中國網站品牌欄目（頻道）
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 Mind blowing: Researchers have discovered that when rats have sex, their brains are altered |
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Losing your virginity really could be life-changing. Having sex apparently alters the structure of the brain – in men, at least. A Japanese study of tiny spines that occur between brain cells revealed virgin male rats to have far more of them than more sexually experienced counterparts. This implies the spines drive sex for the first time and then they shrink or disappear. It may one day be possible to create a pill for humans that increases the growth of spines. This could help boost libido, New Scientist reports. Stuart Tobet, a neuroscientist in the US, said the studies provide a ‘glimpse into how changes in the structure of spines contribute to the ability to display sexual behaviours in rats and perhaps by extrapolation, to other mammals, including humans.’ Once their mission is achieved, the spines are no longer needed and so shrink or disappear. What is more, the microscopic spines may also affect men’s early sexual encounters, this week’s New Scientist reports. It was already known that several brain regions linked to sexual behaviour differ in size between the sexes in humans and other animals. To find out whether an area known to be bigger in males was altered by having sex, the Saitama University researchers compared the brains of male rats who had never had sex before with their more experienced cage-mates. They found that the number of brain spines was significantly lower in the non-virgins. Researcher Shinji Tsukahara says the decrease in spines may have been caused by a number of factors, including hormonal changes triggered by the presence of a female. He said that the spines may serve as a ‘one-way road to learn how to mate’ and once used they are no longer needed. (Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
失去處子之身確實會改變你的人生。初嘗禁果會顯著地改變人的大腦結構——至少對男人是如此。 日本的一項對于腦細胞間微小脊髓組織的研究揭示，“處男”老鼠相比那些有過性經驗的老鼠有更多這種脊髓組織。 這意味著這種脊髓組織促使老鼠發生了初次性行為，并在初夜過后變少或消失。《新科學家》報告稱，將來有一天可能會發明出一種能令這種脊髓組織增加的藥丸，為人類服務。這種藥丸將有助于提升性欲。 美國神經學家斯圖亞特?托比特說，這些研究讓人們能夠“一睹大腦脊髓結構的改變對于老鼠性能力的影響，這種影響也許可以推及包括人類在內的其他哺乳動物。” 一旦這種脊髓組織的使命完成了，它們就不再被需要，因而也就減少或消失了。 而且，據《新科學家》本周的報道，這種微小的脊髓組織還會影響男人的早期性行為。 現在已經獲知人類和其他動物的幾個和性行為相關的大腦區域在兩性之間存在著大小之差。 為了查明性行為是否會改變男性較大的這塊大腦區域，埼玉大學的研究人員將從未有過性生活的雄性老鼠和有過性經驗的雄性老鼠的大腦做了比較。 他們發現，“非處”老鼠的這種大腦脊髓組織的數量明顯比“處男”老鼠要低。 研究人員冢原慎司說，脊髓組織的減少可能是由多種因素引起的，包括雌性出現引發的荷爾蒙的改變。 他說，脊髓組織也許是“學習如何性交的單行道”，一旦被使用過，它們就不再被需要。 相關閱讀 （中國日報網英語點津 陳丹妮 編輯：Julie） |
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Vocabulary: extrapolation: 推斷 microscopic: 只能從顯微鏡里看到的；微小的 |
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