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Try this: clear your mind.
试试这个：摒除杂念。
Try to think of absolutely nothing.
什么都不要想。
I'll wait.
等一下。
Not too easy, is it?
不太容易，是不?
You probably thought about something, even if it was "clear your mind, clear your mind, clear your mind!"
虽然你可能想过“放空，放空，放空!”
That's normal.
这是可以实现的。
In fact, it's not only normal, it's how you're wired.
事实上，这是有方法的。
Thanks to a group of structures called the default mode network, your brain is always on, even when it's not.
多亏了一组名为“默认模式网络”的结构，大脑才一直在运转，甚至没有运转。
Luckily, once you know how it works, you can find ways to control it.
幸运的是，一旦你知道它的工作原理，就能找到控制方法。
We've known that the brain never really goes quiet since at least the early 20th century.
我们知道，至少从20世纪初开始，大脑就从未真正静下来过。
Scientists back then actually discovered it by accident.
当时的科学家偶然发现这一点。
In studies, they'd ask people to perform mental tasks while their brain activity was monitored.
研究人员要求受试者在大脑活动受到监控的同时进行脑力活动。
Between tasks, the participants were asked to rest quietly.
任务的间隙，受试者被要求静下来休息。
That would give the scientists a baseline level of their brain activity.
这将为科学家提供其大脑活动的基准。
Weirdly, when the participants were resting, their brain activity didn't calm down.
奇怪的是，休息时，受试者的大脑并未镇定下来。
In fact, in certain brain regions, it increased
事实上，大脑的某些区域更加活跃了，
For the most part, scientists just treated this as a bizarre quirk and never really studied it on its own.
在很大程度上，科学家只是把这当作一个奇怪的怪癖，从未真正研究过。
That is, until the 1970s, when Swedish brain physiologist David Ingvar came on the scene.
直至20世纪70年代，瑞典大脑生理学家大卫·英瓦尔才开始研究。
Starting in 1974, he began compiling a bunch of imaging results from studies that had measured the blood flow in people's brains when they were at rest.
从1974年开始，他开始收集一些研究的成像效果，这些研究测量了人们休息时大脑的血液流动。
They let him see that specific brain regions were turning on when active thinking turned off.
他从中看到，当思维停止活跃时，大脑的特定区域正在打开。
One main area he noticed was the frontal lobe, which plays a big role in memory.
他注意到主要区域——额叶在记忆中扮演着重要角色。
Fast-forward to now, and more advanced technology has let scientists identify regions that turn on all over the brain —
到现在，更先进的技术已经帮助科学家们识别出大脑各个区域。
not just in the memory center, but also in areas that play a role in planning, language, social cues, and even consciousness as a whole.
不仅在记忆中心，而且在计划、语言、社交线索，甚至是整个意识中起作用的区域。
Since these regions are active when the brain is in its default mode — that is, when you're not consciously thinking about anything —
因为这些区域在大脑处于默认模式时处于活跃状态，即当你无意识地思考任何事情的时候，
scientists called them the "default mode network."
科学家们称之为“默认模式网络”。
Researchers have also studied exactly what's going on when the default mode network is active by having people rest quietly and periodically asking them what they're thinking.
研究人员还通过让人们静下来休息，并定期询问他们在想什么，来研究默认模式网络处于活动状态时到底发生了什么。
"Whatcha thinkin' 'bout?"
“你觉得呢?”
"Nothin'. Just default mode stuff."
“没有啦，只是默认模式罢了”
They found that across the board, the brain at rest conjured up mental images, reminisced about past experiences, and made plans for the future.
在整个实验过程中，他们发现，休息状态下的大脑中会显现出情景，回忆过去的经历，规划未来。
When you're sitting quietly and suddenly come up with the perfect comeback for a week-old insult or start imagining what's gonna happen during your upcoming trip to Iceland,
当你静坐着，突然想出一个完美的方法来弥补一周的侮辱，或者开始想象你即将到来的冰岛之旅，
that's the default mode network at play.
这就是默认模式网络。
But just because it's normal for your mind to wander doesn't mean that it's always good.
