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科学美国人·科学快播:安抚烦躁宝宝的科学秘诀

中英对照 听力原文

Karen Hopkin: This is Scientific American’s Science, Quickly. I’m Karen Hopkin.

这里是《科学美国人》的快速科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。

If you’re a new parent or have ever had any exposure to a baby, you’re no doubt familiar with this sound.

如果你刚为人父母,或者曾经接触过婴儿,无疑对这种声音很熟悉。

Hopkin: Now, the emotions you might experience when treated to this exhibition of infant lung capacity may vary, depending on the time of day, how much sleep you’ve had (if any) and how long the show has been going on.

当婴儿向你展示肺活量时,你的情绪可能会有所不同,这取决于一天中,你睡了多少时间(如果有的话),以及,这个展示已经进行了多长时间。

Hopkin: But one thing’s for sure: Anyone who has ever heard a baby crying has wondered, “How do I make it stop?” Well, a new study shows that five minutes of motion is all it takes to get a crying baby to finally conk out. The work appears in the journal Current Biology.

但有一件事是肯定的:任何听过婴儿哭泣的人都想知道,“我怎么才能让它停止?”一项新的研究表明,五分钟的运动就能让一个哭闹的婴儿睡着。这项研究发表在《当代生物学》杂志上。

Kumi Kuroda: Infant crying is a big issue for parents. But what parents can do is quite limited.

婴儿哭闹对父母来说是个大问题,但父母能做的相当有限。

Hopkin: Kumi Kuroda is a lab head at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science in Japan—and a mother of four. She and her colleague Gianluca Esposito of the University of Trento in Italy know all the tricks.

木村黑田是日本理研脑科学中心的实验室负责人,也是四个孩子的母亲。她和她的同事——意大利特伦托大学的吉安卢卡·埃斯波西托,知道所有的诀窍。

Esposito: Some parents put their baby in the stroller and walk around.

有些父母把孩子放在婴儿车里,然后到处走动。

Hopkin: Some strap them into battery-powered swings or rockers. Others swear by a late-night drive around the neighborhood. But there is one method that’s more or less universal.

有些父母把孩子绑在电池驱动的秋千或摇椅上。还有的父母则需要深夜开车在附近转转。但有一种方法或多或少是通用的。

Esposito: Around the world, parents know that crying babies usually calm down when they are picked up and carried.

全世界的父母都知道,通常,哭闹的婴儿被抱起来后就会平静下来。

Hopkin: And it doesn’t just work for human babies.

而且这不仅对人类婴儿有效。

Kuroda: This phenomenon, the transport response, is widely seen in mammals such as mice, rats, lions—and in monkeys.

这种现象,叫运输反应,在哺乳动物如小鼠、大鼠、狮子和猴子中广泛存在。

Hopkin: When toted by their moms, these baby animals quit their fidgeting and keep distress calls to a minimum. It’s a response that’s especially strong in species in which the young are physically immature and unable to care for themselves. Now, when a mama mouse picks up and runs off with a pup, it’s generally not so she can get some shut-eye.

当它们的妈妈抱着它们的时候,这些小动物就不再坐立不安,把求救信号降到最低。这种反应在那些幼体还不成熟,无法照顾自己的物种中尤其强烈。不过,当一只鼠妈妈抱着一只幼崽跑掉时,通常不是为了睡觉。

Kuroda: It is often an emergency that forces animal parents to carry their infants ...

通常是紧急情况,迫使动物父母抱起它们的孩子……

Hopkin: To, say, avoid an encroaching predator.

比如说,为了,躲避一个入侵的捕食者。

Kuroda: So the infants innately cooperate with the parents by withholding their cries and movements during carrying ...

所以,婴儿天生就会与父母配合,在被抱的过程中控制哭声和动作......

Hopkin: Because their lives literally depend on it. Now, to test the transport response in humans, Kuroda and her colleagues had 21 moms try four different approaches to getting their fussy babies to hush. They held the babies while walking or just sitting. They pushed them in a stroller or placed them in a crib or on a couch—for just five minutes.

因为他们的生命完全依赖于此。为了测试人类的运输反应,黑田和她的同事,让21位母亲尝试了四种不同的方法,来让他们吵闹的婴儿安静下来。他们抱着婴儿来回走动、或只是坐着。然后把孩子放在婴儿车里,或者放在婴儿床上,或者放在沙发上,时间只有五分钟。

Kuroda: And we found that all the infants stopped crying, and more than half of them fell asleep, during or soon after the five minutes of carrying—even in the daytime.

我们发现所有的婴儿都停止了哭闹,超过一半的婴儿,在五分钟的怀抱过程中或之后不久,就睡着了——即使是在白天。

Hopkin: That’s a time when they wouldn’t normally be trying to nap. Laying the babies down or sitting with them did nothing. But in the stroller—which seemed to work as well as the carry-and-walk approach—the babies relaxed. Their heart rate slowed, and they dropped off to sleep. Then came the tricky part.

那是他们通常不会睡觉的时间。让婴儿们躺下或和他们坐在一起都没有效果。但在婴儿车里——似乎和“抱着走动”的方法一样有效——婴儿们放松了。他们的心率减慢,然后就睡着了。接下来是棘手的部分。

Kuroda: When the mothers tried to put their sleepy babies to bed, more than one third of the infants became alert again.

当妈妈们试图把昏昏欲睡的婴儿放到床上睡觉时,超过三分之一的婴儿又醒了。

Hopkin: It turns out that detaching from mom triggers a physiological response that can wake a baby right up again. That’s because ...

