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.一項2016年的新研究證實，學習一項新技能的關鍵——比如彈鋼琴或掌握一種新的體育運動方式——并不是你花了多長時間練習，而是你練習的方式。

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 .科學家們發現，只要稍微改變一下你的訓練方式，你就能夠在整個學習過程中讓自己的大腦保持高活躍狀態，入門所需的時間也能少一半。

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.過去人們一直認為，只要一遍一遍的重復某種技能——比如彈奏鋼琴上的音階，或者攻克游戲中的某一關卡——就是駕馭這種技能最好的方法。而現在的研究結果證明并非如此。

Instead, it turns out there might be a quicker (and more enjoyable) way to level up.事實上，還有一種更快（也更愉悅）的晉級方法。

"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.“我們的研究發現，只要把你想完成的目標稍加修改再加以練習，你能比接連數次進行同種難度的練習學得更多也更快。”來自美國約翰霍普金斯大學的領頭研究人員Pablo Celnik這樣說道。

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.為了找到答案，研究者請86名志愿者學習了一項新技能——通過擠壓一個小裝置，而不是使用鼠標來移動電腦屏幕上的光標。

The volunteers were split into three groups, and each spent 45 minutes practising this.志愿者被分成三個小組，每個小組花45分鐘練習這種新技能。

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個小時后，其中一個小組成員被要求將訓練過程重復一遍，而另一組成員則學習了一種略微不同的操作方法，在后一種情況中，志愿者必須用另一種方式擠壓裝置才能移動光標。

The third group only completed the first training session, so they could act as a control.第三組志愿者只完成了第一個訓練階段，因而他們被當做實驗參照組。

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.在各階段訓練結束之后，每個志愿者都接受了操作新技能的準確度和速度的測試。如人們所預料的，飾演參照組因為只完成了一個訓練階段，所以測試成績最次。

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，將同一訓練程序重復了兩次的小組成員測試成績較差，而完成了兩次不同的訓練程序，學習了新技能的小組成員測試成績更優。——事實上，兩次訓練程序有差異的小組成員比重復同一訓練程序的小組成員測試成績翻了一倍。

So how does that work?為什么會這樣呢？

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.研究人員相信，這是由于一種稱為重新整合的學習機制，即，在學習新知識時，已有的學習記憶被重新喚起，重新改良。長久以來研究者就知道，重新整合的機制能幫助人們強化對技能的掌握程度，但這是第一次科學家通過實驗驗證了這一假設。

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 .這也是為什么研究者讓志愿者在兩次訓練過程中休息了6個小時——之前的神經學研究顯示，我們的記憶需要6小時的時間來重新整合。

"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.“我們的研究成果的重要性在于，從前人們對重新整合機制與技能習得二者之間的關聯性所知甚少。而現在的實驗結果證明，在訓練過程中對訓練方法稍加修改就能喚醒重新組合機制，從而讓人們學得更快，成果更多。

We’re pretty keen to try it out.我們等不及要試試啦。