(单词翻译:单击)
Greetings! I’m Anthony Brown,
大家好！我是安东尼·布朗。
and I’ll be joining Brit and Hank on this channel to talk about these wonderful, weird brains of ours and how they work!
我将与布里特和汉克一起在这个频道里谈论我们那奇妙、怪诞的大脑以及它们是如何工作的！
And I couldn’t be more… psyched about it. Now, onto the science.
我对这件事感到非常激动。先来聊聊科学吧。
We all know that having a little bit to drink can make you a little… loose lipped.
我们都知道喝一点酒会让你有点……口齿不清。
Like, you’re having a few beers while watching the Packers game with your buddies, and before you know it, you’re screaming
比如，你和朋友们一起看绿湾包装工队的比赛时喝了几杯啤酒，不知不觉中，你就尖叫起来
TOM BRADY IS NO AARON RODGERS at the top of your lungs.
汤姆·布雷迪可不及你心目中的阿隆·罗杰斯。
Whoops. Well, we all know that last statement is true.
好吧，我们都知道上面那句话是真的。
EVEN IF SOME PEOPLE DON’T WANT TO ACCEPT IT.
即使有些人不想接受。
And it turns out a bit of booze might actually improve your language skills more generally; that is, if you’re speaking a foreign tongue.
事实证明，喝一点酒一般来说能提高语言能力，如果你说的是外语的话。
Drunk people aren’t exactly known for their language skills, since, you know, slurring doesn’t count as articulate speech.
醉醺醺的人并不是因为他们的语言能力而出名，因为口齿不清不算是清晰的话语。
But, strangely enough, studies do suggest that drinking might help you master the complexities of speaking that new language you’ve been trying to pick up.
但奇怪的是，研究表明，饮酒可能有助于帮你掌握想学的新语言的复杂性。
For instance, take a study first published online in 2017 in The Journal of Psychopharmacology,
例如，以2017年首次在网络版《心理药理学杂志》上的一项研究为例，
which looked at the language abilities of 50 students in the Netherlands.
该研究调查了荷兰50名学生的语言能力。
All of the participants natively spoke German, but were trying to learn Dutch,
所有的参与者的母语都是德语，但都想学荷兰语。
and had to pass an exam showing they could speak the language to get into their course.
他们必须通过一项考试，证明他们可以说荷兰语，然后才能参与课程学习。
As part of the study, they were asked to rate how good they thought their Dutch language skills were,
作为研究的一部分，研究员要求他们对自己的荷兰语技能进行评估，
and complete the Rosenburg Self Esteem Scale, designed to measure, you guessed it, self esteem.
并完成罗森堡自尊量表。你猜的没错，该量表旨在测量自尊。
Then, they either got a healthy glass of water, or a vodka with bitter lemon; enough booze to give them a blood alcohol concentration of around 0.04%.
然后，他们要么喝一杯健康的水，要么喝一杯加了苦柠檬的伏特加；饮酒量能让他们血液中的酒精浓度达到0.04%左右。
Once served, they had 10 minutes to finish the drink.
研究员给他们水或酒后，他们有10分钟的时间把它喝完。
Then, 15 minutes later, when the alcohol had started to make its way into their bloodstream, the language test began.
15分钟后，当酒精开始进入血液时，开始进行语言测试。
They were told to verbally argue for or against animal testing, in Dutch, for two minutes.
要求他们用荷兰语对赞成或反对动物试验进行辩论，时间为两分钟。
And it turned out that the group that drank spoke Dutch better.
结果发现，喝酒的那组人荷兰语说得更好。
Now I know what you’re thinking.
我知道你在想什么。
But no, they didn’t just think they did better because they were buzzed, like your friend “thinks” they’re so much better at karaoke after 3 tequila shots.
但不是那样的，他们不只是认为饮酒让自己表现得更好，就像你的朋友“认为”他们喝过三杯龙舌兰后，卡拉OK会唱得更好。
They rated their own language skills about the same as when they weren’t drunk, and the self esteem scores weren’t significantly different, either.
他们对自己的语言技能评估与未喝酒时差不多，自尊得分也没有显著差异。
It was actually other, native Dutch speakers who said they spoke the language better,
实际上有其他原因。母语是荷兰语的人表示他们说得更好。
and in particular, those judges noted the tipsy participants sounded more natively Dutch.
评估者特别注意到，微醉的参与者讲得更像母语是荷兰语的人。
And though there isn’t a ton of work on this topic specifically,
尽管在这个问题上还未进行大量的研究，
other research does seem to confirm this idea that pronunciation of a foreign language improves with a little buzz,
但其他研究似乎也证实了这种看法，少量饮酒能改善外语的发音，
or, at least, it doesn’t get worse, like pronunciation in your native tongue does.
至少不会让发音变差，就像你讲母语时的发音。
That might sound kind of ridiculous, but when we think about some of the relaxing qualities of alcohol, it kinda makes sense.
