你的朋友会改变你的智商

Researchers from Berlin analysed the characteristics of a number of genes among a group of healthy adolescents, and compared the results with intelligence scores and various neurological traits.

柏林的一些研究者研究了一组健康青年人的人格特征，并把这些结果和智商以及各种神经学特征进行了比较。

The researchers found a strong relationship between the epigenetic modifications of one particular gene and general IQ, suggesting our experiences not only affect the wiring of our brain, but the very way our genes function at a basic level.

研究者们发现，有一个基因上发生的后天变异可以影响我们的整体智商，这说明我们的经历不光会影响大脑的运行，还会从基因层面影响大脑运作的原理。

For example, in times of high stress, such as a persistent threat of violence or poor nutrition, physiological changes in the organism can tweak your genes by adding or removing a chemical group that effectively locks them down or opens them up.

比如，在你遭受高水平压力的时候，比如长期暴露于暴力威胁或营养缺乏之下，你身体发生的生理性变化就会对你的基因进行微调，他们会增加或移除一些化学物质，而这些物质的存在与否决定了一些基因的表达与否。

These edits can also go the other way. It's possible that showing infants ample affection, such as frequent cuddles, just might modify the expression of their genes in the same way.

这个过程也可以从相反的方向起效果。如果你让婴儿体会到足够的爱，比如经常得到拥抱，也可能对他们的基因表达起到影响。

In turn, such changes can subtly influence a range of characteristics that can have drastic knock-on effects, altering the course of everything from how your immune system functions to how much you earn.

这些改变会对一系列行为特征起到微妙的影响，而这一系列连带反应最终能让你发生惊人的改变，比如影响你的免疫系统的运作方式，或者决定你能赚多少钱。