爲什麼抱臂能幫助抑制疼痛

To the list of unusual antidotes for pain — including cursing, meditation and giving a massage — now add crossing your arms.
獨特的疼痛解毒劑列表包括罵人，冥想和按摩，如今還增加了抱臂。

A new study published in the journal Pain found that when people crossed their arms, it reduced their perception of pain. The pain source was a "pinprick" sensation caused by the heat from a laser aimed at one of their hands.
發表在《疼痛》雜誌上一項新的研究發現，當人們抱臂時，會減少他們的疼痛感。疼痛的來源是由對準手的激光的高溫引起的“針刺”疼痛感。

The research involved two experiments — one that included eight participants and another that included 12. The first experiment measured participants' responses to the stimulation itself while their hands were either at their sides or crossed over each other. The second experiment looked at the brain regions activated.
研究人員進行兩個實驗——一個有8個參與者，另一個有12個參與者。第一個實驗是隨便讓參與者的手放在兩邊或抱臂，測試他們對刺激的反應。第二個實驗是觀察活躍的腦區。

Researchers led by Giandomenico Iannetti of University College London found that when people's hands were crossed to other side of their bodies, it confused the brain by interrupting the processing of information incoming from multiple regions. Ianetti says the confusion results from a misalignment between the brain's external mapping of where it normally assumes the hands will be (on the appropriate side of the body) and its internal map of the physical source of the new pain information.
英國倫敦大學學院由Giandomenico Iannetti帶領的研究人員發現，當人們雙手交叉抱臂時，它會通過打斷各個區域產生的信息處理，使大腦感到困惑。Ianetti稱這種困惑是由大腦通常認爲手所處位置的外部映射和來自身體新的疼痛的內部映射的協調引起的。

Although the information about the pain's location was accurately processed, the brain had trouble integration this information correctly with information about the nature of the sensation. "When you cross your arms these maps are not activated together anymore, leading to less effective brain processing of sensory stimuli, including pain, being perceived as weaker," he said in a statement.
儘管對關於疼痛位置的信息進行精確加工處理，但是大腦還是很難將這些信息和感覺的本質準確地整合在一起。“當你交叉抱臂時，這些映射不再集中活躍起來，導致感官刺激的大腦處理更沒作用，包括認爲疼痛較輕。”他在一個發言中說。

This idea is supported by earlier research showing that only children older than five make confused judgments about the order of sensations felt on their hands when they are crossed.
這種觀點得到早期研究的支持，它表明的大於5歲的孩子，當他們抱臂時，會對他們手上的感覺的順序判斷感到困惑。

Practically, it's unlikely that this will result in significant pain relief for pain in areas other than the hands, and the ongoing duration of the relief is not known. However, the study adds to understanding of how the brain processes pain, which could help the development of new types of anesthetics.
實際上，抱臂不會減少除了手的其他部位的明顯疼痛感，而且疼痛緩解的持續時間也不明確。然而，研究還了解了大腦如何對疼痛進行處理，幫助發明新的麻醉藥。

And, perhaps it sheds light on the classic posture of adolescent defiance: standing with one's arms crossed, cursing. Both cursing and arm crossing could reduce emotional torment. After all, the "hurt" or "unpleasant" aspects of pain are processed by the same brain regions, whether the insult is psychological or comes from a physical injury or illness.
而且這可能闡明瞭青少年反抗的經典姿勢：雙手交叉站着，罵人。罵人和抱臂可以降低情感痛苦。畢竟，無論這種侮辱是心理的還是身體的受傷或疾病，“受傷”或“不愉快”方面的疼痛都是在同一個腦區進行處理的。