Smiling could be good for your health. 笑容对健康有益。

Researchers are finding that wearing a smile brings certain benefits, like slowing down the heart and reducing stress. This may even happen when people aren't aware they are forming a smile, according to a recent study. The work follows research that established that the act of smiling can make you feel happier. 研究人员发现，面带笑容让人受益良多，笑容可以降低心跳速度并缓解压力。最近的一项研究表明，甚至人们下意识地强装笑颜也对健康有益。此前已有研究表明，笑容可以让你更快乐。

Some research suggests only a full and genuine smile affects the body in positive ways. Other studies, though, indicate even a polite smile may be beneficial. Frowning also may have a health effect: Preventing people from frowning, such as with the use of Botox, can help alleviate depression, a recent study found. 某些研究提出，只有开怀大笑和发自内心的笑才对身体有积极影响。不过，另有一些研究指出，即使礼节性的笑容都可能对身体有益。同时，皱眉也可能对健康产生影响：一项近期的研究发现，通过诸如注射肉毒杆菌(Botox)这样的方法来抑制皱眉这一动作，可以有助于减轻抑郁。

'You can influence mental health by what you do with your face, whether you smile more or frown less,' says Eric Finzi, a dermatologic surgeon and co-author of the study on frowning. 此项皱眉行为研究报告的合着者、皮肤外科医生埃里克•芬奇(Eric Finzi)表示：“你可以通过自己的面部表情来改善心理健康状况，你可以多微笑一点，或者可以少皱一点眉头。”

Kyle Gorjanc, of Brooklyn, N.Y., regularly runs for exercise and long-distance training. After seeing race photos of herself grimacing, Ms. Gorjanc, 32 years old, began about a year ago making a conscious effort to smile when running. 'I started by literally forcing myself to smile. Now I think I do it more naturally,' she says. 住在纽约布鲁克林的凯尔•戈尔延奇(Kyle Gorjanc)定期地进行跑步训练和长跑练习。在看到自己参加跑步比赛时表情痛苦的照片之后，32岁的戈尔延奇于大约一年前开始尝试在跑步时有意识地微笑。她说：“开始的时候我简直是强迫自己去笑；而现在，我觉得我笑起来更自然了。”

Smiling has helped her feel less stressed and tired while running, she says. Since the biggest challenge in long-distance running isn't physical but mental, smiling 'ensures that long-distance running will be much, much easier,' says Ms. Gorjanc, a co-founder of an online resource for women runners called Salty Running. 'What happens is you actually find things to be happy about instead of just smiling for the sake of doing it,' she says. And of course other people smile back, she says. 戈尔延奇是一个名为“飒体跑步”(Salty Running)的网上社区的联合创始人，该网上社区专为女性跑步者而设置。她说，在跑步时，微笑有助于缓解她的压力感和疲惫感。由于长跑时最大的挑战不是身体上的，而是心理上的，微笑“将确保长跑变得更轻松”。她说：“发生在我身上的事情是，我真的找到了让人开心的事情，而不需要再为笑而笑。”当然，在你微笑的时候，别人也会对你报以微笑。

A study published in the journal Psychological Science in November found that people who smiled after engaging in stress-inducing tasks showed a greater reduction in heart rate than people who maintained a neutral facial expression. The study, which involved 170 participants, got people to smile unknowingly by making them hold a pair of chopsticks in three different ways in their mouth. One way forced people to maintain a neutral expression, another prompted a polite smile, and a third resulted in a full smile that uses the muscles around the mouth and the eyes. 11月发表在《心理科学》(Psychological Science)杂志上的一项研究报告表明，在参与高压任务后，面带笑容的人比面无表情的人心率下降得要快。这项研究有170名受试对象，通过让这些受试对象用三种不同的方式咬住筷子，研究人员使他们在不知不觉间露出了笑容。其中一种咬住筷子的方式使受试对象保持了自然表情，第二种方式使他们呈现出礼节性微笑的表情，第三种方式通过调动他们嘴部和眼睛周围的肌肉使其呈现出开怀大笑的表情。

'We saw a steeper decline in heart rate and a faster physiological stress recovery when they were smiling,' even though the participants weren't aware they were making facial expressions, says Sarah Pressman, co-author of the study and an assistant psychology professor at University of California, Irvine. Participants making a full smile performed better than the polite-smile group, but the difference wasn't statistically significant and needs to be studied further, she says. 该研究报告的合着者、加利福尼亚大学欧文分校(University of California, Irvine)的心理学助教莎拉•普莱斯曼(Sarah Pressman)表示，“我们发现当受试对象面带笑容的时候，他们的心率下降得更快，心理压力也减轻得更快，”即使受试对象并没意识到他们正在做出面部表情。她称，相较于礼节性微笑的第二组参与者，开怀大笑的第三组参与者表现出的实验效果更明显，但是两组间统计数据上的差异并不十分显著，还需要更深入地进行研究。

