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At some point, you've probably heard your family or neighbors mention how time flies as you get older.
在某些時候，你可能會聽到你的家人或鄰居提到，隨著年齡的增長時間過得有多快。
Maybe you've even looked back on the last few years and noticed it yourself.
回顧過去幾年，也許你自己也注意到了。
Like, there's no way you just graduated.
比如，你不可能剛畢業，
Freshman year feels like it was a few months ago.
大一給你的感覺就像幾個月前一樣。
The idea that time passes more quickly as you age is a pretty common one, and there are a lot of potential reasons it might happen.
人們普遍認為，隨著年齡的增長時間會過得越來越快，而且可能會有很多潛在的原因。
But the good news is, no matter what trick of the brain is causing this phenomenon, you can probably do something to stop it.
但好消息是，不管大腦是如何引起這種現象的，你都可以做些什么來阻止它。
There are all kinds of ways we measure the passage of time.
我們有各種各樣的方法來衡量時間的流逝。
One is time estimation, or how fast the clock seems to be ticking.
一個是時間估計，也就是時鐘的滴答聲有多快。
Researchers test this by asking people to guess when a minute has passed, or things like that.
研究人員通過讓人們猜測一分鐘什么時候過去或諸如此類的事情來驗證這一點。
The one that's most relevant to why time flies as you get older, though, is time perception.
然而，隨著年齡的增長，對于時間飛逝的最佳解釋是時間觀念。
This is how psychologists describe how fast time seems to pass when we think about events.
心理學家是這樣描述我們思考事情時，時間過得有多快的。
Multiple studies have shown that things like our time estimation ability don't change over the course of our lives.
多項研究表明，像我們對時間的估計能力這樣的東西不會隨著生命而改變。
But time perception does.
但是時間感知是這樣的。
In one 2010 paper from the journal Acta Psychologica, researchers reviewed previous studies and then conducted two new ones of their own.
2010年《心理學報》發表的一篇論文中，研究人員回顧了之前的研究，然后進行了兩項新的研究。
In total, they analyzed survey results from almost 2000 participants, who were anywhere from 16 to 80 years old.
總的來說，他們分析了近2000名參與者的調查結果，這些參與者的年齡從16歲到80歲不等。
In one experiment, participants were asked to rate how fast certain periods of time had gone on a five-point scale, from "very slow" to "very fast.
在一項實驗中，參與者被要求對某段時間的變化速度從“非常慢”到“非常快”進行五分制評分。
The researchers found that, when asked how long the last hour, month, or year had gone, all participants said it passed at about a normal speed, no matter their age.
研究人員發現，當被問及過去的一個小時、一個月或一年過去了多長時間時，所有參與者都表示，無論年齡大小，過去的時間都以正常速度流逝。
The real difference came when participants were asked how long the last decade had gone.
當參與者被問及過去十年已經過去了多長時間，真正的區別來了。
It wasn't a dramatic difference, but the older people got, the more quickly they tended to say time had passed.
區別并不明顯，但是年紀越大的人越容易說時間已經過去了。
Still, it's not clear what would happen to cause this shift in perception.
不過，還不清楚究竟是什么導致這種看法的轉變。
Some hypotheses say that you had more new experiences as a kid, like your first lost tooth, or your first soccer game.
一些假設認為，小時候有更多的新經歷，比如你掉的第一顆牙，或者你的第一場足球比賽。
So there's more to remember from back then.
那時候還有很多東西需要記住。
Meanwhile, your adult life feels a lot less novel and, as one paper put it, "grows hollow and collapses."
與此同時，你的成年生活感覺沒那么新奇了，就像一篇論文所說的，“變得空洞而崩潰”。
Which is… lovely.
描述的很好。
Another idea is the ratio model, which says that time ticks by more slowly when you're younger because you haven't been around as long.
另一種觀點是比率模型，該模型認為，年輕的時候，時間過得比較慢，因為你沒有經歷那么長的時間。
Like, when you're eight, a year feels like forever because you've only been alive for eight years.
當你八歲的時候，一年感覺就像永遠，因為你只生活了八年。
But when you're eighty, a year isn't as significant in the grand scheme of your life.
但當你80歲時，一年在你漫長的一生中沒有那么重要。
There's also a hypothesis called forward telescoping, which describes how we tend to underestimate how long ago important things happened.
