The volunteers then had to identify when the spoken letter or the square's position matched that of several screens earlier.

志愿者必须在听到的字母或者蓝框位置与之前屏幕出现的相符时作出判断。

The more they practiced and honed their short-term memory, the greater the improvement in the purest form of brain power, fluid intelligence—the ability to reason and solve problems independently of existing knowledge. The same results have also been achieved in school-age kids.

他们短期记忆力的训练强度越大，脑力最直接的表现形式——流体智力的改善越大。流体智力是根据已有知识独立理清问题、解决问题的能力。该实验结果也在学龄儿童身上得到了证实。

The other brain element you can train in order to raise your IQ is attention. Neuroscientists have shown over and over that attention is the requisite condition of learning and thus of boosting intelligence.

另一个提高IQ的办法就是锻炼你的注意力。神经学家一次次证明注意力是学习能力的必要条件，因而也有助于提高智力。

While improving your brain takes work, the good news is there are some accessible ways to go about it. Aerobic exercise, for one, is very good for both the brain and muscles.

虽然提高智力是一项庞大工程，但幸运的是我们还是有路可走的。比如，有氧运动就是既提高脑力又锻炼肌肉的好办法。

Walking 30 minutes a day five times a week stimulates production of a molecule that nurtures the creation of the new neurons and synapses that underlie learning.

每天步行30分钟，一周五次，可以促进一些分子的分泌，这种分子能促进神经元和突触的生成，而学习能力的产生正是源于这些神经元和突触。

Scientists have also found that exercise increases gray matter in the region of the brain that processes new knowledge and sends it to be stored permanently in the frontal cortex, helping one become more knowledgeable.

科学家们还发现，锻炼身体可以增加脑部某个区域的灰质，该区域主要负责处理大脑接收的新知识，将其传递给额皮质永久储存，增加人的知识储备。

A midday nap not only can restore brain power to its fully awake best but can also raise it beyond what it would have been without some shut-eye.

午睡不仅可以最大程度上将脑力恢复到完全清醒状态，同时还可以使脑力在原没有睡眠的基础上有所提高。

Too excited to nap during the day? Then drink some coffee. Caffeine can make your mind sharper. Learning a second language can also help.

白天时过于兴奋而无法入睡？那就喝点咖啡吧。咖啡因是可以让你的思维更加敏捷。另外，学习外语也可以帮助提升脑力。