"Trace! Stop shaking your leg!"

「Trace！不要再抖腳了！」

"But I didn't even know I was doing it, mom, jeez!"

「天啊，老媽，但我根本沒有意識到我在抖腳啊！」

Hey there, fidgeting friends, Trace here for DNews.

坐立不安的朋友們，你們好，我是 DNews 的 Trace。

Once upon a time, psychologist Sir Francis Galton was sitting in a lecture.

從前有一次，心理學家Francis Galton爵士在聽一場講座。

He got bored and decided to watch the audience instead of listen to the guy speaking. Been there!

當他開始感到無聊時，他決定不繼續聽演講，而是觀察觀眾的行為。我也有過這種經驗！

According to him, these elderly Victorian lecture-goers were swaying from side to side at about one fidget per minute.

據他所說，這些維多利亞時期上了年紀的聽眾會不斷地晃來晃去，大約每分鐘動一次。

When the audience's attention was aroused, he noticed that their fidgeting would lessen.

當聽眾的注意力受到吸引，他們晃動的頻率就會減少。

In his paper, published in "Nature," titled "The Measure of Fidget" Galton determined that people must fidget out of boredom.

Galton在《自然》期刊上發表了一篇題為《不安的測量》的論文，表明人們為了擺脫無聊才坐立不安。

This was before discussions about hyperactivity or sugar, before the television ruined our attention span.

這是在探討攝取糖分導致過動症、電視破壞注意力廣度的研究之前。

This was in 1885!

當時是 1885 年！

A hundred and thirty years ago, people fidgeted.

人們早在 130 年前就有坐立不安的症狀。

It is definitely not caused by over-caffeinated, ADHD-prone, coddled millennials, and instead, fidgeting seems to be part of human nature.

這絕對不是攝取過量的咖啡因、過動症傾向、嬌生慣養的千禧世代所造成的，相反的，坐立不安似乎是人的天性。

The dictionary defines fidgeting as "small movements, especially of the hands and feet, caused by nervousness or impatience."

字典對坐立不安的定義是：「由於緊張或不耐煩而引起的小動作，尤其是手和腳的。」

But science has another explanation: It's a way to keep my brain active and focused.

但科學卻有另一種的說法：「這是讓大腦保持活躍和專注的方法。」

Yeah, you heard me, fidgeting might equal better focus. Hashtag ScienceYo!

對，你沒聽錯，坐立不安可能代表更高的專注力。＃ScienceYo!

When brains are stressed, we don't pay as close attention, and we don't learn as much!

當大腦受到壓力時，我們的注意力會降低，導致學習力降低。

Cognitive Load Theory says to think of the brain like a CPU.

認知負荷理論將大腦比喻為中央處理器。

When you have too much going on in there, the brain can't focus.

當你有太多事情要做時，大腦就無法集中注意力。

So to offload some of that stress, the brain might trigger fidgeting!

所以為了減輕一些壓力，大腦就會引發躁動的反應。

Lower stress is highly associated with better learning and memory performance, so fidgeting might help us learn!

壓力減輕可提高學習力和記憶，所以躁動不安其實可能有助於學習！

Though science isn't sure if it's everybody or maybe just men.

儘管科學無法證實是否人人皆如此，或僅限於男性。

For some reason men fidget twice as often as women.

由於某些原因，男性躁動的頻率是女性的兩倍。

And a 2005 study from the University of Hertfordshire found that fidgeting can reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which should lower stress.

2005年，赫特福德大學的一項研究發現，「動來動去」可以降低壓力賀爾蒙皮質醇的水平，從而減輕壓力。

A study in PLoS ONE, however, found that benefits seem to fall on men who fidgeted.

然而 《公共科學圖書館：綜合》的一項研究發現，似乎坐立不安的男性受益更多。

The fidgeting men they tested performed better on cognitive tests and had lower stress, but fidgeting women did neither of those things.

在認知測試中，坐立不安的男性的表現較好，壓力也較小，但坐立不安的女性在這兩項未測出相同的結果。

A study with ADHD kids further muddles the fidgeting waters, as fidgeting doesn't help everyone all the time.