事实证明,与妈妈分离会引发一种生理反应,使婴儿再次醒来。那是因为……

Kuroda: Sleep is shallow in the initial phase.

在最初阶段,睡眠很浅。

Hopkin: In that early stage of sleep, which lasts about eight minutes in babies that are four to five months old, a gentle touch or a quietly closing door is enough to raise their heart rate and remind them that they were vocally objecting to their current condition just a minute or two ago. The solution?

婴儿在四到五个月大的时候,在睡眠的早期阶段(大约持续八分钟),即便是轻轻抚摸或轻轻关门,都会提高他们的心率,并提醒他们,一两分钟前自己可还在哭闹呢。解决方案?

Kuroda: Waiting five to eight minutes after sleep onset stabilizes the sleep state.

入睡后再等待5到8分钟,可以稳定睡眠状态。

Hopkin: So Kuroda says you should sit with your snoozing offspring for an extra eight minutes before attempting to lay them down.

所以黑田说,在让孩子躺下之前,你应该和他们多坐8分钟。

Kuroda: This method of five-minute walking and five-to-eight-minute sitting, is cost-free, science-based and effective. So I think it is worth trying before worrying about the infant crying or what’s wrong with the baby or getting frustrated and stressed out.

这种走动5分钟,坐5到8分钟的方法,是免费、科学、有效的。所以我认为在担心婴儿哭泣或婴儿出了什么问题或感到沮丧和压力之前,值得一试。

Hopkin: If it works for a lioness, it should work for a tiger mom—or any exhausted parent hoping for just a few minutes’ peace.

如果它对母狮有效,那么它应该也适用于虎妈——或者任何希望得到几分钟平静的疲惫的父母。

For Scientific American’s Science, Quickly, I’m Karen Hopkin.

以上是《科学美国人》的快速科学,凯伦·霍普金报道。

Karen Hopkin: This is Scientific American’s Science, Quickly. I’m Karen Hopkin.

If you’re a new parent or have ever had any exposure to a baby, you’re no doubt familiar with this sound.

Hopkin: Now, the emotions you might experience when treated to this exhibition of infant lung capacity may vary, depending on the time of day, how much sleep you’ve had (if any) and how long the show has been going on.

Hopkin: But one thing’s for sure: Anyone who has ever heard a baby crying has wondered, “How do I make it stop?” Well, a new study shows that five minutes of motion is all it takes to get a crying baby to finally conk out. The work appears in the journal Current Biology.

Kumi Kuroda: Infant crying is a big issue for parents. But what parents can do is quite limited.

Hopkin: Kumi Kuroda is a lab head at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science in Japan—and a mother of four. She and her colleague Gianluca Esposito of the University of Trento in Italy know all the tricks.

Esposito: Some parents put their baby in the stroller and walk around.

Hopkin: Some strap them into battery-powered swings or rockers. Others swear by a late-night drive around the neighborhood. But there is one method that’s more or less universal.

Esposito: Around the world, parents know that crying babies usually calm down when they are picked up and carried.

Hopkin: And it doesn’t just work for human babies.

Kuroda: This phenomenon, the transport response, is widely seen in mammals such as mice, rats, lions—and in monkeys.

Hopkin: When toted by their moms, these baby animals quit their fidgeting and keep distress calls to a minimum. It’s a response that’s especially strong in species in which the young are physically immature and unable to care for themselves. Now, when a mama mouse picks up and runs off with a pup, it’s generally not so she can get some shut-eye.

Kuroda: It is often an emergency that forces animal parents to carry their infants ...

Hopkin: To, say, avoid an encroaching predator.

Kuroda: So the infants innately cooperate with the parents by withholding their cries and movements during carrying ...

Hopkin: Because their lives literally depend on it. Now, to test the transport response in humans, Kuroda and her colleagues had 21 moms try four different approaches to getting their fussy babies to hush. They held the babies while walking or just sitting. They pushed them in a stroller or placed them in a crib or on a couch—for just five minutes.

Kuroda: And we found that all the infants stopped crying, and more than half of them fell asleep, during or soon after the five minutes of carrying—even in the daytime.

Hopkin: That’s a time when they wouldn’t normally be trying to nap. Laying the babies down or sitting with them did nothing. But in the stroller—which seemed to work as well as the carry-and-walk approach—the babies relaxed. Their heart rate slowed, and they dropped off to sleep. Then came the tricky part.

Kuroda: When the mothers tried to put their sleepy babies to bed, more than one third of the infants became alert again.

Hopkin: It turns out that detaching from mom triggers a physiological response that can wake a baby right up again. That’s because ...

Kuroda: Sleep is shallow in the initial phase.

Hopkin: In that early stage of sleep, which lasts about eight minutes in babies that are four to five months old, a gentle touch or a quietly closing door is enough to raise their heart rate and remind them that they were vocally objecting to their current condition just a minute or two ago. The solution?

Kuroda: Waiting five to eight minutes after sleep onset stabilizes the sleep state.

Hopkin: So Kuroda says you should sit with your snoozing offspring for an extra eight minutes before attempting to lay them down.

Kuroda: This method of five-minute walking and five-to-eight-minute sitting, is cost-free, science-based and effective. So I think it is worth trying before worrying about the infant crying or what’s wrong with the baby or getting frustrated and stressed out.

Hopkin: If it works for a lioness, it should work for a tiger mom—or any exhausted parent hoping for just a few minutes’ peace.

For Scientific American’s Science, Quickly, I’m Karen Hopkin.


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