The key to learning a new motor skill - such as playing the piano or mastering a new sport - isn't necessarily how many hours you spend practising, but the way you practise, according to a 2016 study.

一项2016年的新研究证实，学习一项新技能的关键——比如弹钢琴或掌握一种新的体育运动方式——并不是你花了多长时间练习，而是你练习的方式。

Scientists have found that by subtly varying your training, you can keep your brain more active throughout the learning process, and halve the time it takes to get up to scratch .

科学家们发现，只要稍微改变一下你的训练方式，你就能够在整个学习过程中让自己的大脑保持高活跃状态，入门所需的时间也能少一半。

The research goes somewhat against the old assumption that simply repeating a motor skill over and over again - for example, practising scales on the piano or playing the same level on your game over and over again - was the best way to master it.

过去人们一直认为，只要一遍一遍的重复某种技能——比如弹奏钢琴上的音阶，或者攻克游戏中的某一关卡——就是驾驭这种技能最好的方法。而现在的研究结果证明并非如此。

Instead, it turns out there might be a quicker (and more enjoyable) way to level up.

事实上，还有一种更快（也更愉悦）的晋级方法。

"What we found is if you practise a slightly modified version of a task you want to master, you actually learn more and faster than if you just keep practising the exact same thing multiple times in a row," said lead researcher Pablo Celnik, from Johns Hopkins University.“

我们的研究发现，只要把你想完成的目标稍加修改再加以练习，你能比接连数次进行同种难度的练习学得更多也更快。”来自美国约翰霍普金斯大学的领头研究人员Pablo Celnik这样说道。

The researchers figured this out by getting 86 volunteers to learn to a new skill - moving a cursor on a computer screen by squeezing a small device, instead of using a mouse.

为了找到答案，研究者请86名志愿者学习了一项新技能——通过挤压一个小装置，而不是使用鼠标来移动电脑屏幕上的光标。

The volunteers were split into three groups, and each spent 45 minutes practising this.

志愿者被分成三个小组，每个小组花45分钟练习这种新技能。

Six hours later, one of the groups was asked to repeat the same training exercise again, while another group performed a slightly different version that required different squeezing force to move the cursor.

6个小时后，其中一个小组成员被要求将训练过程重复一遍，而另一组成员则学习了一种略微不同的操作方法，在后一种情况中，志愿者必须用另一种方式挤压装置才能移动光标。

The third group only completed the first training session, so they could act as a control.

第三组志愿者只完成了第一个训练阶段，因而他们被当做实验参照组。

At the end of the training period, everyone was tested on how accurately and quickly they could perform the new skill, and predictably, the control group did the worst after their one training session.

在各阶段训练结束之后，每个志愿者都接受了操作新技能的准确度和速度的测试。如人们所预料的，饰演参照组因为只完成了一个训练阶段，所以测试成绩最次。

But the surprise was that the group that had repeated the original training session actually did worse on the test compared to those who had mixed things up and trained in new areas - in fact, the group that modified their training did twice as well as those who'd repeated the original skill.

但是令人意外的是，将同一训练程序重复了两次的小组成员测试成绩较差，而完成了两次不同的训练程序，学习了新技能的小组成员测试成绩更优。——事实上，两次训练程序有差异的小组成员比重复同一训练程序的小组成员测试成绩翻了一倍。

So how does that work?

为什么会这样呢？

The researchers believe it's due to something called reconsolidation, which is a process whereby existing memories are recalled and modified with new knowledge. It's long been suggested that reconsolidation could help to strengthen motor skills, but this is one of the first experiments to test that hypothesis.

研究人员相信，这是由于一种称为重新整合的学习机制，即，在学习新知识时，已有的学习记忆被重新唤起，重新改良。长久以来研究者就知道，重新整合的机制能帮助人们强化对技能的掌握程度，但这是第一次科学家通过实验验证了这一假设。

This is also why the researchers gave the participants a 6-hour gap between training session - earlier neurological research has shown that's how long it takes for our memories to reconsolidate .

这也是为什么研究者让志愿者在两次训练过程中休息了6个小时——之前的神经学研究显示，我们的记忆需要6小时的时间来重新整合。

"Our results are important because little was known before about how reconsolidation works in relation to motor skill development. This shows how simple manipulations during training can lead to more rapid and larger motor skill gains because of reconsolidation," said Celnik.“

我们的研究成果的重要性在于，从前人们对重新整合机制与技能习得二者之间的关联性所知甚少。而现在的实验结果证明，在训练过程中对训练方法稍加修改就能唤醒重新组合机制，从而让人们学得更快，成果更多。

We're pretty keen to try it out.

我们等不及要试试啦。


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