Whistling while you work may not win you many friends - but it could help you do your job better. A leading psychologist claims whistling or singing helps distract the mind from trying too hard and prevents mental overload。

　　动画片《白雪公主》里面七个小矮人倡导的“吹吹口哨愉快工作”经过科学的验证竟然是“确有其事”。虽然，在工作的时候“哼小曲”时常会招来领导和同事的不悦，然而有心理学家研究显示，工作的时候哼哼小曲还真的能减少工作压力，让您效率倍增呢。

　　Far from being down to 'just nerves', choking occurs when the brain finds itself with too many pieces of information to process, resulting in 'paralysis by analysis', argues Dr Sian Beilock of the University of Chicago. The same holds true when presenting a vital sales pitch, making an important putt or doing an audition. Dr Beilock, who used brain scans to study what is going on the mind during high pressure situations in the lab, said: 'Choking is sub-optimal performance, not just poor performance。

　　研究者说，人在压力特别大的时候，情绪上总会出现“窒息”的状况，比如说运动员在比赛时候的“最后一击”，或者人在拍卖喊价的时候都是十分紧张的。有专家运用“脑部扫描”测试人在压力大的时候脑部的活动状况，专家总结到，人在压力大的时候出现“令人窒息的情况”属于“亚情绪表现”。

　　Even singing helps stop parts of the brain that might interfere with performance from taking over, she said. She has dubbed the phenomenon paralysis by analysis - when people try to control every aspect of what they are doing in a bid to ensure success. The researchers found that the brain can also sabotage performance because too much pressure is put on 'working memory' - part of the prefrontal cortex which focuses explicitly on the task in hand. Although the most talented people usually have the most working memory, anxieties and worries overload it, meaning the brain is no longer able to perform。

　　专家说，唱歌是一种减轻脑部运转压力的方式，因为人在为了取得最终成功的时候，在努力的过程中总想做到样样事情“精益求精”，如果这样的话，脑部的负荷将是巨大的。另外，人的脑部中有一种区域叫做“前额皮质”(前额叶皮质区)这也是人脑用来掌管推理、判断、解决问题等智力发展的区域，压力大的时候，人脑的这块区域就会运转不正常。即使是智商非常高的人，在脑部负荷很大的情况下，也有出现错误的状况。

　　Vocabulary：

　　sabotage vt. 妨害；对…采取破坏行动