60秒科学

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“60秒科学”是一个电台节目,用一分钟的时间为大家带来新鲜、有趣的科学新闻,听众只需花一分钟便能轻松掌握科技发展新方向。我们常常挂在嘴边的“IQ”即“智商”,是“智力商数”(Intelligence Quotient)的缩写。IQ实际上不会随一个人的年龄增长而提高,在人们16岁后就基本停止发展。尽管社会上有很多关于提高智商的理论和方法,但是有没方法降低阻碍智商发展的可能呢?一起来听听吧,got a minute?

Over the years, people have put forth a lot of theories

to explain why intelligence differs, from person to

person and even around the world. Health, wealth, schooling, nutrition, and even climate have all come up. Now, researchers at the University of New Mexico

suggest that parasites[寄生虫] might play a role. They find that the prevalence[流行] of infectious diseases can be a powerful predictor of regional smarts. Their work appears in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.

It takes a lot of energy to build and operate a human brain. This needy organ commands 87% of the body’s metabolic[新陈代谢的] budget in infants, and about 25% in adults. So things that sap[使不断消耗] our energy are likely to hinder our intellectual growth. That’s why malnourishment’s[营养不良] not good for the mind.

But what about parasites? Fighting off nasty[令人厌恶的]

bugs can take a lot out of you. So the scientists got to wondering whether excessive infections might correlate with[与……关联] impaired cognitive development. Looking at IQs from around the world, they found that high levels of infectious disease go hand in hand with lower average national intelligence.

Although the authors have not demonstrated cause and effect[因果关系], it’s nice to think that taking down parasites could bring up our IQs.

多年以来,人们提出各种理论,以解释为什么人与人、甚至整个世界都存在智力差异。健康、财富、教育、营养,甚至气候等理论都曾被提出。现在,(美国)新墨西哥州大学的研究人员认为,也许寄生虫也起了一定作用。他们发现,传染性疾病的流行也许是区域人群智商的有力暗示。他们的研究发表在(英国)《皇家学会会刊》上。

人类大脑的成长和运作都需要大量能量。在婴儿时期,这个“饥渴”的器官占用了身体87%的代谢预算,成年后则约为25%。这么一来,不断汲取我们能量的东西很可能阻碍我们的智力发展。这也是营养不良不利于大脑发育的原因。

但是寄生虫又会产生怎样的效果呢?和那些令人讨厌的虫子作斗争也会耗掉你不少精力。科学家们猜测过多的感染是否也与认知发展受损有一定联系。从全球范围的智商高低来看,他们发现程度严重的传染性疾病常与全国智商平均水平偏低同时出现。

尽管论文作者尚未证明个中因果关系,但是我们至少知道一个好消息――减少寄生虫感染能提高我们的智商。