還有一種假設叫做正向伸縮，它講述了我們如何低估很久以前發生的重要事情。
It's why you can't believe High School Musical actually came out over ten years ago,
這就是為什么你不相信高中音樂劇十多年前就出來了，
and why you suddenly feel really old when you think about it.
為什么一想到它，你就會突然覺得自己老了。
Right now, all of these ideas have some evidence to support them, but there's not a real winner yet.
目前，所有這些想法都有一些證據支持，但還沒有真正的贏家。
They're also difficult to test in a lab, so we may never be able to conclusively prove any of them.
它們也很難在實驗室里測試，所以我們可能永遠無法最終證明任何一個想法。
But there is one, newer idea we could prove, one that suggests that time whizzes by as you get older because of how your body chemistry changes.
但是我們可以證明一個新一點的想法，即隨著年齡的增長，時間會隨著人體內化學物質的變化而流逝。
See, as you grow up, your body produces less dopamine, a neurotransmitter that's usually associated with things like motivation and reward.
隨著長大，你的身體會產生更少的多巴胺，多巴胺是一種神經遞質，通常與動機和獎勵有關。
But, at least in mice, research has shown that the amount of dopamine in the body can also affect time perception.
但是，至少在老鼠身上的研究表明，體內多巴胺的數量也會影響時間感知。
In a 2016 study, published in the journal Science, mice were taught to use sensors to signal whether the interval between two sounds was longer or shorter than 1.5 seconds.
2016年發表在《科學》雜志上的一項研究中，研究人員教老鼠使用傳感器來判斷兩種聲音之間的間隔是長還是短于1.5秒。
Originally, all of the mice were really good at this.
最初，所有的老鼠都擅長判斷。
But when they had their dopamine-producing cells stimulated, they tended to think that interval was longer than it really was.
但是當他們刺激產生多巴胺的細胞時，老鼠傾向于認為間隔時間比實際時間要長。
And when they had those cells suppressed, they thought it was shorter.
當他們抑制這些細胞時，老鼠認為時間更短。
According to the researchers, this suggests that extra dopamine causes mice to experience time as passing more slowly in general.
研究人員表示，一般來說，額外的多巴胺會讓老鼠感覺時間過得更慢。
So maybe this could also apply to humans.
所以，這一結論可能也適用于人類。
There's already some evidence:
已經有一些證據能證明：
Parkinson's patients, who typically have low dopamine levels, have been shown to underestimate how fast time is going,
通常帕金森氏癥患者的多巴胺水平較低，研究顯示這些患者低估了時間過得有多快。
like if they're asked to reproduce the tempo of a piece of music.
比如他們被要求復制一段音樂節奏。
More studies about long-term time perception in these patients would be helpful.
更多關于這些患者長時間感知的研究將會有所幫助。
But in general, it's a promising idea, and one that might be easier to research in a lab.
但總的來說，這是一個很有希望的想法，而且在實驗室里研究起來可能更容易。
Even though we don't know exactly why this time phenomenon happens, there could be some ways to stop it from happening, depending on what's causing it.
雖然我們不知道為什么會發生這種現象，但是我們可以依靠產生的原因通過一些方法來阻止這一現象的發生，
Like, you could try more new things, so that you have more to reflect on later.
比如，你可以嘗試更多的新事物，這樣你以后會有更多的反思。
Or you could do more things that are really exciting and fun for you, so that your dopamine levels are generally higher.
或者你可以做更多讓你興奮和開心的事情，這樣你的多巴胺水平就會更高。
You could also just accept that High School Musical really did come out over a decade ago, and so what if you're a little older.
你也可以接受《歌舞青春》在十多年前就已經問世的消息，如果你再長大一點會怎么樣呢?
There's no guarantee that any of these things will make your life seem longer,
沒有人能保證這些事情會讓你的生命看起來更長，
but a life full of new and fun experiences definitely can't hurt.
新鮮有趣的生活絕對不會有壞處。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych!
感謝收看本期心理科學秀！
If you love learning about the world as much as we do, you can help us introduce science to the next generation by checking out SciShow Kids.
如果你和我們一樣喜歡了解這個世界，你可以通過查看少兒科學秀幫助我們向下一代介紹科學。
It might not make your life pass more slowly, but it will hopefully inspire curiosity and excitement in the world's future psychologists.
它可能不會讓你的生活過得更慢，但它有望激發未來心理學家的好奇心和激情。
You can visit the channel and subscribe at youtube.com/scishowkids.
你可以訪問這個頻道，并在youtube.com/scishowkids上訂閱我們的節目。
