新研究：你的眼睛顏色竟然和性格有關係
2019.02.09
週六 Saturday
seasonal /'si:zənl/
adj. 季節性的
You're not alone if colder weather and longer nights make you feel down.
如果你會因爲冷天氣和夜晚變長而情緒低落，那你不是特例。
This well-known phenomenon, called seasonal affective disorder (SAD), might explain why people feel low, irritable, and lethargic in the winter months. For some, the condition can be serious and debilitating.
有一個知名度很高的現象，叫季節性情緒失調，又叫SAD，或許可以解釋爲什麼有人會在冬季感到低落、易怒、沒精力。
Although SAD is a recognised form of clinical depression, experts are still divided on what causes the condition, with some even arguing it doesn't exist. But my own research has found that your eye colour might actually be one factor determining whether or not you develop SAD.
雖然SAD已經是一種臨牀承認的抑鬱形式，但專家們依舊沒有對它的成因達成共識，有些專家甚至在質疑它是否真的存在。不過我的個人研究發現，你眼睛的顏色可能是決定你是否患SAD的一個因素。
We have uncovered evidence that a person's eye colour can have a direct effect on how susceptible they are to SAD.
我們已經發現了一些證據，表明人眼的顏色對他們患SAD的可能性有直接的影響。
Our study used a sample of 175 students from two universities (one in south Wales, the other in Cyprus). We found that people with light or blue eyes scored significantly lower on the seasonal pattern assessment questionnaire than those with dark or brown eyes.
我們的研究從兩所大學抽取了175名學生，這兩所大學一所位於南威爾士，另一所位於塞浦路斯。我們發現，淺色眼睛和藍眼睛的人在季節性行爲模式評估問卷上的得分要顯著低於深色和棕色眼睛的人。
These results agree with previous research which found that brown or dark-eyed people were significantly more depressed than those with blue eyes.
這次的結果和以前的研究也相符：棕色或深色眼睛的人的抑鬱程度要顯著高於藍眼睛的人。
The reason that eye colour may make some people more susceptible to depression or mood changes might be because of the amount of light an individual's eyes can process.
眼睛的顏色之所以會讓一些人更容易抑鬱或者情緒波動，可能是源自不同人的眼鏡能夠處理的光線量不同。
The retina is the part of our eyeball containing cells that are sensitive to light. When light enters the eye, these cells trigger nerve impulses that form a visual image in our brain.
視網膜是我們的眼球中含有感光細胞的那個部位。當光線進入眼鏡的時候，這些細胞就會發出神經衝動，進而在我們的大腦中形成視覺圖像。
In 1995, scientists discovered that some retinal cells, rather than forming an image, simply send information about levels of brightness from the back of the eye to the brain's hypothalamus.
在1995年，科學家們發現有些視網膜細胞並不會生成圖像。這些位於眼珠的細胞會直接把光線的亮度信息傳遞給大腦中的下丘腦。
The hypothalamus is an important part of the brain which secretes hormones (such as oxytocin) that regulate temperature, hunger and sleep cycles.
下丘腦是大腦中很重要的一部分，它會分泌激素來調控體溫、飢餓感和睡眠週期；這些激素中就包括催產素。
As the amount of blue and green light reaching the hypothalamus increases, the amount of melatonin decreases. Eyes with lower pigment (blue or grey eyes) are more sensitive to light.
當抵達視網膜的藍光和綠光變多的時候，褪黑素的數量就會降低。而那些色素較少的眼睛（比如藍眼睛和灰眼睛）對光線更敏感。
This means they don't need to absorb as much light as brown or dark eyes before this information reaches the retinal cells.
這也就意味着，在信息抵達視網膜細胞之前，這些眼睛需要吸收的光線比棕色和深色眼睛要少。
As such, people with lighter eyes release less melatonin during the fall and winter. This mechanism might provide light-eyed people with some resilience to seasonal affective disorder (though a smaller proportion may still experience SAD).
如此這般，淺色眼睛的人在秋冬季節釋放的褪黑素會更少。這種機制或許讓淺色眼睛的人更能抵禦季節性情緒失調。（不過還是有少部分人會經歷SAD）
今日詞彙
seasonal /'si:zənl/
adj. 季節性的
不難看出，它是由 season（季節）派生出來的詞。
所以它表達的是“季節性的”、“週期性的”，不過它並不是完全對應一年四季，各種節日也包含在內：
They have brought in some seasonal workers to cope with the Christmas period.
他們招募了一些季節性的臨時工來應對聖誕期間的業務。
