In a discovery that will give nutritionists the shivers, a Japanese scientist has discovered that consuming ice cream for breakfast improves a person's alertness and mental performance.

一位日本科学家发现早餐食用冰激凌可以改善人的机敏度和精神状态。这个发现一定会让营养师都颤抖了……

Yoshihiko Koga, a professor at Tokyo's Kyorin University, has carried out a series of clinical trials in which test subjects were required to eat ice cream immediately after waking up.

在东京杏林大学，古贺良彦教授进行了一系列的临床试验，试验中要求受试者起床后立刻食用冰激凌。

They were then put through a series of mental exercises on a computer.

然后，在电脑上对这些受试者进行智力训练。

Compared to a group that had not eaten ice cream, Prof Koga's subjects exhibited faster reaction times and better information-processing capabilities, the Excite News web site reported.

Excite News报道称，与没吃过冰激凌的一组相比，古贺教授的实验组成员表现出更快的反应速度和更好的信息处理能力。

There has already been some scientific research into why ice cream may have a positive mental effect on those who eat it.

为什么吃冰激凌可以对大脑产生积极的精神影响，对此，之前已经有一些科学研究了。

In 2005, neuroscientists at the Institute of Psychiatry in London scanned the brains of test subjects as they ate vanilla ice cream and saw immediate results.

2005年，伦敦精神病学研究所的神经科学家扫描了吃过香草冰激凌的受试者的大脑，即刻就看到了效果。

The study found that eating ice cream activated the same "pleasure spots" of the brain that are lit up by winning money, or listening to a favourite piece of music.

这项研究发现，食用冰淇淋激活了大脑中的“快乐区域”，激活这片区域就会产生像赢得金钱或听一首最喜欢的歌曲那样的快感。