Avery Elizabeth Hurt　笪景行

Like Pinocchio， everyone sometimes tells a lie. Lying wont stretch1 your nose.Most people dont lie often. But research shows that even small lies can take a toll2on your brain.

Most of us have told a lie at one time or another. Some lies are harmful. Othersare mostly harmless. Still other lies， such as those used to protect other people， mayeven be created with the best of intentions3. But no matter what kind of lie you tell，it takes a surprising amount of brainpower to pull it off.

Using up that brainpower can be costly. The brain drain4 it causes just mightprevent you from performing some task or skill thats important to you.

When you tell the truth， your brain doesnt have to do anything out ofthe ordinary. You think of what you want to say， and you say it. Lying takesmuch more work.

When you decide to lie for some reason， you have to come up with a story andyou must decide how to respond immediately.

Even though youre only two sentences into the lie， and already youve beenscrambling5 to make up a story， thinking about the various directions theconversation might take， and figuring out what you need to say to keep this whole liefrom falling apart.

You might not be aware of it， but you just gave your brain a ton of extra work.One study done by scientists found that the brain is slower and more likely to makemistakes when it shifts6 between lying and truth-telling. The research has also shownthat someones mental workload7 will be heavier and their reaction time longerwhen lying.

So its important that you find trustworthy people to whom you can safelytell truths.

像匹諾曹一樣，每個人有時都會說謊。說謊不會讓你的鼻子變長。大多數(shù)人不常撒謊。但研究表明，即使是小小的謊言也會對你的大腦造成傷害。

我們大多數(shù)人都曾在某個時候撒過謊。有些謊言是有害的。其他的大多是無害的。還有一些謊言，比如那些用來保護他人的謊言，甚至可能是出于善意而制造的。但無論你說什么樣的謊言，都需要驚人的腦力才能完成。

使用這些腦力可能代價高昂。它所造成的腦力流失可能會使你在一些對你來說很重要的任務或技能上表現(xiàn)不佳。

當你說實話時，你的大腦不必做任何不尋常的事情。你想好你想說的話，然后說出來。撒謊則需要更多的精力。

當你因為某個原因決定撒謊時，你必須想出一個故事，并且必須立即決定如何做出反應。

即便只說了兩句話，你已經在匆忙編造一個故事，思考談話各種可能的走向，并想想你該怎么說才能讓整個謊言不被拆穿。

你可能沒有意識到，但你確實給了你的大腦大量額外的工作。科學家們的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，當在說謊和講真話之間轉換時，大腦會變得更慢，更容易出錯。該研究還表明，說謊時，一個人的心理負擔會更重，反應時間也更長。

因此，找到可以放心地向其透露真相的值得信賴的人是非常重要的。

（英語原文選自院snexplores.org）