最新研究發現 各種焦慮其實是和人的基因有關

If the very thought of spatial and mathematical tasks, such as reading a map or solving a geometry problem, makes you nervous, it could be partly due to your genes, suggests a new research.

最新研究發現，如果一想到空間和數學問題--比如在查閱地圖或者求解幾何問題時，你就會變得緊張焦慮，這可能是部分原因是由於你的基因問題。

"Our results have important implications for finding specific genes which contribute to differences in anxiety between people," said Margherita Malanchini from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London.

就職於倫敦國王學院精神病學、心理學和神經科學研究所的瑪格麗塔·馬蘭基尼表示：“研究人員現在正在尋找一些造成人與人之間焦慮差異的特定基因，而我們的調查結果對他們的工作有着重要意義。”

"Pinpointing specific genes for anxiety could help in identifying children who are most at risk from very early in their lives, and subsequently to intervene and prevent the development of anxiety," Malanchini added.

馬蘭基尼補充說道：“如果能找到引發人們焦慮的特定基因，就可以從早期識別出那些面臨風險最高的兒童，從而對這些基因採取干預手段，預防焦慮的進一步發展。”

In the study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers measured anxiety in a sample of more than 1,400 twin pairs aged 19 to 21 from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS).

這份研究被髮表在《科學報告》雜誌上，研究人員在《雙胞胎早期發展研究》上選取了1400多對19到21歲的雙胞胎樣本，並對他們的焦慮水平進行了測定。

The researchers identified several different forms of anxiety — general, mathematics, navigation and rotation/visualisation.

由此研究人員總結出幾種不同形式的焦慮：一般性焦慮、數學焦慮、駕駛焦慮以及旋轉/視覺化焦慮。

All forms of anxiety showed a substantial genetic component, with DNA explaining over a third of the differences between people.

而所有形式的焦慮都是由大量的遺傳因素造成的，人類之間超過三分之一的差異都可以用基因來解釋。

Non-shared environments were found to explain the rest of the differences between people in spatial anxiety, which are environments that twins raised in the same family do not share, such as different extra-curricular activities, teachers and friends.

研究人員還發現，除了基因，導致人與人之間產生空間焦慮差異的還有另外一個因素，那就是不共享環境，顧名思義，不共享環境就是生活在同一家庭下的雙胞胎不會彼此分享的環境，例如兩個人有不一樣的課外活動、老師和同學等。

Non-shared environments such as driving, cycling or playing computer games may be particularly relevant to spatial anxiety, the researchers said.

研究人員稱，類似於開車、騎自行車或者玩電腦遊戲時的不共享環境可能和空間焦慮尤其相關。

The study also showed that people who are anxious about navigation are not necessarily anxious about rotation/visualisation tasks, such as completing a complex jigsaw puzzle.

這項研究同時說明，對駕駛感到焦慮的人不一定會對旋轉/視覺化的任務（比如完成一幅複雜的拼圖）感到焦慮。

The same was found for mathematics and general anxiety, showing that those who experience spatial anxiety do not necessarily tend to experience anxiety when faced with a mathematical tasks.

而在對比數學和一般性焦慮時，研究人員也得出了同樣的結論，即那些有空間焦慮的人不一定對數學任務也感到焦慮。

The researchers also found a small but significant gender difference in their sample, with women showing higher levels of anxiety than men across all areas.

研究人員還在樣本中發現了一個雖然很小但是卻很重要的性別差異，女性在所有領域中的焦慮水平都要高於男性。

This could be due to women being more willing to disclose their feelings of anxiety, or anxiety caused by the stereotype that STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects are “for men”, the researchers said.

研究人員對此表示，這可能是因爲女性更願意表露出自己焦慮的感覺，或者是受刻板印象的影響，覺得科學、技術、工程和數學（STEM）這些科目都是給男生準備的，因而在接觸相關東西的時候就會感到焦慮。