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英文字幕：

Take a second to blink. Now do it again. That's the time this athlete has to nail a perfect dive. Not much time to get it right, but more than enough to get it wrong.

Hi, I'm Dr Greg Wells. Olympic divers are explosive competitors with incredible precision. They have to execute a complicated series of twists and somersaults, all while flying towards the pool at 50 km/h! This happens so quickly that medal winning performances are done unconsciously, without even thinking.

And to do that, divers rely upon what's called muscle memory. It all comes down to this: a cauliflower-looking piece of your brain known as the cerebellum. This is where the knowledge on how to perform movements is co-ordinated. Neurons programmed by years of training are set off. They're like a symphony of micro-fireworks, firing into the cerebellum.

But here's the catch. If divers think too much, or if they get distracted while they're in the air, blood flow to the cerebellum is shifted. It starts flowing here instead: to the thinking part of the cerebral cortex. And if that happens, the body forgets its programming, and mistakes are made. Total focus is the key. Because once they lift off, muscle memory kicks in, and they're on autopilot. The difference between winning or losing is just a blink away!

中文字幕：

请眨一下眼睛，再来一次，这就是跳水选手要做出完美一跳所用的时间。这点时间把动作做对并不容易，但要出错却绰绰有余。

我是维尔斯博士。奥运跳水选手集爆发力和精准度于一身。他们以50公里的时速飞坠游泳池的同时，要做出一系列复杂的扭转和翻滚，动作快得只能是在无意识下完成，完全不假思索。

跳水选手靠的是所谓肌肉记忆，其中原理是：脑组织有一块像菜花的部分，称为小脑，这里负责协调动作。经多年训练的神经元受到触发，如同编排好的微型烟花组合，向小脑发射。

但没这么简单。假如选手思考太多，或在空中分心，流向小脑的血液会转向，转而流到这里，大脑皮层的思想部分。这样，身体就会忘记编排好的程序，从而发生错误。因此关键是绝对专心。他们一离开跳板，肌肉记忆就生效，进入自动控制模式。胜败之间，只有刹那！

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（Video provided by GE 编辑：Julie）