(单词翻译:单击)
Have you ever seen a performance that just blew your mind?
你看过让你惊讶不已的演出吗？
Like when, mid-song, the guitarist just goes completely nuts and pulls this god-like solo seemingly out of nowhere?
比如在歌曲中间，吉他手完全发疯了，莫名地弹奏出这首神来之曲？
You may think that musicians who are awesome at improvising are just inexplicably gifted.
你可能会认为，那些擅长即兴创作的音乐家只是莫名其妙非常具有天赋。
Like they're some supernaturally talented genius.
好像他们是超自然的天才。
But psychological studies tell us that actually, what really makes for a good improviser isn't some innate genius.
但是心理学研究告诉我们，事实上，成为优秀的即兴发挥者的真正原因并不是其天生的才华。
Aside from a whole lot of practice, you need to be able to switch your brain off.
除了大量的练习外，你还需要能够关掉大脑。
Common wisdom may tell you that when someone's improvising up a storm, their brain is probably on fire.
常识可能告诉你，当一个人要即兴表演时，他们的大脑可能处于兴奋状态。
Like in their brain they're planning the next section, or figuring out how to plug in this thing they thought of yesterday, or trying not to mess the whole thing up.
就像在大脑里，他们正在计划下一个部分，或者想办法把昨天想到的东西加进去，或者试着不把整件事情搞砸。
But actually, the opposite is true.
但事实恰恰相反。
Some musicians, such as jazz players, often describe improv as this otherworldly experience.
一些音乐家，如爵士演奏家，经常把即兴演奏描述为一种超凡脱俗的体验。
The rhythms and notes just burst forth from their instruments way faster than they're capable of processing what they've just done.
节奏和音符从乐器中迸发出来的速度，比他们处理刚才所做事情的速度还要快。
It's like it comes from somewhere else, and just flows right through their fingers.
就像是来自别的地方，直接从手指里流淌出来。
It seems pretty counterintuitive that such detailed, finessed improvs could be so effortless for some musicians to produce.
对于一些音乐家来说，如此细致、精巧的即兴表演是如此的不费吹灰之力。
But research on the brain can show us why this might be the case.
但是，对大脑的研究能向我们展示其原因。
A study published in 2008 using functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, looked at the brain activity of six professional jazz musicians
2008年发表了一项使用功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）的研究，观察了六位专业爵士音乐家的大脑活动
— first while they played scales, and then while they improvised simple melodies on a keyboard.
——首先是他们演奏音阶，然后是他们在键盘上即兴演奏简单的旋律。
This keyboard had to be specially made out of non-magnetic materials, since the magnetic fields used in MRI imaging are really, really strong.
键盘必须由非磁性材料制成，因为磁共振成像中使用的磁场非常强。
Like, things-will-fly-out-of-your-pockets-if-you're-in-the-same-room-as-them strong.
就像，如果你和它们在同一个房间里，灵感就会从口袋里飞出来。
And as if that didn't make this experiment awkward enough, musicians then had to play lying down in the scanner's tight little tube.
让实验更尴尬的是，音乐家们还不得不躺在扫描仪小小的管状物里演奏。
But somehow, it all worked out.
但不知怎么的，问题都解决了。
Afterward, researchers analyzed the scans and compared the brain activities during the two tasks.
随后，研究人员分析了扫描结果，并比较了两项任务期间的大脑活动。
And they found that while improvising, there were two very distinct changes.
他们发现，在即兴创作的过程中，有两个截然不同的变化。
First, the medial prefrontal cortex became active.
首先，内侧前额叶皮层开始活跃。
Like other parts of the prefrontal cortex, this area of the brain gets involved in lots of activities, including decision-making and memory retrieval.
和前额叶皮层的其他部分一样，大脑中的该区域参与很多活动，包括决策和记忆恢复。
And researchers believe that increased activity in this region encourages idea generation.
研究人员认为，该区域活动的增加鼓励创意的产生。
It ramps up creativity and helps soloists come up with new directions to take the music.
它增强创造力，并帮助独奏者提出新的方向，采取的音乐。
But that wasn't the only thing going on in the scans.
但这并不是唯一的扫描结果。
At the same time, activity in the brain's lateral prefrontal regions had decreased.
同时，大脑外侧前额叶区域的活动也减少了。
These regions are responsible for monitoring and correcting your behavior.
这些区域负责监视和纠正行为。
For example, the might be checking for mistakes and judging how enjoyable the performance is.
