新奇事件簿 悲伤的电影可以缓解痛苦

Watching sad or traumatic movies can sometimes be just what the doctor ordered. A new study reveals that watching distressing¹ movies may boost our tolerance² to pain. Researchers at Oxford³ University say that movies that get your emotions going can increase the amount of endorphins released by the brain. These are our body's natural painkillers⁴ - chemicals that make us feel better after physical or psychological pain. Dr Robin⁵ Dunbar, a co-author of the study, explained that: "Maybe the emotional [distress] you get from tragedy triggers the endorphin system." He added: "The same areas in the brain that deal with physical pain also handle psychological pain."

有时医生会让病人观看悲伤或创伤性的电影。一项新的研究披露，观看令人伤心的电影或许可以增强我们对痛苦的忍耐力。牛津大学研究人员表示，让我们的情绪尽情释放可以增加大脑内啡肽的产量。这是身体天然的止痛药——这种化学物质在身体或心理遭受痛苦之后能够让我们感觉更好。这项研究的联合作者Robin Dunbar解释说：“或许悲剧给你带来的悲伤情绪触发了内啡肽系统。”他补充说：“大脑中负责身体疼痛的区域同样也负责心理痛苦。”

Dr Dunbar and his colleagues conducted a series of tests to determine the effect that tragic⁶ stories have on us. They invited 169 people to take part in the experiment. One group watched a traumatic drama about a disabled man battling homelessness, drug addiction⁷ and alcoholism. Another group watched a documentary on the geology and archaeology⁸ of Britain. The results showed that on average, the pain tolerance of those who watched the traumatic drama increased by 13.1 per cent. This compared to an average decrease in pain threshold of 4.6 per cent for those who watched the documentary. Dr Dunbar suggested one reason we like watching sad movies is the natural high from the endorphins.

Dunbar博士和他的同事进行了一系列测试来确定悲剧电影对我们的影响。他们邀请了169人来参加这项实验。一组观看了一名残疾男子与无家可归，毒瘾和酗酒斗争的悲伤故事。另外一组观看的是关于英国地质和考古的纪录片。结果表明，平均来说，观看创伤性电影的一组对痛苦的忍耐力增加了13.1%。而观看纪录片的一组对痛苦的阈值平均下降了4.6%。Dunbar博士认为，我们喜欢看令人伤心的电影的一个原因内啡肽水平会增加。

1 distressing   

a.使人痛苦的

参考例句：

• All who saw the distressing scene revolted against it. 所有看到这种悲惨景象的人都对此感到难过。
• It is distressing to see food being wasted like this. 这样浪费粮食令人痛心。

2 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

3 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

4 painkillers   

n.止痛药( painkiller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some painkillers to ease the pain. 医生给了他一些止疼片以减缓疼痛。 来自辞典例句
• The primary painkillers - opiates, like OxyContin - are widely feared, misunderstood and underused. 人们对主要的镇痛药——如鸦片剂奥施康定——存在广泛的恐惧、误解，因此没有充分利用。 来自时文部分

5 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

6 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

7 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

8 archaeology   

n.考古学

参考例句：

• She teaches archaeology at the university.她在大学里教考古学。
• He displayed interest in archaeology.他对考古学有兴趣。