You know how sometimes things that happen in the real world can affect your dreams?
你知道现实生活发生的事情是怎么影响你的梦境吗?
Like you might think fleetingly of someone and then have that person pop up in a dream. Or a noise like an alarm clock sounding figures in a dream narrative.
比如说,你可能会觉得有人一闪而过,又突然在梦里出现。或者你感觉在梦中的故事情节里一直回荡着像闹铃似的噪音。
Now, dream researchers in Germany have found that odors, too, can affect dreams. Nice smells, like roses, tend to result in happier dreams, while repugnant scents like rotten eggs more often result in bad dreams.
现今,德国的释梦研究者者发现臭味也能影响梦境。香味,比如说玫瑰花香,有利于引发快乐的梦,然而像坏鸡蛋这样的刺鼻的味道更容易引发消极的梦。
The researchers studied several young women in their twenties, a group known to have the best sense of smell.
研究者以20几岁的年轻女孩为对象做了实验,她们被公认为有着非常灵敏的嗅觉。
While sleeping, the women breathed in air through tubes taped to their nostrils.
在她们睡觉的时候用气管插在鼻孔呼吸。
During REM sleep, when most dreams occur, the subjects received rose-scented air, then rotten egg-scented air, and then plain air.
梦境经常发生在快速眼动睡眠阶段,在这个时候让研究对象闻玫瑰香味,然后是臭鸡蛋味,最后让她们正常呼吸。
When awakened a few minutes after the infusion of rose air, nearly all of the women reported having pleasant dreams.
在吸入玫瑰香味之后几分钟把她们叫醒,几乎每个人都说做了很美好的梦。
When awakened after receiving the foul-smelling air, most women reported having dreams with a negative cast.
在吸入臭味之后醒来时,大多数都说做了很消极的梦。
To be clear, none of the women reported actually smelling roses or rotten eggs in their dreams.
首先说明一下,没有人说她们在做梦的时候闻到了玫瑰香或者臭鸡蛋味。
The researchers believe that smells influence dreams indirectly by altering the dreamer's emotions.
研究者相信,这证明了味道可通过改变做梦人的情绪来间接地影响梦境。
After all, smell is governed largely by the brain's limbic system, which also controls emotion and behavior.
毕竟,味觉是由大脑边缘系统支配的,并且大脑边缘系统也同时控制着人的情绪和行为。
The researchers reason that if smell can influence our emotions when we're awake, it could just as easily affect emotions while we're asleep and in the throes of a dream.
研究者推理,如果味道可以在人们清醒时影响情绪,那么它也可以在人们睡着或者做梦时轻易地影响人们的情绪。