為什么開車時(shí)容易犯困？

Most of us have probably felt sleepy on a car journey, but it's not always due to an early start, or a long day, or a lack of caffeine.

我們大多數(shù)人可能在開車過程中會(huì)感到困倦，但這并不總是因?yàn)槠鸬锰纾蚪?jīng)歷了漫長(zhǎng)的一天，或缺少咖啡因所導(dǎo)致的。

It's all to do with the vibrations a car makes as it moves: they can bring on sleepiness in just 15 minutes, the new study shows. That's something for both car manufacturers and road safety experts to think about, according to the researchers from RMIT University in Australia. They want to conduct further studies into how car seat vibrations could be secretly bringing on sleep.

一項(xiàng)新的研究表明，這與汽車行駛時(shí)產(chǎn)生的振動(dòng)有關(guān)，振動(dòng)可以在短短15分鐘內(nèi)讓人產(chǎn)生困意。澳大利亞皇家墨爾本理工大學(xué)的研究人員表示，這是汽車制造商和道路安全專家需要思考的問題。他們希望進(jìn)一步研究汽車座椅的振動(dòng)是如何在不知不覺中讓人昏昏欲睡的。

"When you're tired, it doesn't take much to start nodding off and we've found that the gentle vibrations made by car seats as you drive can lull your brain and body," says one of the team, Stephen Robinson. "Our study shows steady vibrations at low frequencies – the kind we experience when driving cars and trucks – progressively induce sleepiness even among people who are well rested and healthy."

“在很累的情況下，人們很容易就會(huì)打瞌睡。我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，駕駛過程中汽車座椅產(chǎn)生的輕微振動(dòng)可以使人的大腦和身體得到放松，”該團(tuán)隊(duì)一名研究人員斯蒂芬·羅賓遜說，“我們的研究表明，即便是休息良好且身體健康的司機(jī)，當(dāng)駕駛汽車或卡車時(shí)，汽車座椅低頻率的輕微振動(dòng)也會(huì)逐漸誘發(fā)困意。”

Robinson and his colleagues hooked 15 volunteers up to a virtual simulator that they could vibrate at different frequencies. The volunteers were tested twice, once with no vibration, and once with low-frequency 4-7 Hz vibrations. They then measured the heart rate variability (HRV) of the participants.

羅賓遜和他的同事們將15名志愿者與虛擬模擬器連接起來(lái)，該模擬器可以產(chǎn)生不同頻率的振動(dòng)。志愿者們分別進(jìn)行了兩次測(cè)試，一次是4-7赫茲的低頻振動(dòng)，一次無(wú)振動(dòng)，隨后立即測(cè)量他們的心率變異性(HRV)。

These researchers discovered that levels of alertness after driving for only 15 min begin to decrease dramatically, and by 30 minutes will have a significant impact on your ability to stay alert and concentrate on the road. By 60 minutes sleepiness was at its peak. However, with tiredness a factor in around 1 in 5 fatal accidents on the road, it's important to make further studies. The researchers want to continue their work by looking at bigger groups of people and more ranges of frequencies.

研究員們發(fā)現(xiàn)，僅僅在駕車15分鐘后，司機(jī)的警覺性就開始大幅降低，30分鐘后司機(jī)的注意力和警覺能力受到巨大影響，而在60分鐘后駕駛員的困意達(dá)到最高點(diǎn)。不過，由于五分之一的致命交通事故都是由疲勞駕駛引起的，還需要對(duì)此進(jìn)行更深入的研究。研究員們表示，希望能夠繼續(xù)針對(duì)更大范圍的群體以及更多波段的頻率進(jìn)行研究。

This is the first study to investigate the effects of whole-body vibration on seated human alertness and drowsiness. The data clearly demonstrate that exposure to vibration has considerable influence on subjective sleepiness levels, and more importantly, human reaction times and lapses of attention.

此項(xiàng)研究首次調(diào)查了坐著的人在受到全身振動(dòng)時(shí)其警覺性和睡意受到的影響。數(shù)據(jù)清楚地表明，振動(dòng)對(duì)主觀嗜睡水平有很大的影響，更重要的是，對(duì)人類的反應(yīng)時(shí)間和注意力缺失也有顯著影響。

These findings need to be further consolidated particularly in relation to driving behavior. This line of research can then assist in the development of practical and relevant guidelines for limitation of vibration exposure in the automotive industry, in an effort to reduce the burden of road accidents.

上述研究結(jié)果還需要得到進(jìn)一步的證實(shí)，特別是與駕駛行為相關(guān)的方面。這些研究將有助于制定實(shí)用的指南以指導(dǎo)汽車制造業(yè)限制振動(dòng)程度，從而達(dá)到減少道路事故的目的。