新發(fā)現(xiàn)：戴眼鏡的人真的更聰明！

It's one of the oldest, weather-worn clichés: that people who wear glasses are somehow smarter than those who don't. It's ridiculous, unfounded, and – it turns out – actually true.

近現(xiàn)代社會(huì)中歷史最悠久的一種成見：戴眼鏡的人比那些不戴眼鏡的人更聰明。聽起來荒謬，毫無根據(jù)，卻得到了事實(shí)證明，它說的是真的。

The largest study to date investigating the genetic underpinnings of intelligencesuggests there is in fact a link between wearing glasses (or contact lenses) and cognitive function, with intelligent people almost 30 percent more likely to be glasses wearers.

迄今為止關(guān)乎智力遺傳基礎(chǔ)的最大規(guī)模的研究表明，戴眼鏡(包括隱形眼鏡)和認(rèn)知功能之間存在聯(lián)系，高智商人群中幾乎有30%是戴眼鏡的。

"This study, the largest genetic study of cognitive function, has identified many genetic differences that contribute to the heritability of thinking skills," says genetic statistician Gail Davies from the University of Edinburgh in the UK.

“本次是最大型的對(duì)認(rèn)知功能的遺傳學(xué)研究，確定了許多遺傳性差異，這些遺傳差異可以解釋思維能力水平的遺傳性。”英國愛丁堡大學(xué)的遺傳統(tǒng)計(jì)學(xué)家Gail Davies說。

"The discovery of shared genetic effects on health outcomes and brain structure provides a foundation for exploring the mechanisms by which these differences influence thinking skills throughout a lifetime."

“發(fā)現(xiàn)同一組基因?qū)】禒顩r和大腦結(jié)構(gòu)同時(shí)具有影響，為探索這些遺傳差異影響思維能力的機(jī)制提供了線索。”

While old stereotypes about glasses wearers being smarter are based upon the unsupported assumption that geeky types require optical assistance after straining their eyes through excessive reading (and hence learning), the new data suggests there isn't such a simple case of cause and effect.

盡管認(rèn)為眼鏡佩戴者更聰明的陳腐觀念完全沒有事實(shí)支持，人們似乎是通過不正確的假設(shè)，即“更聰明的人更加喜愛閱讀，因此更加容易出現(xiàn)屈光不正的問題”而得到的正確結(jié)論，但新數(shù)據(jù)表明，不能使用如此簡(jiǎn)單的推理方式來確定因果關(guān)系。

Davies and her team combed through the genetic information of over 300,000 individuals compiled from existing genomic databases, in which participants submitted samples for DNA analysis, answered questionnaires, and underwent tests designed to give a measure of their general cognitive ability.

Davies和她的團(tuán)隊(duì)梳理了現(xiàn)有基因組數(shù)據(jù)庫收錄的30多萬份個(gè)人的遺傳信息，其中參與者提交了DNA分析樣本的同時(shí)，也回答了問卷，并通過了旨在衡量其普通認(rèn)知能力的測(cè)試。

When they analysed the genetic data, the researchers discovered 148 genome-wide regions associated with general cognitive function, including 58 genomic sites that hadn't previously been linked with intelligence.

當(dāng)他們分析遺傳數(shù)據(jù)時(shí)，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)了148全基因組區(qū)域與普通認(rèn)知功能相關(guān)，其中58處關(guān)聯(lián)智力水平的基因組位點(diǎn)尚屬首次發(fā)現(xiàn)。

They also found 42 genome-wide loci linked to reaction time, 40 of which are new to science.

他們還發(fā)現(xiàn)了42處與反應(yīng)時(shí)間相關(guān)的全基因組測(cè)序位點(diǎn)，其中40處對(duì)于科學(xué)家來說也是新的發(fā)現(xiàn)。

In the study, the participants from the three existing cohorts were all of European ancestry and aged between 16 and 102, and among this group, those who exhibited higher intelligence were 28 percent more likely to need glasses or contact lenses and 32 percent more likely to be shortsighted.

在這項(xiàng)研究中，三組參與者全部為歐洲裔，年介于16到102歲之間。在組中，那些表現(xiàn)出更高智力水平的人，需要戴眼鏡或隱形眼鏡的可能性提高了28%。呵，目光短淺。

A number of other health factors also turned up in the data. In addition to being more likely to wear glasses, intelligent people were significantly less likely to experience hypertension, heart attack, angina, lung cancer or osteoarthritis.

數(shù)據(jù)中還出現(xiàn)了一些其他健康因素。除了更可能戴眼鏡之外，聰明的人更不容易患高血壓，心臟病，心絞痛，肺癌或骨關(guān)節(jié)炎。

They were also 30 percent less likely to experience a major depressive disorder, and 17 percent more likely to live longer.

他們罹患嚴(yán)重抑郁癥的可能性減少30%，長壽的可能性增加17%。

One of the limitations of the research is all the data come from individuals with European ancestry, meaning we can't extrapolate the insights to people from other genetic backgrounds.

該研究的局限性之一是所有數(shù)據(jù)都來自歐洲血統(tǒng)的個(gè)體，這意味著我們無法判斷來自其他遺傳背景的人，是否滿足實(shí)驗(yàn)的結(jié)論。

But the staggering size of the congregated cohort means there's a wealth of information for scientists to learn from here, as these genome-wide analyses become ever greater in scope, giving us a better chance to truly understand what it is that makes people smart.

但是，該研究采集的樣本規(guī)模驚人，這意味著科學(xué)家可以從中掌握有大量的生物信息，因?yàn)槿蚪M測(cè)序的范圍越來越大，賦予我們一個(gè)絕佳的機(jī)會(huì)來真正揭開聰明人之所以聰明的奧秘。

"Less than a decade ago we were searching for genes related to intelligence with about 3,000 participants, and we found almost nothing," says one of the researchers, cognitive epidemiologist Ian Deary.

“不到十年前，我們從大約3000名參與者提供的樣本中尋找與智力相關(guān)的基因，而那次我們幾乎一無所獲。”研究人員之一，認(rèn)知流行病學(xué)家Ian Deary說。

"Now with 100 times that number of participants, and with more than 200 scientists working together, we have discovered almost 150 genetic regions that are related to how clever people are."

“現(xiàn)在的參與者是當(dāng)年的100倍，并且有200多位科學(xué)家共同工作，所以我們這一次收獲頗豐。”

The findings are reported in Nature Communications.

相關(guān)信息來自Nature Communications的報(bào)道。