'We smile because we feel not threatened,' says Dr. Pressman. Over time that message evolved so the muscle activity involved in a smile sends a message to the brain signaling safety, which could translate into lower heart rate and stress levels. Dr. Pressman is currently researching how smiling affects certain stress hormones, such as cortisol, and oxytocin, which is sometimes called the trust hormone. 'We've already seen it with heart rate; we're hoping to see it with these other stress levels in the body,' she says. 普莱斯曼博士表示：“当人类感觉不受威胁的时候会绽放笑容。”随着时间的推移，这一信号逐渐演化为：调动笑容的肌肉活动可以向大脑传递出“安全”的信号，并由此转化为心率的降低及压力水平的下降。普莱斯曼博士目前研究的课题是笑容如何影响特定的压力荷尔蒙，比如皮质醇(cortisol)和催产素(oxytocin)，后者有时也被称为信任荷尔蒙。她说，“我们已经见证了笑容对心率的影响；我们希望发现笑容对身体其他压力指标的影响。”

Some experts believe only a genuine, full smile, confers health benefits. Such a smile, commonly referred to as a Duchenne smile, after the 19th century French neurologist who first described it, activates major muscles around the mouth and the eyes. By contrast, a standard social smile, which is sometimes called a Pan Am smile after the polite expression the former airline's stewardesses used to greet passengers, activates only the muscles around the mouth. A Duchenne smile 'generates the physiology of positive emotion and the changes in the brain' associated with spontaneous enjoyment, says Paul Ekman, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California, San Francisco. 一些专家认为，只有发自内心的开怀大笑才对健康有益。这样的笑容通常被称为“杜乡的微笑”(Duchenne Smile)，该表情动用的是嘴部和眼睛周围的主要肌肉。这一笑容的名称源于首次描述这种笑容的一位法国神经病学家的名字。相比之下，标准的社交笑容只动用了嘴部周围的肌肉，有时这种微笑也被称为“泛美航空式微笑”(Pan Am Smile)，命名来自于这家航空公司的空乘人员用来问候客户的礼貌性表情。加利福尼亚大学旧金山分校(University of California, San Francisco)心理学终身荣誉教授保罗•埃克曼(Paul Ekman)表示，“杜乡的微笑”可以“激发积极的心理情绪并引发大脑的变化”，这种笑容和自发的愉悦联系紧密。

Studies have found that the intensity of a person's smile can help predict life satisfaction over time and even longevity. What's unclear is whether smiling reflects a person's overall happiness or if the act of smiling contributes to that happiness. Marianne LaFrance, a psychology professor at Yale University, believes it is a bit of both. 曾有多项研究发现，一个人笑容出现的频繁程度有助于预示这个人未来对生活的满意度甚至这个人的寿命。目前尚不清楚的是：到底是笑容反映了一个人的整体幸福度，还是笑容这个行为本身有助于使人得到幸福。耶鲁大学(Yale University)心理学教授玛丽安•拉夫朗斯(Marianne LaFrance)认为，上述两者皆有道理。

'It's probably bidirectional,' she says. 'People who smile more tend to elicit more positive connections with other people,' which in turn help make you happier and healthier. 她说，“这或许是双向的，笑得更多的人更容易同他人建立起更加积极的人际关系”，这一点反过来有助于使你更快乐、更健康。

Patti Wood, a body-language expert in Atlanta, says politicians, business executives and people preparing for job interviews or who are dating come to her to learn how to smile most effectively and project a positive image. Ms. Wood coaches some clients on getting their whole face involved in a smile. She tells them to bring their cheeks up higher and pull their whole face upward, and she makes sure the eyes show the warmth of a sincere Duchenne smile. 亚特兰大市的身体语言专家帕蒂•伍德(Patti Wood)表示，她的客户中有政治家、公司高管、求职面试准备者以及恋爱中人，他们都来向她学习如何最有效地展开笑容并传递出积极的形象。在对某些客户进行培训时，伍德让他们调动起整个面部来微笑。她指导客户上提脸颊，并将整个面部向上拉伸，与此同时，她还监督学员的眼睛必须释放出真诚的“杜乡的微笑”式的热情。

