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Ben Donald, 11, of Maplewood, N.J., bites into a chocolate covered marshmallow at the annual Chocolate Show in a file photo.
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Chocolate lovers rejoice. A new study hints that eating milk chocolate may boost brain function.
"Chocolate contains many substances that act asstimulants, such as theobromine, phenethylamine, and caffeine," Dr. Bryan Raudenbush from Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia.
"These substances by themselves have previously been found to increase alertness and attention and what we have found is that by consuming chocolate you can get the stimulating effects, which then lead to increased mental performance."
To study the effects of various chocolate types on brain power, Bryan Raudenbush and colleagues had volunteers in four groups separately consume 85 grams of milk chocolate; 85 grams of dark chocolate; 85 grams of carob; and nothing (the control condition).
After a 15-minute digestive period, participants completed a variety of computer-based neuropsychological tests designed to assess cognitive performance including memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem solving ability.
"Composite scores for verbal and visual memory were significantly higher for milk chocolate than the other conditions," Raudenbush said.
And consumption of milk and dark chocolate was associated with improved impulse control and reaction time, according to the research.
(Agencies)
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愛吃巧克力的人們可以歡呼了。最新一項研究表明，吃牛奶巧克力可以增強腦功能。
西弗吉尼亞威林耶穌大學的布萊恩博士說：“巧克力內含有很多具有興奮作用的物質，如可可堿、苯已基以及咖啡因。”
“先前的研究已發現，這些物質能讓人變得更加機敏，并能增強注意力。而我們的最新研究表明，吃巧克力能夠讓人感到興奮，從而使人的腦力表現得到提高。”
為了研究不同種類巧克力對于人腦力的影響，布萊恩·蘭登布什及其他研究人員將參與實驗的志愿者分為四組，其中三組分別攝入85克牛奶巧克力、85克黑巧克力和85克角豆粉（一種可食用的粉狀物質，用角豆樹的種子和角豆莢磨制而成，常用作巧克力的替代品）；還有一組不吃任何東西。
經過15分鐘的消化后，志愿者們完成了一系列神經心理學的計算機測試，這些測試旨在對他們的記憶力、注意力持久度、反應時間以及解決問題能力等認知表現進行評估。
蘭登布什說：“食用牛奶巧克力的實驗對象在語言和視覺記憶力方面的綜合得分大大高于其他三個小組。”
此外，研究還發現，食用牛奶巧克力和黑巧克力還有助于增強沖動控制能力，提高反應速度。
(英語點津姍姍編輯)
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