醫學圖譜描繪幸福和羞恥的感覺

Chests puffing up with pride — and happiness felt head to toe — are sensations as real as they are universal. And now we can make an atlas of them.

驕傲感會充滿胸膛，幸福感會從頭頂灌倒腳底，這種真實的感覺所有人都有體會。而現在我們可以用圖譜描繪它們了。

Researchers have long known that emotions are connected to a range of physiological changes, from nervous job candidates’ sweaty palms to the racing pulse that results from hearing a strange noise at night. But new research reveals that emotional states are universally associated with certain bodily sensations, regardless of individuals’ culture or language.

研究人員早就知道情緒影響着一系列體徵變化。從求職者因緊張而掌心出汗，到在夜晚聽到奇怪的聲響而心跳加速。但是新的研究表明，情緒狀態與特定的身體感覺有關，無論個人的文化或語言。

More than 700 participants in Finland, Sweden and Taiwan participated in experiments aimed at mapping their bodily sensations in connection with specific emotions. Participants viewed emotion-laden words, videos, facial expressions and stories. They then self-reported areas of their bodies that felt different than before they’d viewed the material. By coloring in two computer-generated silhouettes — one to note areas of increased bodily sensation and the second to mark areas of decreased sensation — participants were able to provide researchers with a broad base of data showing both positive and negative bodily responses to different emotions.

超過700名來自芬蘭、瑞典和臺灣的參測者參與實驗，實驗旨在描繪出特定情緒對身體感覺的映射圖。參與者觀看感情激昂的文字、視頻、表情和故事。然後自行報告跟觀看材料前相比，他們感覺不同的身體部位。用電腦生成了兩幅輪廓圖，一幅是感覺增加的區域，一幅是感覺降低的區域，對這兩圖着色後參測者就能向研究人員提供一個廣泛的基礎數據顯示身體對不同情緒的正面和負面的反應。

Researchers found statistically discrete areas for each emotion tested, such as happiness, contempt and love, that were consistent regardless of respondents’ nationality. Afterward, researchers applied controls to reduce the risk that participants may have been biased by sensation-specific phrases common to many languages (such as the English “cold feet” as a metaphor for fear, reluctance or hesitation). The results are published today in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

研究人員爲每一個情緒測試建立統計離散模型，比如幸福、受辱和愛，得到的結果是一致的與受訪者的國籍無關。隨後，研究人員使用了控制方法，降低了參測者因爲多種語言特殊感覺偏差造成的（測試結果不準確）風險（例如英語“cold feet”可理解爲害怕，不情願或猶豫）。研究結果今天在美國國家科學院的會議上發表。

Although each emotion produced a specific map of bodily sensation, researchers did identify some areas of overlap. Basic emotions, such as anger and fear, caused an increase in sensation in the upper chest area, likely corresponding to increases in pulse and respiration rate. Happiness was the only emotion tested that increased sensation all over the body.

儘管每種情感產生一個特定的身體感覺圖譜，研究者也確定了一些重疊的區域。基本的情緒，比如憤怒和恐懼，會引起上胸部區域感覺增強，很可能同時會引起脈搏和呼吸率的增加。而在所有測試的情緒中，幸福是唯一能增加全身感覺的情緒。

The findings enhance researchers’ understanding of how we process emotions. Despite differences in culture and language, it appears our physical experience of feelings is remarkably consistent across different populations.

研究結果提高了研究人員對人類如何處理情緒的理解。儘管文化和語言存在差異，但似乎我們的身體感受其他人是高度一致的。

The researchers believe that further development of these bodily sensation maps may one day result in a new way of identifying and treating emotional disorders.

研究人員認爲，隨着這些身體感覺圖譜的進一步研究，未來可能會找到識別和治療情感障礙的新方法。