英语听力文摘 English Digest 550、大脑和内脏之间有联系吗？

 　　Is There A Connection Between The Brain And The Gut¹?

 

　　Most people realize there is a brain gut connection. Nervous tension can aggravate² irritable³ bowel⁴ syndrome⁵ and common dyspepsia, or stomach upset.

 

　　If the brain can upset the gut, can the gut upset the brain?

 

　　Scientists studying depression in rats think that it can.

 

　　About twenty million Americans are diagnosed with depression each year, and medical specialists believe about ten percent of the population is affected⁶ by the disease. Antidepressants are popular, but they only work for thirty five to forty five percent of patients. So, new and innovative⁷ ways to deal with the disease are being explored.

 

　　Depressed⁸ people often have gut problems, but many assume this is because hormones⁹ are released because of the depression. To determine if that is always the case, researchers tested rats to see which came first, the depression, or the gut upset.

 

　　A group of ten day old male rats were given a mild stomach irritant for six days. Others received no treatment. They were then tested at eight to ten weeks of age with water swimming challenges, and mazes¹⁰. Scientists measured their responses and measured levels of stress hormones.

 

　　They found that the rats receiving the stomach irritation¹¹ weeks before were more depressed than the untreated rats. Even when researchers prevented the irritant from sending pain signal to the brain, the depression occurred.

 

　　Rats are not humans, and depression is often inherited, but this research gives scientist a new avenue to follow in depression treatment. The vagus nerve connects the gut to the brain. Stimulating¹² the nerve has been used to treat depression, epilepsy, and help memory in humans and animals. That connection may hold the secret to new treatment regimes and prevention of the disease.

 

　　大脑和内脏之间有联系吗？

 

　　很多人认为大脑和内脏之间有联系。神经紧张可以加剧肠易激综合征和常见的消化不良，或称作是肠胃不适。

 

　　如果大脑可以使内脏感觉不适，那内脏可以反过来影响大脑吗？

 

　　研究老鼠抑郁症的科学家认为，这是可以的。

 

　　每年，大概有两千万美国人被诊断为患有抑郁症，医学专家相信有大约十分之一的人会受抑郁症的影响。抗抑郁药一直畅销，但它只对35%到45%的抑郁症患者有效。所以，治疗抑郁症的新型疗法正在探究中。

 

　　抑郁的人经常会有内脏疾病，但是很多人认为这是因为抑郁症导致的荷尔蒙分泌。为了检验这种说法是否准确，研究者对老鼠进行了测验，来验证到底是抑郁症诱发内脏不适，还是内脏不适导致抑郁症。

 

　　一组10天大的雄性老鼠连续六天接受轻度的肠胃刺激。其余的则不接受任何刺激。之后他们在8到10周大时接受游泳和迷宫测试。科学家对它们的反应和压力荷尔蒙的分泌情况进行了测量。

 

　　科学家们发现，之前几周接受肠胃刺激的老鼠比没有接受刺激的老鼠要更抑郁。即使当研究者停止刺激，不再让疼痛信息传输到大脑中，抑郁症状仍然会发生。

 

　　老鼠与人类不同，抑郁症通常是遗传的。但这项研究为科学家在抑郁症治疗上开辟了一条新的路子。迷走神经连接着内脏和大脑。刺激迷走神经已被用来治疗人类和动物的抑郁症、癫痫病和帮助恢复记忆了。二者之间的这种联系可能就孕育着治疗和预防该疾病的新方案。

1 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

2 aggravate   

vt.加重(剧)，使恶化；激怒，使恼火

参考例句：

• Threats will only aggravate her.恐吓只能激怒她。
• He would only aggravate the injury by rubbing it.他揉擦伤口只会使伤势加重。

3 irritable   

adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的

参考例句：

• He gets irritable when he's got toothache.他牙一疼就很容易发脾气。
• Our teacher is an irritable old lady.She gets angry easily.我们的老师是位脾气急躁的老太太。她很容易生气。

4 bowel   

n.肠(尤指人肠)；内部，深处

参考例句：

• Irritable bowel syndrome seems to affect more women than men.女性比男性更易患肠易激综合征。
• Have you had a bowel movement today?你今天有排便吗？

5 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

8 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

9 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

10 mazes   

迷宫( maze的名词复数 )； 纷繁复杂的规则； 复杂难懂的细节； 迷宫图

参考例句：

• The mazes of the dance were ecstatic. 跳舞那种错综曲折，叫人快乐得如登九天。
• For two hours did this singlehearted and simpleminded girl toil through the mazes of the forest. 这位心地单纯的傻姑娘在林间曲径中艰难地走了两个来小时。

11 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。

12 stimulating   

adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的

参考例句：

• shower gel containing plant extracts that have a stimulating effect on the skin 含有对皮肤有益的植物精华的沐浴凝胶
• This is a drug for stimulating nerves. 这是一种兴奋剂。