研究:城市人壓力更大 更易患抑鬱症

Scientists have confirmed what every urbanite has long suspected – life in the city is more stressful.

科學家們證實了城市人長期以來的疑慮：城市生活壓力更大。

Researchers have shown that the parts of the brain dealing with stress and emotion are affected by living among the crowds.

研究人員發現，在擁擠的人羣中生活會影響大腦中處理壓力及情感的區域。

The findings help shed light onwhy those who are born and raised in urban areas are more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression and schizophreniathan those brought up in the countryside.

該發現有助於解釋爲什麼相對於在鄉村裏長大的人來說，在城市中出生長大的人患焦慮症、抑鬱症和精神分裂症的可能性更大。

The team of international scientists behind the finding are unsure why city life is so bad for the nerves.

研究該現象的科學家來自不同國家，他們目前還不清楚爲什麼城市生活會損傷大腦神經。

However, past studies have shown that exposure to green space reduces stress, boosts health and makes us less vulnerable to depression. The findings come from the brain scans of 32 healthy volunteers from urban and rural areas.

但是過去的研究顯示，多接觸綠地可以減輕壓力、增強體質、並能降低患抑鬱症的風險。研究人員對來自城市和鄉村的32名健康志願者進行了腦部掃描。

Dr Jens Pruessner of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Quebec, who helped carry out the study, said: ‘Previous findings have shown that the risk for anxiety disorders is 21 per cent higher for people from the city, who also have a 39 per cent increase for mood disorders.

魁北克道格拉斯心理健康研究所的詹斯 普魯斯納醫生參與實施了該研究。他說：“之前的研究顯示，城市人患焦慮症的機率要比鄉村人高21%，這些人有情緒障礙的可能性也比鄉村人高39%。”

‘In addition, the incidence of schizophrenia is almost doubled for individuals born and brought up in cities. These values are a cause for concern.’

“另外，在城市中出生長大的人患精神分裂症的機率幾乎是鄉村人的兩倍。這些數據令人關切。”

Dr Pruessner and colleagues from the Univerity of Heidleberg in Germany monitored the brain activity of adult volunteers while they carried out mental arithmetic puzzles under time pressure.

普魯斯納醫生和來自德國海德堡大學的同事們讓志願者在指定時間內進行心算，與此同時他們觀察了這些成人志願者的腦部活動狀況。

The functional magnetic resonance imaging scans revealed that the brains of those living in cities reacted differently to stress, the researchers report in the journal Nature.

研究人員在《自然》雜誌中寫道，這些功能性核磁共振成像掃描圖顯示，在城市中生活的人對壓力的反應與鄉村人不同。