一項針對過動兒的研究使情況變得更複雜，因為坐立不安並非對每個人都有好處。

A study in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, assessed the working memory of young fidgeting boys.

在《異常心理學期刊》上發表的一項研究評估了坐立不安的小男孩的工作記憶。

When ADHD kids were put in a swivel chair and allowed to spin, which sounds dangerous, they performed better on memory tests.

當過動兒被放在旋轉椅上旋轉，聽起來很危險，他們在記憶測試中會表現得更好。

However, kids without ADHD performed worse when they were allowed to spin, and better only when they stayed still.

然而, 沒有過動症的兒童，在旋轉時表現得較差，而靜止時表現得較好。

It would seem, though fidgeting may lower stress and help learning, there is a level where the benefits to our attention and learning disappear.

所以儘管坐立不安看似能夠減輕壓力並有助於學習，但其對注意力和學習力的益處到了一定的程度就會消失。

For example, drawing random doodles, kicking your feet or shaking your legs while sitting might be fine.

例如，坐著時隨意塗鴉、踢腳或抖腳，可能沒問題。

But drawing specific pictures or walking around the room; that's too distracting, and the benefits are just lost.

但是畫具體的圖案或在房間裡走來走去，就太令人分心了，好處也就隨之消失。

So, perhaps boys with ADHD need to fidget?

因此，或許患有過動症的男孩不得不動來動去?

But what about girls?

那女孩子呢？

Do they get benefit, too?

她們也能從中受益嗎？

Well, a study from September 2015 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, looked at 13,000 UK women over 12 years, and they found adults who fidgeted also burned calories!

2015年9月在《美國預防醫學期刊》上發表的一項研究針對13,000名英國女性進行了為期12年的調查，他們發現成年人坐立不安時會消耗熱量！

Their results found fidgeters had quote "better health outcomes," than their still counterparts.

他們的研究結果顯示，坐立不安的人比靜止不動的人更健康。

And another study in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise found that fidgeting can burn up to 144 calories a day.

《運動與運動中的醫學與科學》雜誌上的另一項研究發現，坐立不安每天可以燃燒 144 卡路里的熱量。

That's more than a can of pop or soda!

比一罐飲料或汽水的熱量還高！

Some researchers believe fidgeting seems to be an adaptation to our more sedentary lifestyle.

一些研究人員認為，坐立不安是為了應對我們久坐的生活方式。

But a study in Frontiers in Psychology looking at memory retention of lectures and fidgeting, found that almost the same thing happens today as did with Galton in 1885.

但《心理學前沿》上一項針對演講記憶力和坐立不安的研究發現，1885年高爾頓經歷的情況，與現今的情況幾乎相同。

If you track the number of fidgets per minute, it's a pretty good indicator of audience boredom.

如果你追蹤每分鐘的躁動次數，就能取得觀眾無聊程度的參考指標。

Fidgeting seems to be a representation of our animal brains working hard to keep on task and keep learning.

坐立不安似乎是動物大腦努力完成任務和學習的象徵。

It can be irksome, but as long as it's not distracting to others, it's not necessarily bad; and it is, at least, burning some calories!

這可能有點討人厭，但只要沒有干擾到別人，就不一定是壞事；更何況它至少能消耗一些熱量！

Sometimes we're just fidgety widgety.

有時候我們只是有點煩躁不安。

Do you fidget? How?

你會坐立不安嗎？你有哪些行為？

Pen clicker? Leg shaker? Finger tapper? Nail biter? What you got?

不停地按筆？抖腳？敲手指？咬指甲？哪一種？

Tell us your fidgeting functions down below in the comments.

請在下面的留言區告訴我們你的坐立不安症狀。

Fidgeting might be annoying to some, but sitting — that's killing you.

有些人可能覺得坐立難安令人厭煩，但久坐──才會要了你的命。

Yeah, your chair? Slowly killing you, right now.

是的，你的椅子，它正在慢慢地殺死你，就在現在。

Find out more in this video.

想了解更多，請觀賞這支影片。