例如，可能是检查错误，并判断表演的愉悦程度。
Meanwhile, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is especially active when you're monitoring your actions, or putting real effort into problem-solving.
同时，监控自己的行为，或在解决问题的过程中真正的努力时，前额叶背外侧皮层特别活跃。
But while you're improvising, these parts of your brain basically shut down.
但是当你即兴发挥时，大脑的这些部位基本上会关闭。
At first this might sound kind of weird.
一开始，这听起来有点奇怪。
The ability to monitor your behavior seems pretty important when you're on stage in front of a crowd.
当你站在舞台上面对人群时，监控自己行为的能力显得相当重要。
So why would these areas get quieter when you're jamming out?
那么，当你站出来时，为什么这些区域会变得更安静呢？
The researchers suggest that this shutdown may allow musicians to mellow out a little.
研究人员认为，这种关闭可能会让音乐家们稍微放松一下。
They stop monitoring themselves so harshly and just let the music come out of them without being too critical of how it sounds.
他们不再那么苛刻地监控自己，只是让音乐从他们身上散发出来，而不必太挑剔听起来如何。
And it's not just jazz musicians that show these patterns.
不仅是爵士音乐家展示出这些模式。
A similar study looking at brain activity in freestyle rappers showed exactly the same patterns of activity.
一项关于自由式说唱歌手大脑活动的类似研究，显示出完全相同的活动模式。
It seems like, with their brains in this state, musicians and rappers are able to just trust their instincts, take risks, and go with the flow.
似乎在这种状态下，音乐家和说唱歌手能够相信自己的直觉，敢于冒险，跟着感觉走。
And 'flow', or 'flow state', is what psychologists call being in the zone.
而“流动”或“流动状态”，就是心理学家所说的处于该区域之中。
Psychologists who have studied musical improvisation suggest that flow is really important to a good jam session.
研究过音乐即兴演奏的心理学家认为，流畅性对于一个好的即兴演奏环节非常重要。
Of course, it's not the only thing at play.
当然，这不是唯一在发挥作用的事情。
You have to be able to like, play the instrument before you can improvise.
在进行即兴演奏之前，你必须能够演奏这种乐器。
But when you're in a flow state, you lose a sense of yourself, time flies by, and every action you take just seems to follow naturally from the last one.
但当你处于一种流动状态时，会失去自我意识，时间匆匆飞逝，你所采取的每一个行动似乎都是从上一个行动中自然而来。
Like you don't even have to think you just do.
就好像你不必想着自己刚才做的事。
In fact, the same patterns of activity we see in improvising musicians also show up during REM sleep— the phase of sleep that lets us dream.
事实上，我们在即兴演奏的音乐家身上看到的活动模式，也出现在快速眼动睡眠中。快速眼动即让我们做梦的睡眠阶段。
That's right!
没错！
The same parts of your brain that gave you that one weird dream about boogie-boarding with Kanye are also responsible for boosting your creativity while you're awake.
在你清醒的时候，大脑中同样的部位也会让你做在博茨瓦纳的卡内冲浪的怪梦，这也会增强你的创造力。
Which kind of makes sense, right?
这听起来有道理，对吧？
Dreaming is all about strange, unplanned associations and a lack of control.
做梦都是奇怪的、无计划的联想，而且缺乏控制。
So it's easy to see why those same traits, produced by those same brain areas,
所以，很容易理解，为什么由相同的大脑区域产生的这些相同特征，
produce that same feeling of otherworldly inspiration that musicians report while they improvise.
产生了音乐家即兴创作时所报告的同样的超自然灵感的感觉。
The skills of improvising soloists are impressive, for sure.
毫无疑问，即兴独奏的技巧令人印象深刻。
But it's probably not just some innate genius that's letting them kill it on stage.
但也许不仅是天生的天才，让他们在舞台绽放光芒。
The ability to get in the zone is available to pretty much all of us.
我们几乎所有人都能进入这个区域。
And with a little practice, maybe you can quiet down your prefrontal cortex and harness it too.
稍加练习，也许你可以让前额叶皮层安静下来，并加以利用。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych!
感谢收看本期《心理科学秀》！
If you liked learning about how your brain influences your musicality, you might be interested in this episode about how music also influences your brain… no matter how musical you are!
如果你想了解大脑如何影响音乐才能，你可能会对音乐是如何影响大脑的这期节目感兴趣。不管你是否具有音乐才华！
