科学60秒:大脑绝食引发的后果
来源：沪江听写酷
2011-08-18 10:00
Meatloaf, mac-and-cheese or [--1--] mashed potatoes. We all have our comfort foods. Except for people with anorexia. Food makes them extremely uncomfortable. Perhaps because eating causes a change in brain chemistry that instead of bringing pleasure makes anorectics feel anxious. That’s according to a study in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.
For most people, [--2--] makes them feel good. That’s because consuming food [--3--] the release of dopamine, a chemical that tickles the pleasure centers of the brain. But for people with anorexia, meals are fraught with anxiety. So much so that some of these women, and the disease affects mostly women, actually diet themselves to death. But how could biology promote such behavior?
To find out, scientists gave volunteers a single dose of amphetamine, a drug that gets the dopamine flowing, and then looked at their brains. In women without an eating disorder, the [--4--] in dopamine acted as expected, [--5--] the brain’s pleasure centers. But in women with anorexia, dopamine flooded a part of the brain that worries about consequences, thus fueling their anxiety. Seeing where this anxiety comes from could be the first step to help making it disappear.
【视听版科学小组荣誉出品】
For most people, [--2--] makes them feel good. That’s because consuming food [--3--] the release of dopamine, a chemical that tickles the pleasure centers of the brain. But for people with anorexia, meals are fraught with anxiety. So much so that some of these women, and the disease affects mostly women, actually diet themselves to death. But how could biology promote such behavior?
To find out, scientists gave volunteers a single dose of amphetamine, a drug that gets the dopamine flowing, and then looked at their brains. In women without an eating disorder, the [--4--] in dopamine acted as expected, [--5--] the brain’s pleasure centers. But in women with anorexia, dopamine flooded a part of the brain that worries about consequences, thus fueling their anxiety. Seeing where this anxiety comes from could be the first step to help making it disappear.
【视听版科学小组荣誉出品】
a big bowl of
breaking bread
stimulates
boost
lighting up
大脑绝食引发的后果
我们都喜欢享用烘肉卷，芝士通心粉，或许还有一大碗土豆泥这些爽心的美食。当然，除了那些患有厌食症的人。因为食物会让他们十分的不舒服。这有可能是因为他们吃东西的时候，大脑中产生愉悦情绪的化学物质发生改变，变得厌食和焦躁。此项研究发表在《国际进食障碍杂志》上。
对于大多数人来说，进餐是件很愉快的事情。因为消化食物会刺激多巴胺（一种刺激大脑愉悦中枢的化学物质）的释放。但对于厌食人群来说，吃饭令人焦躁。患厌食症的人群中以女性居多，而厌食的女性事实上都绝食而死。但为何生物会产生如此举动？
为找出原因，科学家让自愿者们服用单次量安非他明（解除忧郁、疲劳的药），这种药物可以提高多巴胺的含量，然后检查他们的脑部。在没有饮食障碍的女性大脑中，多巴胺刺激大脑愉悦中枢。但是在患有厌食症的女性大脑中，多巴胺充斥着大脑的忧虑区域，从而引发焦躁不安的情绪。科学家想消灭厌食症的第一步就是找出这种焦躁从何而来。