身体的移动与伴随的思想联系非常紧密，以致于身体移动本身就能引起相关的情感。

    最近发表在《心理科学》（Psychological Science）上的一个实验表明，向某个物体移动或者从这个物体移开实际上能影响我们的思维过程。另外，与消极情感相连的身体运动倾向于提高认知能力。作者说，这可能是因为不利的情况往往对认知控制要求更多，从而去处理潜在的糟糕结果。

    科学家们对38名受试者的研究证实，向前一步（通常是积极的移动）或者向后一步（通常是消极的移动）都能显着地改变一个人执行心理任务的能力。

    向后退4步能提高受试者执行任务的精确度和准时性，然而前进4步让受试者犯更多的错误，而且耗费更多的时间。

    对于"退一步，再想想"这句话，我们需要给予新的认识视角。

    Vocabulary:

    Negative:负面的；消极的

    Regardless of: （介词短语）不考虑

    Beckon:指向

    Accompany:陪伴

    Elicit:引起

    Enhance:提高

    Cognitive:认知的

    Adverse:不利的

    Potentially:潜在的

    Consequence:结果

    Confirm:证实

    Significantly:显着地

    Mental:心理的

    Accuracy:精确性；准确性