【英语时差8,16】咖啡因幻觉

Yaël: 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. 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. Y: As for why caffeine may induce hallucinations, the researchers could only speculate. But they think it might have to do with cortisol–a hormone¹ released during stress. Caffeine is known to make the body produce even more cortisol during stress. D: But none of this is solid proof that caffeine triggers hallucinations. First, it's possible that people already prone² 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 random³ controlled study, where several groups of subjects consume varying amounts of caffeine and are monitored in a controlled setting. Y: 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.

 

1 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。

2 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

3 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。