科学美国人60秒：对啮齿动物来说，男人闻起来像地狱

This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Sophie Bushwick. Got a minute?

这里是《科学美国人》的60秒科学，我是苏菲·布什维克。准备好了吗?

Rodents are the workhorses of biomedical labs. So it’s important to know if they’re stressed out, which could affect results. Now we know that lab rodents may be regularly exposed to a big stressor: men.

啮齿动物是生物医学实验室的主力。所以重要的是要知道他们是否压力过大，这可能会影响结果。现在我们知道，实验室里的啮齿动物可能经常暴露在一个巨大的压力源下:男人。

Researchers noticed that mice showed a lower pain response—a sign of stress—when a human was present. So they put mice and rats into clear cubicles, where their faces were visible, and injected them with an irritant. The rodents expressed pain through grimacing when no humans were nearby. But when confronted with a male researcher, or even just his odoriferous T-shirt, the animals grimaced less.

研究人员注意到，当有人类在场时，老鼠表现出较低的疼痛反应——这是压力的标志。因此，他们把小鼠和大鼠放在透明的隔间里，在那里可以看到它们的脸，并给它们注射刺激物。当附近没有人类时，这些啮齿动物会通过做鬼脸来表达痛苦。但是当面对一名男性研究人员，甚至只是他那件散发着气味的T恤时，这些动物就会减少咧嘴的动作。

Female observers did not get the same rodent reaction.

女性观察者没有得到同样的啮齿动物反应。

Turns out that smelling a human male made rodents produce higher levels of a stress hormone and increase their body temperature. That stress response also blunted their sensitivity to pain. The study is in the journal Nature Methods.

事实证明，闻到人类男性的气味会使啮齿动物产生更高水平的压力激素，体温升高。这种应激反应也削弱了它们对疼痛的敏感性。这项研究发表在《自然方法》杂志上。

Researchers may have to come up with ways to ward off the stress effects of male researchers. Because to a rodent, men smell like hell.

研究人员可能不得不想出一些方法来抵御男性研究人员的压力效应。因为对啮齿动物来说，男人闻起来像地狱。

Thanks for the minute for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Sophie Bushwick.

感谢收听《科学美国人》的60秒科学。苏菲·布什维克报道。