評論
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Yael: Time to go again to the A Moment of Science mailbag. A listener writes: Dear A Moment of Science, I recently read about how drinking as many as seven cups of coffee per day can make me hallucinate. Is this true? I'm a pretty heavy coffee drinker, so I'd like to know.
雅艾爾：又到了《科學時刻》讀信時間。一位聽眾寫到：親愛的《科學時刻》欄目組，近期我讀到一篇文章，講關于每天喝七杯咖啡如何讓人產生幻覺。這是真的嗎？我是一個重度咖啡飲者，所以我很好奇。
Don: Interesting question. For those that don't know, here's some background. Researchers at the University of Durham, in England surveyed two-hundred students about their daily consumption of coffee, energy drinks, and other caffeine products. They asked, among other things, if the students ever experienced hallucinations. The results appeared to show that students who consumed the equivalent of seven cups of instant coffee were three times more likely to have heard a disembodied voice than students who consumed less caffeine. Heavy caffeine users were also more likely to sense the presence of dead people and see things that weren't there.
唐：有趣的問題。先為那些不了解的人來講講背景知識。英國杜倫大學的研究者們調查了200名學生，統計出他們每日消費咖啡、能量飲料還有其它含有咖啡因產品的情況。他們問學生是否在其它情形下曾產生過幻覺。調查結果顯示，攝入大約7杯速溶咖啡的學生，相比那些攝入較少咖啡因的學生更有可能聽見一種非實體的聲音，這種可能性是后者的三倍。重度咖啡飲者更有可能感覺到鬼魂的存在，看見正常人看不見的東西。
Yael: As for why caffeine may induce hallucinations, the researchers could only speculate. But they think it might have to do with cortisol—a hormone released during stress. Caffeine is known to make the body produce even more cortisol during stress.
雅艾爾：至于咖啡因為什么會讓人產生幻覺，研究者只能作出推斷。他們認為也許與皮質醇有關，皮質醇是一種激素，人在壓力之下會釋放皮質醇。眾所周知，在壓力之下，攝入咖啡因會使人體分泌更多皮質醇。
Don: But none of this is solid proof that caffeine triggers hallucinations. First, it's possible that people already prone to hallucinations turn to caffeine as a way to self-medicate. Also, the study depended on the subject's self-reporting. The only way to really find out if caffeine has anything to do with hallucination is to do a random controlled study, where several groups of subjects consume varying amounts of caffeine and are monitored in a controlled setting.
唐：但這都不足以說明咖啡因能引起幻覺。首先，可能是有幻覺傾向的人把咖啡因當做一種自我療法的方式。同時這項研究依賴于主觀報告。找到咖啡因是否與幻覺有聯系的唯一方式就是進行隨機調查，讓幾組受試者攝入不同份量的咖啡因，并在可控的環境里進行監測。
Yael: Still, the study is an interesting first step toward learning more about how what we put in our bodies affects the ways we think and behave.
雅艾爾：不過，這項研究在了解身體會如何影響人的思維和行為方式上，邁出了有趣的第一步。
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