发白日梦,大白天走神是好事:大脑效率高,拥有更强创造力!
美国佐治亚理工学院一项最新研究表明,开会时开小差不一定是坏事。
大白天走神的人或许说明真的很聪明,很有创造性。

据美国每日科学网站早前报道,佐治亚理工学院心理学副教授埃里克·舒马赫说:“大脑效率高的人也许思考能力过剩,忍不住要走神。”
研究项目负责人克里斯蒂娜·戈德温与舒马赫及其他科学家利用核磁共振观察了100多名受试者的大脑活动。
受试者被要求集中精神,盯住一个静止的凝视点长达五分钟。研究小组利用观察数据来确定哪些大脑区域共同参与了这一行为。
佐治亚理工学院心理学博士生戈德温说:“相关大脑区域帮助我们更好地理解,当人处于清醒和休息状态时,哪些大脑区域会协同发挥作用。
有趣的是,此次研究表明,处在这一(清醒和休息)状态下的大脑模式与其他各种不同的认知能力存在关联。”
一旦确定人们休息时会有哪些大脑区域发挥作用,研究小组又将观察数据和受试者的智力及创造力数据进行了比较。受试者还填写了问卷,说明自己白天走神的程度。
那些声称大白天走神频率较高的人在智力和创造力方面的得分也更高,核磁共振同时显示这部分人的大脑系统更加高效。
舒马赫说:“人们往往觉得头脑走神是坏事,你想集中精神但做不到。我们的数据证明这种说法并不总是对的。有些容易走神的人,头脑更高效。”
舒马赫表示,头脑效率更高意味着思考能力更强,大脑可能在从事简单任务时走神。
如何确定大脑走神是因为效率高呢?
线索之一是能够在合适的时候自由进出一段对话或者一件任务,能自然地结束走神,不错过重要的话语或者步骤。
舒马赫说:“我们的发现使我想起那些容易走神的教授,他们很聪明,但会掉进自己的世界里,有时不在意周围环境;
还有那些比同班同学聪明太多的学生,同学可能需要五分钟学习新知识,有些人一分钟就搞定了,然后开始走神,开始做白日梦。”
戈德温与舒马赫认为,他们的发现为后续研究打开了大门,科学界可以进一步研究开小差什么时候有害,什么时候其实是有益的。

Daydreaming is Good. 

It Means You’re Smart

Brain study suggests mind wandering at work and home may not be as bad as you might think

A new study from the Georgia Institute of Technology suggests that daydreaming during meetings isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It might be a sign that you’re really smart and creative.
“People with efficient brains may have too much brain capacity to stop their minds from wandering,” said Eric Schumacher, the Georgia Tech associate psychology professor who co-authored the study.
Schumacher and his students and colleagues, including lead co-author Christine Godwin, measured the brain patterns of more than 100 people while they lay in an MRI machine. Participants were instructed to focus on a stationary fixation point for five minutes. The Georgia Tech team used the data to identify which parts of the brain worked in unison.
“The correlated brain regions gave us insight about which areas of the brain work together during an awake, resting state,” said Godwin, a Georgia Tech psychology Ph.D. candidate.
“Interestingly, research has suggested that these same brain patterns measured during these states are related to different cognitive abilities.” 
Once they figured out how the brain works together at rest, the team compared the data with tests the participants that measured their intellectual and creative ability. Participants also filled out a questionnaire about how much their mind wandered in daily life.
Those who reported more frequent daydreaming scored higher on intellectual and creative ability and had more efficient brain systems measured in the MRI machine.
“People tend to think of mind wandering as something that is bad. You try to pay attention and you can’t,” said Schumacher. “Our data are consistent with the idea that this isn’t always true. Some people have more efficient brains.”
Schumacher says higher efficiency means more capacity to think, and the brain may mind wander when performing easy tasks.
How can you tell if your brain is efficient? One clue is that you can zone in and out of conversations or tasks when appropriate, then naturally tune back in without missing important points or steps.
“Our findings remind me of the absent-minded professor — someone who’s brilliant, but off in his or her own world, sometimes oblivious to their own surroundings,” said Schumacher. “Or school children who are too intellectually advanced for their classes. 
While it may take five minutes for their friends to learn something new, they figure it out in a minute, then check out and start daydreaming.”
Godwin and Schumacher think the findings open the door for follow-up research to further understand when mind wandering is harmful, and when it may actually be helpful.
"There are important individual differences to consider as well, such as a person's motivation or intent to stay focused on a particular task,” said Godwin. 
The paper, “Functional connectivity within and between intrinsic brain networks correlates with trait mind wandering,” is published in the journal Neuropsychologia.
The research is based upon work supported by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (award number 2014-13121700006). Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
source: http://www.news.gatech.edu/2017/10/24/daydreaming-good-it-means-youre-smart

来源:搜狐教育/米国读书;编辑整理:掌中看米国
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