这听起来有点荒谬，但当我们想到酒品的一些令人放松的特点时，就能说通了。
You see, you went off about Aaron Rodgers being better than Tom Brady after a few drinks,
你喝过些酒后会说，阿隆·罗杰斯比汤姆·布雷迪好多了。
still no argument there, because booze acts as a multi-purpose wet blanket in the brain.
还是没什么可争论的，因为酒精在大脑中发挥着多种功能。
Specifically, it increases the effectiveness of GABA, a neurotransmitter that generally quiets the chatter between neurons.
具体来说，它增加了GABA的效用，GABA是一种神经递质，通常能平息神经元之间的信息传送。
That includes the neurons you need to activate to stop yourself from saying something you’ll regret.
这包括激活某些神经元，以阻止你说一些让自己后悔的话。
But such signal dampening can also lessen anxiety.
但是这样的信号衰减也能减轻焦虑。
For example, a 2008 study found that self-reported ratings of intoxication
例如，2008年的一项研究发现，自我报告的醉酒程度评级和
negatively correlated with the activation of brain areas associated with fear response, namely, the limbic system.
与恐惧反应相关的大脑区域（即边缘系统）的激活呈负相关。
Many language learners suffer from foreign language anxiety, which is a feeling of tension or apprehension associated with second language contexts.
许多语言学习者会出现外语焦虑，这是一种与第二语言语境相关的紧张感或恐惧感。
Basically, they think they’re terrible, so they get discouraged and subsequently do worse.
基本上，他们认为自己很糟，就会感到气馁，然后表现得更糟。
In severe cases, they might even shy away from speaking the language entirely.
在严重的情况下，他们甚至会完全回避讲这种语言。
And it seems like a bit of booze can dull your fears about making mistakes, which might mean you make fewer of them.
似乎喝点酒可以消除你对犯错的恐惧，这可能意味着你犯的错误更少。
Or, there might be some other, as of yet unidentified reason drinking helps you sound more natural.
或者，可能还有其他原因，因为还不清楚为什么喝酒能让你的讲话听起来更自然。
But that will take more research.
这需要进行更多的研究。
Alcohol might be able to help you learn the language, too.
酒水或许也能帮助你学习语言。
Of course, conventional wisdom would say drinking isn’t great for learning for, well, a lot of reasons.
当然，传统观点认为喝酒对学习没有好处。原因有很多。
But perhaps the biggest is its reputation for impairing memory.
但最重要的原因也许是它会损害记忆。
I mean, there are whole Hollywood blockbusters with plots centered around binge drinking-induced blackouts.
很多好莱坞大片的剧情，都围绕狂饮引发的眩晕。
And research has shown that even at lower levels, alcohol can mess with memory storage.
研究表明，即使酒精含量较低，也会影响记忆储存。
But that’s not the whole story.
但这还不是故事的全部。
Some research suggests that a drink might actually help you remember things; specifically, things you did before you started to drink.
一些研究表明，一杯酒实际上能帮助你记住一些事情；特别是，在你开始喝酒之前做的事。
A surprising study published in 2017 found that people who drank to their hearts’ content
2017年发表的一项令人惊讶的研究发现，那些在完成一项记忆任务后畅饮的人
after a memorizing task remembered more than those who stayed sober.
比保持清醒的人记得更多。
And that seemed to be because of alcohol’s memory tampering abilities, or what psychologists refer to as a period of ‘reduced memory encoding’.
这似乎是因为酒精对记忆的篡改能力，或者心理学家所说的“记忆编码减少”时期。
The basic gist is that because you remember less when you’re wasted,
其要点是，当你饮酒时，记住的东西会变少。
your brain does an extra good job locking in the stuff that happened before alcohol started interfering with your memory.
所以，大脑会很好地锁定住酒精开始干扰你的记忆之前发生的事情。
Which is basically an argument for following your study sessions with a couple of well deserved beers.
这基本上就是让你在学习完之后，喝上几杯奖励自己的啤酒的理由。
But, it’s important to note that even if a little drinking can improve your pronunciation
但是，需要注意的是，尽管少量饮酒能改善发音，
or even help you remember what was on those flashcards, this is definitely not a case where more is better.
甚至有助于你记住一些之前发生的事，但这绝不是说喝越多越好。
These studies all used pretty low doses of alcohol.
这些研究中的饮酒量都相当低。
So, if you’re hoping to get a linguistic boost, just a drink or two will do.
所以，如果你想提高语言水平，喝一两杯就行了。
Besides, you should always drink responsibly!
此外，喝酒时，要时刻对自己和他人负责！
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych!
感谢收看本期的《心理科学秀》！
And thanks for joining me on my first episode!
感谢收看我录制的第一期节目！
This channel wouldn’t exist without the support of our SciShow Patrons.
如果没有SciShow Patrons的支持，也不会有这个频道了。
If you wanna support the show, go to Patreon.com/SciShow,
如果你想支持我们的节目，请访问Patreon.com/SciShow。
