特别广播英语第 293 课：Laugh for the Health of It 笑能治百病-2

On another, it releases powerful endorphins in the brain that act to alleviate pain. 从某个方面而言，笑能使我们远离烦恼，身心放松。

There are cases where the appreciation of a good joke is indeed directly related to a person's health. 就另一个方面来说，幽默的时候脑部会释放能量强大的脑啡肽来减轻疼痛。

It can show, for example, whether a person has suffered damage to one particular area of the brain: the right frontal lobe. 有一些案例表明，能欣赏好笑的笑话，的确和健康情形有关。举例来说，它能说明一个人脑部某个特定的部位──右脑额叶是否受到损伤。

Scientists confirmed this by having people read jokes and asking them to choose the funniest endings from a list. 科学家通过实验证实这一点。实验的方法是叫一些人阅读笑话，然后请他们从一份目录中挑出最好笑笑话的结尾。

Subjects with normal brains usually chose endings that were based on a relatively complex synthesis of ideas. 脑部情况正常的受测试者选出的结尾，往往是经过相对复杂综合思维之后才能得出的。

Subjects with specifically located brain damage, however, responded only to slapstick endings, which did not depend on a particular context. 脑子某个特别部位受到损伤的人，只对闹剧式的笑话结尾有反应，这种笑话并不需要依赖特定的上下文。

When pressed , the brain-damaged subjects saw the logic in the correct endings. They simply did not find them funny. 对脑部受损伤的测试者施加一定压力之后，他们才会看出正确结尾的逻辑，但不觉得好笑。

Of course, humor is largely an individual matter. The next time your friend does not get one of your jokes, there is no need to accuse him of being a lamebrain. 当然，笑话是否好笑是因人而异的。下次你的朋友听不懂你讲的笑话时，没有必要笑人家笨。

However, you might suggest that he lighten up—for the health of it. 但是，你可以建议为了健康，让他放轻松点儿。