Babies learn a lot of behaviors and sounds from watching the people around them, but scientists believe that all babies are born with the ability to smile, since even blind babies smile.

Babies smile in sleep, from birth, but it takes around four to six weeks, before they start smiling when they are awake.

According to recent studies, smiling has the power to reduce stress and increase our ability to deal with trying situations. This is largely owing to the fact that smiling boosts endorphin output and forces us to breathe deeper, resulting in a calmer outlook and increased coping ability.

When you smile, even when you force it, your body releases the “feel good” hormones and endorphins, which will put you in a much better mood and relieve stress.

Smiling really can improve your physical health. Your body is more relaxed when you smile, which contributes to good health and a stronger immune system.

In addition to making you look more attractive, successful and approachable, smiling may also protect you from the common cold. According to recent data, smiling can help boost the immune system by decreasing stress levels, which in turn increases white blood cell count and releases beneficial antibodies that help fight infection and disease.

Smiling is contagious.

It is rare to smile when reading a funny passage from a book on our own, but when that same passage is read out loud to us, or even if other people are in the room, most people are likely to smile then. Have you ever been around someone who seemed to be smiling all the time? Chances are, you found yourself smiling as well. This is because smiling is incredibly contagious.

According to science, neurons in the brain have a synchronizing feature that keeps you in sync with people you’re talking to. If they smile, you’ll smile. In a study that was conducted in Sweden, researchers found that people found it really difficult to frown, when they were looking at other people who were smiling and they couldn’t help smiling themselves.

Studies have found that women smile more often than men but the difference disappears when men and women occupy similar social or business roles. Many scientists interpret these results to indicate that gender roles are fluid and that both men and women act differently depending upon their social or business environment.

Boy babies, though, do smile less than girl babies, who also make more eye contact.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【内啡呔】 nèifēitǎi endorphin morphine-like chemicals produced by the body that help diminish pain while triggering positive feelings

【会传染的】huì chuánrǎn de contagious likely to spread to and affect others

婴儿会通过观察周围的人来学习各种行为和声音，但科学家们认为所有婴儿天生就有微笑的能力，因为即使是失明的婴儿也会微笑。

婴儿从出生开始就会在睡梦中微笑，但需要大约4到6周的时间才会开始在醒着的时候微笑。

最新研究表明，微笑具有减轻压力和提升我们处理困难的能力的作用。这在很大程度上是因为微笑可以增加内啡肽的分泌，迫使我们深呼吸，从而使我们更加平静，应对能力更强。

当你微笑的时候，即使你是在强迫自己微笑，你的身体也会释放让你“感觉良好”的荷尔蒙和内啡肽，这会让你心情更好，也能缓解压力。

微笑确实可以改善你的身体健康。当你微笑时，身体会更放松，这有助于保持身体健康和增强免疫系统。

微笑不仅能让你看起来更有吸引力、更成功、更平易近人，还能让你免受感冒的困扰。根据最新数据，微笑可以通过缓解压力来增强免疫系统，增加白细胞数量，释放有益抗体，帮助你对抗各类感染和疾病。

微笑是会传染的。

当我们独自读到书中有趣的段落时很少会笑，但如果有人对我们大声朗读相同的段落，或者有其他人也在房间里，大多数人可能都会笑出来。你周围是否有总是面带微笑的人？你很可能会发现自己也在微笑。这是因为微笑具有不可思议的传染性。

据科学研究，大脑中的神经元有同步功能，可以让你与你的谈话对象保持同步。如果他们微笑，你也会微笑。在瑞典进行的一项研究中，研究人员发现，当人们看到其他人在微笑时，他们很难皱起眉头，并且自己也会忍不住要笑。

研究发现，女性比男性更常微笑，但当他们担任相似的社会或商业角色时，这种差异就消失了。很多科学家将这样的结果解释为性别角色是可变的，男性和女性的行为取决于他们所在的社会或商业环境。

然而，男婴比女婴笑得少，女婴也会有更多的眼神交流。

(chinadaily.com.cn)