'Every time you're in the grocery store, practice that smile,' Ms. Wood says she tells clients. 'How does that feel? Do I like it? Do I like the results that I get?' Ms. Wood says her rates start at $1,200 for a 3½-hour body-language-training package. 伍德告诉她的客户们：“每次你在杂货店买东西的时候，都要练习这样的笑容。（问自己）这次的笑容感觉如何？我是否喜欢它？对于这个笑容得到的反馈，我是否满意？”伍德说，她教授的为时三个半小时的身体语言培训套餐起价为1,200美元。

There are a number of other smiles documented in research, including ones reflecting embarrassment, love, desire, disgust and sadness. Researchers map such smiles to study where our emotions come from, their complexity and the impact they have on social relationships. 关于笑容的研究还涉及到了很多其他不同意义的笑，包括表示尴尬、爱意、欲望、厌恶和悲伤的笑等。研究人员通过解读这些笑容来研究情绪产生的根源、情绪的复杂性以及各种笑容对社交人际关系的影响。

In the study of frowning, Dr. Finzi injected Botox into the frown muscles of half of a group of 74 people diagnosed with depression, which prevented these patients from frowning. The other half received placebo injections. After six weeks, 27% of the Botox patients went into remission for their depression. That compares with a 7% remission rate for the patients in the control group. Dr. Finzi says the study was presented at a conference in December and is under review for publication. 在前述那项皱眉研究中，芬奇博士从一组抑郁症患者（共74名患者）中抽取了一半人，并在这部分患者的皱眉肌处注射了肉毒杆菌，这样做的目的是不让这些患者皱眉。而另一半患者接受的则是安慰剂注射。六周之后，在注射了肉毒杆菌的患者中，27%的人抑郁症状得到了缓解。而在控制组中，症状缓解的患者比例只有7%。芬奇博士表示，他已在12月召开的一个会议上展示了这项研究的结果，目前该研究报告处于审稿待发表阶段。

Richard J. Davidson, director of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin, says he is exploring whether activating the frowning muscle between the eyebrows, known as the corrugator, is associated with activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain that processes emotions such as fear. 'What we find is that there's correlated activity but that doesn't mean that the production of the facial expression actually causes these changes in the brain,' he says. 'That requires much more research.' 威斯康星大学(University of Wisconsin)健康思想研究中心(Center for Investigating Healthy Minds)的负责人理查德•戴维森(Richard J. Davidson)表示，他正在对位于两眉之间的皱眉肌的活动是否与杏仁核(amygdala)的活动有关联进行研究，杏仁核是大脑中处理恐惧等一系列情绪的部分。他表示：“我们的研究发现，两者之间存在关联活动，但是这并不意味着做出面部表情确实会引发大脑的改变；这一点还需要进一步深入研究。”

Some experts caution against suppressing facial emotion, be it good or bad. Dacher Keltner, a psychology professor at University of California, Berkeley, says studies have shown that people who use Botox to hide lines on their face feel less pleasure in response to subtle things around them and aren't able to read other people's emotions as well. 一些专家警告不应该抑制面部表情，不论这个表情是好还是坏。加利福尼亚大学伯克利分校(University of California, Berkeley)的心理学教授达彻•凯尔特纳(Dacher Keltner)称，有研究表明，对于身边微小的事情所带来的愉悦感，那些注射了肉毒杆菌以掩盖面部皱纹的人会感觉降低，他们有时还无法解读别人的情绪。

And what effect do people who smile have on others? Experts say there is a real positive impact. Marco Iacoboni, a lab director at the UCLA Brain Mapping Center, says when people see a smile, so-called mirror neurons fire in their brain and evoke a similar neural response as if they were smiling themselves. 那么微笑的人给其他人带来的影响是什么呢？专家表示，影响的确是正面的。加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校(UCLA)大脑定位中心(Brain Mapping Center)的实验室主管马可•亚科波尼(Marco Iacoboni)表示，当人们看到笑容时，他们大脑中的镜像神经元就会受到刺激，并会传导出类似于他们自身在微笑一般的神经信号。

Say Chopsticks 筷子的妙用

Holding the sticks in the mouth activates the same muscles we use for smiling. 用嘴咬住筷子时调动的肌肉与我们微笑时使用的肌肉相同。

After engaging in stressful tasks, people reduced their heart rate more quickly if they smiled, a recent study found. Participants held chopsticks in their mouth in different ways to, from left, keep a neutral expression, makeastandard smile or form a full smile. 一项近期的研究发现，在参与高压任务后，面带笑容的人心率下降得更快。在此项研究中，受试对象被要求用不同的方式咬住筷子，图中左起依次为：保持自然表情、做出礼节性微笑的表情，做出开怀大笑的表情。