In 1624 English poet John Donne famously wrote, "No man is an island."

1624年，英国诗人约翰·多恩写下一句名言：“没有人是一座孤岛。”

In recent years, neuroscientists（神经科学家） have caught up with the wisdom of Donne,

近年来，神经科学家们终于赶上了多恩的智慧，

recognizing that our brains need more than simply the food we eat, the oxygen we breath, and the water we drink.

认识到了我们的大脑需要的不仅仅是我们吃的食物，我们呼吸的氧气和我们喝的水。

There's something else, something equally as important: it needs other people.

还有一件事情也同等重要：大脑还需要他人的参与。

Normal brain function depends on the social web around us.

正常的大脑功能依赖于我们周围的社交网络。

Our neurons（神经元） require other people's neurons to thrive（生长） and survive.

我们的神经元需要与他人的神经元互动才能生长和存活。

Brains have traditionally been studied in isolation（孤立）, but that approach overlooks the fact that an enormous amount of brain circuitry（大脑回路） has to do with other brains.

人们对大脑的研究传统上是孤立的，但这种方法忽略了一个事实，即大量的大脑回路与其他大脑有关。

We are deeply social creatures.

我们是非常社会化的生物。

From our families, friends, co-workers and business partners, our societies are built on layers of complex social interactions.

从我们的家庭、朋友、同事到商业伙伴，我们的社会是建立在层层复杂的社会互动之上的。

All this social glue（胶水） is generated by specific circuitry（回路） in the brain: sprawling（蔓延） networks that monitor other people, communicate with them, feel their pain, judge their intentions（意图） and read their emotions.

所有这些社交粘合剂都是由大脑中的特定回路产生的：蔓延扩张的网络密切关注着其他人，与他们交流，感受他们的痛苦，判断他们的意图，解读他们的情绪。

Social interaction doesn't just boost our mood, it feeds our brains.

社交不仅能提升我们的兴致，还能滋养我们的大脑。

We need it to keep that specific circuitry in the brain healthy and functioning.

我们需要社交活动来让大脑中的特定回路保持正常和继续运行。

In a California study published by the American Journal of Public Health, researchers reported that older women who managed large social networks reduced their risk of dementia（痴呆） by 26%.

在《美国公共卫生杂志》发表的一项加州研究中，研究人员报告称，拥有庞大社交网络的老年女性患痴呆症的风险降低了26%。

And women who had daily contact with their network cut their risk of dementia by almost half.

每天都有社交活动的女性患痴呆症的风险降低了近一半。

Socialization is typically associated with healthy behaviors

社会化过程通常与健康的行为有关