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囧研究：吃鸡蛋让人变大方

　　If you are looking for a loan, serving your bank manager breakfast might just do the trick。如果你想要贷款，请银行经理吃个早餐说不定能帮你忙。

　　A compound found in eggs makes people much more generous, new research suggests。最新研究表明，鸡蛋里含有的某种复合物会使人们变得更加慷慨大方。

　　Scientists say that tryptophan, an amino acid found in some foods, can change our behaviour。科学家称，一些食物中所含的一种叫做色氨酸的氨基酸能够改变人们的行为。

　　In experiments they found that consuming a small portion of tryptophan - the equivalent of that found in three eggs - doubled the sum volunteers gave to charity。研究者们通过实验发现，摄入少量色氨酸(大概是三个鸡蛋中所含该物质的含量)能够使被试捐款人的捐款数目增加一倍。

　　Eggs and other foods such as fish and milk are rich in tryptophan, an amino acid that is converted in the body into the feel-good chemical serotonin。鸡蛋、鱼、牛奶等都富含色氨酸，色氨酸能在人体内转化为让人感到愉快的化学物质5-羟色胺。

　　Psychologists from Leiden University in the Netherlands, writing in the Frontiers in Psychology journal, said: ‘For the first time, we investigated whether the administration of a compound contained in food such as fish, eggs, soy, and milk can promote charitable donating。荷兰莱顿大学的心理学家在发表于《心理学前沿》期刊里的文章中写道：“这是我们第一次研究如鱼、鸡蛋、豆和牛奶等食物中含有的化合物是否会对慷慨捐赠行为产生促进作用。”

　　‘Our study is the first demonstration that charitable donating can be enhanced by serotonin-related food supplements.’ “我们的研究首次证明了，通过增加包含色氨酸的食物摄入量能够促进人们的慈善捐赠行为。”

　　The authors carried out an experiment on 32 men and women, in which half were given a powder containing 0.8 grams of TRP, and the others were given a harmless placebo powder。该实验包括男性、女性被试共32名，其中一半被试食用的是含有0.8克的色氨酸粉末，另外一半则食用一种无害的安慰剂粉末。

　　Each participant was given £7.50 ($11.25) for taking part in the research and asked whether they were willing to donate part of their financial reward to charity。每个参与实验的被试都被给予7.5英镑，并被询问是否愿意把这些钱捐给慈善机构。

　　Four boxes for Unicef, Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and World Wildlife Fund were left on a table。桌子上摆放着四个慈善机构的盒子，这四个慈善机构分别是联合国儿童基金会，大赦国际，绿色和平组织和世界野生动物基金会。

　　When the psychologists counted the takings, they found that those given the TRP powder donated an average of 75p ($1.15)， while those who received the placebo donated half as much。心理学家计算捐款数额后发现，摄入色氨酸粉末的被试平均捐出了75便士，而食用安慰剂的被试则只捐出了一半的数额

　　Just how a food supplement could have such an effect is not clear, but the scientists suggest the involvement of oxytocin, the so-called ‘cuddle’ hormone produced by women during breastfeeding and lovemaking。为什么一种食品添加剂可以产生这样效果目前还不清楚，但科学家们认为这可能与后叶催产素有关，后叶催产素是女性在哺乳和性交期间会产生的一种所谓的“拥抱”荷尔蒙。

　　They wrote: ‘It may be likely that the willingness to donate money to a charity is modulated by the effect that serotonin exerts on oxytocin levels。他们写道：“捐款的意愿可能受5-羟色胺对后叶催产素水平影响的调控。”

　　‘Our results support the materialist approach that “you are what you eat”. “我们的研究结果支持了唯物主义者的说法即‘吃什么东西就会产生什么行为’。”

　　‘The idea [is] that the food one eats has a bearing on one’s state of mind. The food we eat may thus act as a cognitive enhancer that modulates the way we deal with the “social” world.' “人们所吃的食物会影响到大脑的状态。就这样食物扮演了认知促进者的角色，调控着人们应对‘社交’世界的方式。”

　　Commenting on the research, Dr Adam Perkins, neurobiologist at King’s College London, said the study could be useful in prisons to encourage harmony among inmates。伦敦国王学院的神经生物学家亚当·帕金斯认为这项研究结果可以运用于监狱，对促进犯人间的和谐会非常有效。

　　He said: ‘These results are interesting because they raise the possibility that dietary supplements containing TRP could be used to assist with boosting charitable attitudes and behaviour in the population.’他说：“这个研究的结果非常有趣，只要增加含有色氨酸的食物摄入量，就能很好地促进全民行善的意愿和行为。”

　　(沪江英语)