科学美国人60秒 SSS 战或逃神经让老鼠毛发变白

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。

They say that Marie Antoinette's hair turned white the night before she lost her head to the guillotine. But can stress really have such a dramatic effect on hair color? A new study in mice concludes that it can and c?redits overactive nerves with stripping the color from the animals' locks—and possibly ours.

据说玛丽·安托瓦内特在上断头台的前一晚，头发一夜变白。但压力真能对头发颜色产生如此巨大的影响吗？一项在老鼠身上进行的新研究得出结论称，确实可以，而且可以认为过度活跃的神经会使动物——可能还有我们的发色脱色。

Researchers at Harvard's Stem Cell Institute were interested in the stress and hair color issue. So they decided¹ to take a closer look at those stem cells that g?ive rise to melanocytes—the cells that pump pigments² into each hair follicle. The stem cells were an obvious target.

哈佛干细胞研究所的研究人员对压力和头发颜色问题产生了兴趣。因此，他们决定更仔细地研究产生黑色素细胞的干细胞，黑色素细胞是将色素注入每个毛囊的细胞。干细胞很容易成为研究目标。 

"Because changes in the stem cell population translate to changes in hair color, which are very visible and easy to identify."

“因为干细胞群的变化转化为发色变化，这种变化非常明显，也很容易识别。”

Ya-Chieh Hsu, the study's senior author.

许雅捷是这项研究的资深作者。

To start, she and her colleagues subjected mice to some rodent-sized stressors—like having their cage tilted³, their bedding dampened or their lights left on all night.

首先，她和同事让老鼠承受一些小压力，比如倾斜鼠笼、弄湿被褥或通宵亮灯。

"So what did we find? We found that stress indeed leads to premature⁴ hair graying in mice. But it took a long time for us to actually narrow down how it occurs."

“我们发现了什么？我们发现压力确实会导致老鼠毛发过早变白。但我们花了很长时间才真正弄清导致这种情况发生的原因。”

First, they thought it could be the immune system attacking the melanocyte stem cell population.

他们一开始认为可能是免疫系统攻击黑色素细胞干细胞群。

"However, mice lacking immune cells still show premature hair graying under stress."

“然而，缺乏免疫细胞的老鼠在压力下仍会出现毛发过早变白的现象。”

Then they thought the key factor could be cortisol, the quintessential stress hormone⁵.

之后他们认为关键因素可能是皮质醇，这是一种典型的压力激素。

"But when we removed the adrenal glands⁶ from the mice so they cannot produce cortisol-like hormones⁷, their hair still turned gray under stress."

“但当我们移除老鼠的肾上腺，使其不能产生皮质醇类激素时，它们的毛发在压力下仍然会变白。”

That's when they turned their attention to the sympathetic nervous system, which orchestrates the body's overall reaction to stress, including the classic fight-or-flight response. Those nerves reach out to our muscles, organs and, yes, even our hair.

这时他们将注意力转向了交感神经系统，该系统负责协调身体对压力的整体反应，包括经典的战斗或逃跑反应。这些神经延伸至我们的肌肉、器官以及……没错，甚至我们的头发。

"The nerve terminals wrap around each hair follicle like a ribbon."

“神经末梢像缎带一样缠绕在每个毛囊周围。”

And when Hsu and her team cut those connections, the stem cells were spared, and the animals kept their shiny black coat even in the face of minor⁸ discomfort⁹. The findings appear in the journal Nature.

许雅捷及其团队切断这些联系时，干细胞未遭损害，而老鼠即使面对轻微不适也能保持它们闪亮的黑色皮毛。这项研究发表在《自然》期刊上。

It's unclear whether the same sympathetic nerves make us gray as we age. But the results provide hope that we may someday be able to fight to hold onto our natural hair color—and avoid that monthly flight to the hairdresser.

目前尚不清楚交感神经是否也会让我们的头发随年龄变白。但研究结果给我们带来了希望，我们或许某天能保持住自己的自然发色，避免每月都去理发店染店。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 pigments   

n.（粉状）颜料( pigment的名词复数 )；天然色素

参考例句：

• The Romans used natural pigments on their fabrics and walls. 古罗马人在织物和墙壁上使用天然颜料。 来自辞典例句
• The original white lead pigments have oxidized and turned black. 最初的白色铅质颜料氧化后变成了黑色。 来自辞典例句

3 tilted   

v. 倾斜的

参考例句：

• Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。

4 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

5 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。

6 glands   

n.腺( gland的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a snake's poison glands 蛇的毒腺
• the sebaceous glands in the skin 皮脂腺

7 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• 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。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

8 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

9 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。