晚上开灯睡觉竟会导致抑郁甚至虚胖

　　Sleeping with the light on could leave you feeling low the next day, scientists have warned. They say that a night-light – however dim – may affect the structure of the brain, raising the odds of depression. The eerie glow emitted by a TV or the seemingly reassuring presence of a night-light could be enough to impact on mental health.
　　科学家发现，睡觉开灯会导致第二天心情“跌到谷底”，他们解释，无论“夜灯”多么昏暗，再微弱的光源都会对大脑产生影响，并制造情绪低落消沉（也就是咱们说的抑郁哦）。即使睡觉不开灯换电视取代，或者开其他光源，都会影响人的精神健康。

　　It is the latest in a long line of warnings about the potential dangers of disrupting the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle. There are concerns that shift workers are at higher risk of breast cancer and, only last month, a study linked night-time light with weight gain. With complete darkness being hard to achieve in the modern world, experts say the findings could have serious implications for health.

　　调查指出，亮光会干扰人类的“醒周期”会影响人类自然睡眠，产生潜在危险。此外，常上夜班或者经常从事“倒班”职业的人更容易患上乳腺癌。睡眠不好的人还会“虚胖”，专家指出，人在睡眠中应该处于一个完全黑暗的环境。

　　In the latest study, presented at an American conference, researchers from Ohio State University looked at the effect of exposing rodents to dim light in the eight hours or so they would usually be asleep. At the equivalent of having a television on in a darkened room, the lamp used was not bright, but it was enough to affect the animals’ behaviour, the Society for Neuroscience’s annual conference heard.

　　美国俄亥俄州的专家通过做实验，还发现即使是很微弱的灯光也能影响小动物（啮齿类）的睡眠，专家发现啮齿类动物的行为和举动受灯光影响相当大。

　　Researcher Tracy Bedrosian said: ‘The hippocampus plays a key role in depressive disorders, so finding changes there is significant. ‘Even dim light at night is sufficient to provoke depressive behaviour.’Neuroscientist Dr Randy Nelson said: ‘The light was a very low level. Something that most people could easily encounter every night.

　　专家说，海马体在控制人类情绪上有重要作用，据悉，海马体位于左右脑之间，它虽然很小，但却是收发信息的门户站。它将信息转化为记忆，发送、储存到大脑不同部位，任何微弱的灯光都能作用海马体。

Vocabulary: 

　　hippocampus n. 海马体