但是，走神是正常的，但这并不意味着走神总是好的
On the one hand, the mind-wandering that happens when the default mode network is active is found to play a big role in creative problem solving.
一方面，人们发现，当默认模式网络处于活动状态时，走神现象在创造性地解决问题中扮演着重要角色。
On the other hand, that same mind-wandering can also involve rumination and obsessive thoughts.
另一方面，同样的走神也包括沉思和强迫性思维。
In fact, people with depression and obsessive-compulsive disorders tend to have stronger connections between the brain regions of the default mode network.
事实上，抑郁症和强迫症患者的大脑默认模式网络区域之间的联系更强。
And even without that, it's obviously no good if your mind wanders while you're trying to concentrate on a test or pay attention to what your boss is telling you.
即使没有这些，如果你在试着专注于一场考试或注意你的老板告诉你的事情时心不在焉，这显然是没有好处的。
So how do you control your default mode network?
那么如何控制默认模式网络呢?
There's one strategy that's shown a lot of promise: meditation.
有一种策略：冥想。
Specifically, something called focused-attention meditation.
具体来说，就是所谓的集中注意力冥想。
For a 2012 study, meditators were asked to focus on their breath while scientists scanned their brains.
在2012年的一项研究中，研究人员要求冥想者专注于自己的呼吸，同时让科学家扫描他们的大脑。
Every time they caught their minds wandering, the participants would hit a button.
每次当他们发现自己走神时，就会按下一个按钮。
Then they'd simply redirect their attention to their breath.
然后受试者会将注意力转移到呼吸上。
Pressing a button meant scientists could look at exactly what was happening in their brains before, during, and after the meditators noticed their minds wandering.
按按钮意味着科学家们可以准确地观察冥想者在注意到他们的思想走神之前、期间和之后的大脑活动。
They found that, sure enough, when the meditators' minds started to wander, the default mode network lit up.
他们发现，果然，当冥想者开始走神时，默认模式网络就会起作用。
When they became aware of it, brain regions responsible for detecting important events took over.
当他们意识到这一点时，大脑中负责检测重要事件的区域就开始工作。
Then, when they regained focus, the executive network, which handles cognitive control, came back online.
然后，当他们重新集中注意力时，负责认知控制的执行网络又重新上线。
This all happened in a matter of seconds, and the most experienced meditators did it the fastest.
这一切都发生在几秒钟之内，最有经验的冥想者是最快的。
Like a lot of brain-imaging experiments, this was a small study.
和很多脑成像实验一样是一个小型研究。
But follow-up experiments have backed up some of the same ideas.
但后续的实验也证实了同样的一些观点。
For example, researchers have found that experienced meditators have stronger connections between the default mode network and the areas responsible for attention.
例如，研究人员发现，有经验的冥想者在默认模式网络和负责注意力的区域之间联系更强。
Your brain always wants to be focused on something.
大脑总是希望专注于某件事。
It's just a matter of redirecting that focus to something calm and quiet so it's not so noisy up there.
只要把注意力转移到一些平静的事情上就容易了。
And the more you practice redirecting your attention, the better you'll be at it.
你越练习转移注意力，你就会做得越好。
There's nothing wrong with the default mode network letting your mind wander.
让思绪游离的默认模式网络没有问题。
The key is not to let it be the boss of you.
关键是不要被它掌控。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych!
感谢收看本期心理科学秀！
If you're looking for something to redirect your attention and clear your mind a bit, hopefully this video helped.
如果你想要转移注意力，理清思路，希望这段视频能帮到你。
And if not, we have lots of other videos you can watch!
如果没有，我们还有很多其他的视频供您选择!
The support of our Patreon community is what has allowed us to create all of these videos as free resources for anyone who wants to learn.
感谢Patreon社区的支持，我们能够将所有这些免费视频资源提供给任何想要学习的人。
If you're not yet a patron and want to learn more about how you can be a part of all this, just check out patreon.com/scishow.
如果您还没有支持我们的节目，欲了解更多参与我们节目的方式，请访问patreon.com/scishow。
