女人天生情緒化 無理取鬧竟是天性

Are women born to be grumpy? This sounds like the sexist moan of a disgruntled husband, torn off a strip for failing to put the rubbish out. Again. Except that science now seems to back the idea that women’s brains may be wired for increased anxiety, depression and mood swings. And the problem could be exacerbated by those high-protein, low-calorie weight-loss programmes (such as the Dukan Diet)’s long been known that women suffer more from depression, or at least reported depression. Around one in four women will be treated for depression at some point, compared with one in ten men.

一般來說，要是總結男女兩性之間的不同、甚至優缺點來說，女性與“情緒化、尖酸刻薄”等形容詞更容易聯繫起來。然而，近日的一份調查顯示，女性從一出生開始就已經情緒化，是一個嬰兒開始就已經脾氣不好了。所以，別責怪身邊的女友或者自己的老婆了，情緒化甚至“尖酸刻薄”是她們的與生俱來的天性。據悉，女性更容易受到“悲觀情緒”“焦慮情緒”的干擾，具體數字是4個女人中就有1個女人是情緒化，也就是說情緒化比率爲25%，與此相對，男性的“情緒化”比例僅僅爲10%。

This had been explained partly by social factors — women are more likely to seek help for their symptoms compared with men. However, a recent study from Sweden has discovered two key differences in the way men and women’s brains process serotonin, the so-called ‘happy hormone’.

Good levels of serotonin induce feelings of contentment, reduce appetite and improve sleep. Low levels are associated with depression. It’s this understanding of serotonin that led to the development of antidepressants known as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). These drugs, which include Prozac, work by increasing the amount of serotonin available in the brain.

女性的情緒化不僅僅是先天性的原因，還有很多社會因素夾雜而成，受到情緒化波動後，女性想比男性而言更會向別人尋求幫助。來自瑞典的研究人員發現了存在於女性大腦內的重要的影響她們情緒的“小惡魔”----那就是俗稱“快樂荷爾蒙”的血清素（5 -羥色胺）。一般來說，血清素程度高的情況下，大腦內更容易產生滿足感、以及會更好的改進睡眠質量；相反，血清素程度較低的時候，人們更容易產生焦慮或者失落的情緒。關於血清素的研究還一定程度上發展了“選擇性血清素再吸收抑制劑”（一種抗抑鬱藥品）以及百憂解（一種治療精神抑鬱的藥物）的產生與發展。

Now scientists from the Karolinksa Institute in Sweden have been using brain scans to investigate serotonin levels. And the news is not so cheering for women. The researchers looked at serotonin uptake — that is, how much serotonin is actually used by the brain — in men and women. Their scans showed women have more serotonin receptors than men.

來自 Karolinksa Institute學院的科學家用大腦掃描血清素在腦內的生成情況後發現，女性腦內的“5 -羥色胺受體”（血清素受體）較男性多得多，估計，這也就是您的女友或者老婆爲什麼比您更情緒化的原因了。