2019.02.09

周六 Saturday

seasonal?/'si:z?nl/?

adj. 季節(jié)性的

You're?not alone if colder weather and longer nights make you feel down.?
如果你會因為冷天氣和夜晚變長而情緒低落，那你不是特例。

This?well-known phenomenon, called?seasonal?affective disorder (SAD), might explain why people feel low, irritable, and lethargic in the winter months. For some, the condition can be serious and debilitating.
有一個知名度很高的現(xiàn)象，叫季節(jié)性情緒失調(diào)，又叫SAD，或許可以解釋為什么有人會在冬季感到低落、易怒、沒精力。

Although?SAD is a recognised form of clinical depression, experts are still divided on what causes the condition, with some even arguing it doesn't exist. But my own research has found that your eye colour might actually be one factor determining whether or not you develop SAD.
雖然SAD已經(jīng)是一種臨床承認的抑郁形式，但專家們依舊沒有對它的成因達成共識，有些專家甚至在質(zhì)疑它是否真的存在。不過我的個人研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，你眼睛的顏色可能是決定你是否患SAD的一個因素。

We?have uncovered evidence that a person's eye colour can have a direct effect on how susceptible they are to SAD.
我們已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了一些證據(jù)，表明人眼的顏色對他們患SAD的可能性有直接的影響。

Our?study used a sample of 175 students from two universities (one in south Wales, the other in Cyprus). We found that people with light or blue eyes scored significantly lower on the seasonal pattern assessment questionnaire than those with dark or brown eyes.
我們的研究從兩所大學(xué)抽取了175名學(xué)生，這兩所大學(xué)一所位于南威爾士，另一所位于塞浦路斯。我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，淺色眼睛和藍眼睛的人在季節(jié)性行為模式評估問卷上的得分要顯著低于深色和棕色眼睛的人。

These?results agree with previous research which found that brown or dark-eyed people were significantly more depressed than those with blue eyes.
這次的結(jié)果和以前的研究也相符：棕色或深色眼睛的人的抑郁程度要顯著高于藍眼睛的人。

The?reason that eye colour may make some people more susceptible to depression or mood changes might be because of the amount of light an individual's eyes can process.
眼睛的顏色之所以會讓一些人更容易抑郁或者情緒波動，可能是源自不同人的眼鏡能夠處理的光線量不同。

The?retina is the part of our eyeball containing cells that are sensitive to light. When light enters the eye, these cells trigger nerve impulses that form a visual image in our brain.
視網(wǎng)膜是我們的眼球中含有感光細胞的那個部位。當(dāng)光線進入眼鏡的時候，這些細胞就會發(fā)出神經(jīng)沖動，進而在我們的大腦中形成視覺圖像。

In?1995, scientists discovered that some retinal cells, rather than forming an image, simply send information about levels of brightness from the back of the eye to the brain's hypothalamus.
在1995年，科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)有些視網(wǎng)膜細胞并不會生成圖像。這些位于眼珠的細胞會直接把光線的亮度信息傳遞給大腦中的下丘腦。

The?hypothalamus is an important part of the brain which secretes hormones (such as oxytocin) that regulate temperature, hunger and sleep cycles.
下丘腦是大腦中很重要的一部分，它會分泌激素來調(diào)控體溫、饑餓感和睡眠周期；這些激素中就包括催產(chǎn)素。

As?the amount of blue and green light reaching the hypothalamus increases, the amount of melatonin decreases. Eyes with lower pigment (blue or grey eyes) are more sensitive to light.
當(dāng)?shù)诌_視網(wǎng)膜的藍光和綠光變多的時候，褪黑素的數(shù)量就會降低。而那些色素較少的眼睛（比如藍眼睛和灰眼睛）對光線更敏感。

This?means they don't need to absorb as much light as brown or dark eyes before this information reaches the retinal cells.
這也就意味著，在信息抵達視網(wǎng)膜細胞之前，這些眼睛需要吸收的光線比棕色和深色眼睛要少。

As?such, people with lighter eyes release less melatonin during the fall and winter. This mechanism might provide light-eyed people with some resilience to seasonal affective disorder (though a smaller proportion may still experience SAD).
如此這般，淺色眼睛的人在秋冬季節(jié)釋放的褪黑素會更少。這種機制或許讓淺色眼睛的人更能抵御季節(jié)性情緒失調(diào)。（不過還是有少部分人會經(jīng)歷SAD）

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今日詞匯

seasonal?/'si:z?nl/?

adj. 季節(jié)性的

?

不難看出，它是由 season（季節(jié)）派生出來的詞。

所以它表達的是“季節(jié)性的”、“周期性的”，不過它并不是完全對應(yīng)一年四季，各種節(jié)日也包含在內(nèi)：

They have brought in some seasonal workers to cope with the Christmas period.

他們招募了一些季節(jié)性的臨時工來應(yīng)對圣誕期間的業(yè)務(wù)。

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