牵手的力量不可小觑:紧握爱人之手可缓解疼痛

2018-03-19 08:46:09  每日学英语
牵手

 

上周发表在美国《国家科学院学报》月刊上的一项研究结果说,与处于痛苦之中的爱人牵手,不仅让你们的呼吸和心率同步,连你们的脑波模式也会耦联起来。

 

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The study, by researchers with the University of Colorado Boulder and University of Haifa, also found that the more empathy a comforting partner feels for a partner in pain, the more their brainwaves fall into sync. And the more those brain waves sync, the more the pain goes away.

美国科罗拉多大学博尔德分校和以色列海法大学的研究人员开展的这项研究发现,实施安抚的伙伴对处于痛苦之中的对方越感同身受,他们的脑波就越同步。而他们的脑波越同步,痛苦者疼痛减轻的幅度就越大。

科罗拉多大学博尔德分校博士后研究人员帕维尔·戈德斯坦,在妻子分娩时,发现握着她的手能减轻其疼痛。随后,他想到做这项实验。

He and his colleagues at University of Haifa recruited 22 heterosexual couples, age 23 to 32 who had been together for at least one year and put them through several two-minute scenarios as electroencephalography (EEG) caps measured their brainwave activity. The scenarios included sitting together not touching; sitting together holding hands; and sitting in separate rooms. Then they repeated the scenarios as the woman was subjected to mild heat pain on her arm.

戈德斯坦及海法大学研究者招募了22对年龄在23至32岁、相伴至少一年的异性伴侣,让他们经历几个场景,每个场景历时两分钟,同时用脑电图描记仪测量他们的脑波活动。这些场景包括坐在一起,但不触碰;手拉手坐在一起;分别坐在不同的房间里。然后在女方胳膊遭受轻度热痛的情况下,让这些伴侣再次经历这些场景。

 

Merely being in each other’s presence, with or without touch, was associated with some brain wave synchronicity in the alpha mu band, a wavelength associated with focused attention. If they held hands while she was in pain, the coupling increased the most.

只要伴侣在场,不管有没有接触,与注意力相关的频带就显示出某种脑波同步性。如果在女方疼痛时两人手拉手,这种耦联增幅就最大。

而当女方疼痛但男方不能触碰时,他们脑波耦联就消失了。这与之前发表的一篇论文的研究结果相吻合,在那项实验中,当男性参与者无法握住配偶的手来缓解她的疼痛时,她的心率和呼吸同步消失了。

"It appears that pain totally interrupts this interpersonal synchronization between couples and touch brings it back," says Goldstein.

戈德斯坦说:“疼痛似乎完全打断了夫妻之间的这种人际同步,而身体接触又把它带回来了。”

 

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对男方共情水平的后续测试结果显示,男方对女方的疼痛越感同身受,他们的脑活动越同步。双方大脑越同步,女方痛苦消退得越多。与共情伴侣的脑活动耦联究竟如何能消除疼痛呢?

More studies are needed to find out, stressed Goldstein. But he and his co-authors offer a few possible explanations. Empathetic touch can make a person feel understood, which in turn -- according to previous studies -- could activate pain-killing reward mechanisms in the brain.

戈德斯坦强调,需要进行更多的研究才能找到答案。但他和他的合著者提供了几个可能的解释。比如共情触碰会让人觉得被理解,进而——根据此前的一些研究结果——可以激发脑中的止痛奖励机制。

所以小伙子们,当女票例假疼痛难忍的时候,除了让她多喝热水,你还可以紧握她的手,分担一点她的疼痛。

 

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