国家地理 生存危机下的人体反应

In animals, this part of the brain evolved around the time of the dinosaurs¹ before mammals existed.

对动物来说，大脑的这一部分在哺乳动物还不存在的恐龙时代就已经在进化了。

It's hardwired to beat starvation. For three days Jean-Luc has been trapped underground. He hasn't had a morsel² to eat.

它几乎无法打败饥饿的威胁。三天以来，Jean-Luc 都被困在地面一下，一口吃的都没有。

He doesn't know it, but his brain is changing how his body functions and how he behaves.

他并不知道，他的大脑已经使他的身体机能和行为方式发生了改变。

There are a couple of different brain centers that graduate feeding behavior as well as hunger.

在大脑中有两个不同的脑中心来产生进食行为和饥饿行为，

They're in different parts of the central part of the brain called the hypothalamus.

他们位于大脑中不同的中心部位，叫做下丘脑。

And in that part of the brain you are really driven to seek out food to eat almost anything to try to stop yourself from starving to death.

在大脑的这一部分，你被驱使着寻找任何可以吃的东西以免自己被饿死。

To drive Jean-Luc's search for food his brain first releases a hormone³--orexin. Orexin comes in tiny doses, but it has a profound effect.

为了促使Jean-Luc寻找食物，他的大脑首先会分泌出一种荷尔蒙——食欲。所产生的食欲荷尔蒙量很微小，但是却有着深刻的影响。

This hormone makes us more alert, improves our muscle efficiency, making us better hunters. It even sharpens our problem-solving skills.

这种荷尔蒙让我们更加警惕，提高肌肉的效率，让我们变成更好的捕食者甚至会提高我们解决问题的技能。

For days Jean-Luc scours⁴ the caves. He finds water but nothing to eat. He starts to fear the worst.

几天来，Jean-Luc搜索了所有的洞穴，但是只是找到一点水，没有任何吃的东西。他开始感到前所未有的恐惧。

Even if when I had a little hope, I thought obsessively⁵ what would happen over the last few days or the last hours before dying.

即使我还有一点希望，我也会沉迷地想象死前的最后几天或者最后几个小时会发生什么事。

It was a big question: how I would die--was it going to be cold or hunger or… It was a question that I always had in my head.

这是个大问题：我会怎么死——会被冻死还是被饿死呢？这是我头脑里一直闪现的一个问题。

Sure that he's doomed⁶, he records a message. But as hope fades, Jean-Luc's brain switches strategy to help him survive with no food.

当然这是他的命运，他记录了一个信息。但是当希望渐渐变得渺茫时，Jean-Luc的大脑开始改变策略，以使自己在没有食物的情况下也能生存下来。

With his fuel stores depleted⁷, his body becomes even more efficient. It makes him slow down.

随着所储备的能量逐渐匮乏，他的身体变得更加高效。

Now his muscles use less energy, so do all his internal organs. New cells grow more slowly.

这使他的动作慢下来。现在他的肌肉利用更少的能量，内脏器官也是如此。新的细胞分裂速度减缓，

Nonessentials—fingernails, toenails, hair—hardly grow at all.

那些不必要的——比如手指甲，脚趾甲，毛发几乎停止生长。

Jean-Luc is entering a survival state that evolved to keep starving animals alive until they could get to food.

Jean-Luc 进入了一种求生的状态，在找到食物之前，都会使饥饿的动物一直生存下来。

This enforced efficiency which kicks in when we're at our limit may have bigger implications. Some say, it could help us all live longer.

当我们达到身体的极限时，这种增强的效率作用更大，可以帮助我们生存更长时间。

1 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 morsel   

n.一口，一点点

参考例句：

• He refused to touch a morsel of the food they had brought.他们拿来的东西他一口也不吃。
• The patient has not had a morsel of food since the morning.从早上起病人一直没有进食。

3 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• 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。

4 scours   

走遍（某地）搜寻（人或物）( scour的第三人称单数 )； （用力）刷； 擦净； 擦亮

参考例句：

• The roasting pan scours better than pot. 烤盘比锅容易擦干净。
• The best scours for UF membrane washing were 0.1%NaOH and 0.5%U10 solution consecutively washing. 0.1%NaOH 和0.5%U10溶液是理想的超滤膜清洗剂。

5 obsessively   

ad.着迷般地，过分地

参考例句：

• Peter was obsessively jealous and his behaviour was driving his wife away. 彼得过分嫉妒的举止令他的妻子想离他而去。
• He's rude to his friends and obsessively jealous. 他对他的朋友很无礼而且嫉妒心重。

6 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

7 depleted   

adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Food supplies were severely depleted. 食物供应已严重不足。
• Both teams were severely depleted by injuries. 两个队都因队员受伤而实力大减。