Don't blame that long lunch meeting or low caffeine levels for your lack of care-factor in the early afternoon.
在下午的早些時(shí)候感覺身體被掏空，是怪午餐會議太長，還是體內(nèi)咖啡因不夠。（它們表示這鍋我們不背）。

New research suggests your brain's reward functions are tuned in to your body's daily rhythms, with 2 pm being the low-point in your ability to feel good about nailing that big, important task.
最新研究表明，你的大腦可以根據(jù)你的日常規(guī)律自動調(diào)節(jié)來適應(yīng)，到了下午兩點(diǎn)你的體能狀態(tài)會降到一個最低值，就不適合做什么重大的任務(wù)啦。

The post-lunch slump is a familiar feeling for many people, often resulting in either a siesta or a masculine-sounding fizzy beverage.
很多人都會有午餐后怠倦的感覺，要么就選擇小睡一會，要么就來一個提神醒腦的氣泡飲料。

Researchers from Swinburne University of Technology in Australia decided to look into just how much of our desire to commit to a task was linked to our body's natural circadian rhythm.
來自澳大利亞的斯威本科技大學(xué)的研究人員想要了解，我們身體的晝夜節(jié)律對于完成任務(wù)有怎樣的影響。

Using an imaging technique called blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the team investigated how parts of the brain responded to a sense of reward at different times of the day in a group of 16 healthy, right-handed men.
使用一項(xiàng)醫(yī)學(xué)顯像技術(shù)血氧合度依賴性功能性磁共振成像，樣本人群為一組16人的右胚子，健康男性，來觀察他們的大腦對一天之內(nèi)的對于獎勵刺激的反應(yīng)。

The volunteers were given a task where they had to guess whether the hidden value of a digital card on a screen was higher or lower than five. Guessing correctly earned a reward, while an incorrect guess was penalised.
志愿者需要完成在屏幕上猜電子牌的數(shù)是大于5還是小于5。猜對就得到獎勵，猜錯就會有相應(yīng)的懲罰。

To motivate the volunteers, the researchers told them they would receive a bonus for the best of three trials conducted at three different times; 10 am, 2 pm, and 7 pm.
為了鼓勵志愿者，每日測試三次分別在10點(diǎn)，下午2點(diǎn)，晚上7點(diǎn)累計(jì)的前三名，還會得到額外的獎勵。

Watching their brains as they performed the task revealed a pattern of activity in a structure at the base of the brain called the putamen.
在他們完成任務(wù)的過程中，觀察他們大腦組織中“豆?fàn)詈恕钡幕顒幽Ｊ健?/div>

This round blob of brain tissue manages a number of tasks, many revolving around learning and reinforcing behaviours that give the best chance of a good outcome. Having it primed at certain times over others can be interpreted as being ready to deal with an unexpected reward.
這種大腦組織中的圓形器官負(fù)責(zé)處理許多的任務(wù)，其中很多都是圍繞產(chǎn)生有益的學(xué)習(xí)和鞏固的行為。它會讓實(shí)驗(yàn)參與者認(rèn)為，只要比別人才對次數(shù)多，而且達(dá)到一定數(shù)量，就意味著能夠得到額外的獎勵。

"We found that activations in the left putamen, the reward centre located at the base of the forebrain, were consistently lowest at the 2 pm measurement compared to the start and end of the day," says researcher Jamie Byrne.“
“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)活躍的區(qū)域位于左側(cè)“豆?fàn)詈恕?，獎勵反?yīng)的中心，在前腦的深處，連續(xù)幾天的測試比較發(fā)現(xiàn)，下午兩點(diǎn)的測試結(jié)果是一天三次中成績最差的?！毖芯咳藛T杰米布萊恩說。

This is in line with their hypothesis, which claimed the brain's response to rewards varies according to the same biological rhythm that encourages us to wake, sleep, or feel hungry during the day.
這印證了他們之前假設(shè)，大腦對于獎勵刺激和身體讓我們醒來、睡覺、饑餓的生物節(jié)律是一樣的。

In other words, our brain isn't expecting a task to be as rewarding in the morning and late in the evening as it is in the middle of the day.
換句話說，比起早晨和晚上，在中午我們的大腦對于獎勵的渴望并沒有那么強(qiáng)烈。

The research doesn't provide evidence explaining the reasons why our brains are primed to learn from experiences better at the beginning and end of a day. It was also only on a small group of males, so there's still plenty of room for debate.
研究并沒有說明為什么我們的大腦為什么早晚的學(xué)習(xí)能力強(qiáng)，而且式樣的樣本也只是一組為數(shù)不多的男性，所以還有很多讓人質(zhì)疑的空間。

It's possible that these are high-risk times, where our bodies are tired, hungry, or exposed to more threats.
說不定還有其他一些不好的原因，比如我們累了、餓了、感覺到危機(jī)四伏等等。

Having a brain that's primed to deal with problems that could result in unexpected rewards at certain times of day could save time and maximise benefits.
知道了大腦什么時(shí)候最容易處理問題，就能夠在每天特定的時(shí)間基于額外的獎勵刺激，能夠節(jié)約時(shí)間，產(chǎn)生利潤的最大化。

For the rest of us, the research is a convenient excuse to take an extra hour to socialise in the lunch-room.
對于我們來說，這項(xiàng)研究給我們提供一個好的借口，在用餐室盡情社交。

Just tell the boss your brain is expecting a better reward.
只要告訴你的老板，你的大腦需要更好的獎勵刺激就行啦。

（翻譯：林潯鷗）

聲明：本雙語文章的中文翻譯系滬江英語原創(chuàng)內(nèi)容，轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處。中文翻譯僅代表譯者個人觀點(diǎn)，僅供參考。如有不妥之處，歡迎指正。