科学美国人60秒 如何让暴躁狮子变成温顺小猫咪?(2)（在线收听）

Burkhart would lure a lion over to the enclosure fence by waving a tasty hunk of meat.

伯克哈特会用一大块美味的肉把狮子引诱到围栏边。

Once I hold that meat and the animal’s grabbing it I can just stick it in the fence and into their nostril and spray away.

一旦我拿着肉，动物就会抓住它，我就可以把喷瓶卡到栅栏上，把喷瓶顶端塞进它们的鼻孔，然后喷洒液体。

The cats put up with the nasal invasion--as long as they got their grub.

这种猫科动物会忍受激素入侵鼻腔——只要它们能吃到食物。

But if Burkhart spritzed a lion after the meat was gone….

但如果伯克哈特在肉没了之后向狮子喷激素....

You should see their faces.

你应该看看它们的表情。

They go, huh? Like, how dare you take a cheap shot on me.

他们会吼叫？你怎么敢用卑鄙的手段攻击我。

They take it personally!

它们会认为这是针对个体的!

Ah, it’s so funny.

啊，太有趣了。

The researchers then assessed oxytocin’s effects in several different behavioral situations.

研究人员评估了催产素在几种不同行为情况下的影响。

The first was seeing whether the hormone would make a lion less territorial when it comes to a desirable toy or a snack.

第一项研究是观察这种激素是否会让狮子在寻找心仪的玩具或零食时丧失领地意识。

Normally, lions are pretty protective of their possessions, particularly those that can be eaten.

通常情况下，狮子会保护它们的所有物，尤其是那些可以吃的东西。

They’ll growl and they’ll snarl and they smack and they scratch and they snap.

它们会吼叫，会咆哮，会拍打，会抓挠，会撕咬。

So a lot of times you will just get this sort of reactive behavior where they’re gonna lash out, to be like: Get off!

很多时候，你会得到这种反应性的行为，它们会猛击，像是在表达: 滚开!

When it came to the toys, oxytocin did help to curb that reactive behavior, allowing other lions to come much closer.

对于玩具，催产素确实有助于抑制这种反应性行为，让其他狮子更靠近。

But it didn’t do much for their monopolistic attitude toward meals, which Burkhart says was not entirely unexpected.

但催产素并没有改变它们对食物的独占态度，伯克哈特说这并不完全出乎意料。

With the toy, you know you’re playful, you might be more inclined to having your partners play with you.

当对象是玩具时，狮子很爱玩，很可能更倾向于让伴侣与其一起玩。

When you have a food object, it’s a much more primal instinct, so with the food trial, it’s that innate desire to survive that causes this very reactive aggression.

当对象是食物时，这更像是一种更原始的本能，所以在食物试验中，是这种与生俱来的生存欲望导致了这种反应性攻击。

Seeing that oxytocin suppressed aggression in one situation, but not the other, actually reassured the researchers that the hormone wasn’t just making the lions totally dopey.

观察到催产素在一种情况下抑制了狮子的攻击性，而在另一种情况下却没有抑制住，这实际上让研究人员放心，这种激素不会让狮子完全麻木。

It doesn’t make your brain completely different, but it’s like drinking your coffee in the morning.

这种激素不会让大脑变得完全不同，会像是早上喝咖啡一样。

But if you’re a testosterone-fueled grumpy Gus, it could render you almost delightfully demure.

如果是雄性激素过高、性格暴躁的狮子格斯，这种激素也会让其变得娴静端庄。

Oh my gosh, within minutes of the oxytocin that guy was completely chilled out.

我的天，在催产素的作用下，这个家伙几分钟内就完全冷静下来了。

And I mean when we were giving him his oxytocin, he was growling, smacking the fence, totally insane, testosterone brain.

我的意思是，当我们给他注射催产素时，他咆哮着，拍打着栅栏，完全疯了，大脑充满男性荷尔蒙。

And then he just completely mellowed out.

之后，他会完全放松下来。