月相是如何影響睡眠和月經(jīng)周期的

月相是如何影響睡眠和月經(jīng)周期的

The Moon gets plenty of credit and blame for human activities, but on investigation most claims turn out to be mere astrology; good stories lacking reliable evidence. Nevertheless, two newly published studies find statistically significant evidence for lunar effects on two old favorites, sleep and menstruation, albeit partially suppressed by electric lights.

月球?qū)θ祟惢顒拥挠绊懓H不一，但經(jīng)過調(diào)查，大多數(shù)說法都只是占星術(shù)而已;好的故事缺乏可靠的證據(jù)。盡管如此，兩項新發(fā)表的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)了具有統(tǒng)計學(xué)意義的證據(jù)，證明了月球?qū)θ藗兊膬蓚€方面——睡眠和月經(jīng)——的影響，盡管在一定程度上受到了電燈的抑制。

Professor Horacio de la Iglesia of the University of Washington gave sleep-tracking wristwatches to 98 members of Toba-Qom Indigenous communities in Formaosa Argentina, and compared their sleep patterns with the amount of moonlight.

華盛頓大學(xué)的Horacio de la Iglesia教授給了98名來自阿根廷福爾馬薩Toba-Qom土著社區(qū)的居民一塊跟蹤睡眠的手表，并將他們的睡眠模式與月光量進行了比較。

The Toba-Qom were chosen because many live in communities with little or no access to electricity. With more opportunities to do things after the Sun had set, this group went to bed later and slept less as the Moon approached full. Even in urban areas, where street lights outshine the Moon, sleep was similarly reduced, de la Iglesia reports in Science Advances.

選擇Toba-Qom是因為許多人生活在幾乎沒有電的社區(qū)。太陽落山后，這群人有更多的機會去做事情，他們上床睡覺的時間較晚，在月亮接近滿月時睡得較少。de la Iglesia在《科學(xué)進展》雜志上報道說，即使是在路燈比月亮更亮的城市地區(qū)，睡眠也同樣減少了。

Stephen Luntz

Toba-Qom participants slept 46-58 minutes more around the dark of the Moon as when it was nearly full, falling asleep about 20 minutes later.

Toba-Qom研究對象在月色較暗時的睡眠時間比月圓時多46-58分鐘，約20分鐘后入睡。

Horacio de la Iglesia used sleep data from 464 college Seattle-area students collected for another study to check his findings. "Although the effect is more robust in communities without access to electricity, the effect is present in communities with electricity, including undergraduates at the University of Washington," he said in a statement.

Horacio de la Iglesia利用為另一項研究收集的西雅圖地區(qū)464名大學(xué)生的睡眠數(shù)據(jù)來驗證他的發(fā)現(xiàn)。他在一份聲明中說:“盡管這種影響在沒有電的社區(qū)更明顯，但在有電的社區(qū)，包括華盛頓大學(xué)的本科生，這種影響也存在。”

In the light of these observations, it's almost strange that efforts to confirm links between the full Moon and crime or car accidents haven't had more success.

鑒于這些觀察結(jié)果，試圖確認滿月與犯罪或車禍之間存在聯(lián)系的努力并沒有取得更大的成功，這幾乎是很奇怪的。

Toba-Qom with little or none electricity also showed what de la Iglesia calls a “semilunar” 15 day sleep cycle. Although uncertain of the cause, he thinks it may have to do with gravitational effects, which are stronger when the Sun and Moon’s gravity aligns twice a month.

幾乎沒有電或徹底沒有電的Toba-Qom也顯示出de la Iglesia所說的15天的“半月”睡眠周期。盡管原因還不確定，但他認為這可能與引力效應(yīng)有關(guān)，當(dāng)太陽和月球的引力每月對齊兩次時，引力效應(yīng)會更強。

Even when city lights make us unlikely to notice the Moon, or clouds block it (famously common in Seattle) our sleep patterns still align, going to sleep later and sleeping less when the Moon is nearly full.See the interactive version here. Image Credit: Rebecca Gourley/University of Washington.

The same edition of Science Advances carries another paper, with one of the same authors, exploring the Moon influence on menstruation. The fact the typical menstrual cycle so closely matches the time between one full Moon and the next has long been assumed not to be a coincidence.

同一版的《科學(xué)進展》還刊登了另一篇論文，由同一作者撰寫，探討了月球?qū)υ陆?jīng)的影響。一個典型的月經(jīng)周期與下一個滿月之間的時間如此接近，這一事實長期以來一直被認為不是巧合。

“In many marine species and some terrestrial species, reproductive behavior is synchronized with a particular phase of the lunar cycle,” the paper notes. Immense coral spawning events represent a particularly dramatic example. Yet it hasn’t been clear if humans have a similar evolutionary benefit, or if period length is just a legacy of our ancestry, long since decoupled from the Moon’s phases.

論文指出:“許多海洋物種和一些陸地物種的繁殖行為與月球周期的某個特定階段同步。”巨大的珊瑚產(chǎn)卵事件就是一個特別引人注目的例子。然而，目前還不清楚人類是否也有類似的進化好處，或者周期長度是否只是我們祖先的遺產(chǎn)，早在月亮的盈虧分離之后。

Past studies have reported that 28 percent of women who menstruate regularly have cycles lasting within a day of the 29.5 day length of the lunar cycle – a minority, but a far greater concentration than at any other number of days. Moreover, 28-29 day periods are associated with a higher chance of conception. However, investigations of whether menstruation is particularly likely to line up with a specific lunar phase have produced conflicting results.

過去的研究表明，有規(guī)律的月經(jīng)周期的女性中，有28%的月經(jīng)周期持續(xù)在29.5天的陰歷周期內(nèi)——這是少數(shù)，但比其他任何天數(shù)都要集中得多。此外，28-29天的月經(jīng)周期與較高的受孕幾率有關(guān)。然而，關(guān)于月經(jīng)是否特別可能與特定的月相相吻合的調(diào)查得出了相互矛盾的結(jié)果。

Lead author Professor Charlotte Helfrich-Förster of the University of Würzburg used just 22 women’s records to explore this issue, far fewer than previous studies, but over a much longer time. Participants recorded their periods for up to 32 years, along with details of their sleeping conditions, such as levels of exposure to artificial light.

該研究的第一作者、Würzburg大學(xué)的夏洛特Helfrich-Förster教授只使用了22名女性的記錄來探討這個問題，比之前的研究少得多，但時間長得多。參與者記錄了他們長達32年的月經(jīng)周期，以及他們的睡眠狀況的細節(jié)，比如暴露在人造光下的程度。

Before age 35 participants had periods that synchronised with the Moon 23.6 percent of the time. After 35 this dropped to just 9.5 percent, reflecting a decrease in average period length to 26 days. Synchronization was much more common for those living in rural areas and going to bed early than those more exposed to artificial light. The most common phase to match with was shortly before full, when evening light is greatest.

在35歲之前，參與者的月經(jīng)周期與月球同步的時間占23.6%。35歲以后，這一比例下降到9.5%，反映了平均周期長度下降到26天。同步在那些生活在農(nóng)村地區(qū)的人更常見，他們比那些更多地暴露在人造光下的人更早上床睡覺。最常見的匹配階段是在傍晚光線最充足的時候。

Helfrich-Förster also found a weak correlation between gravitational peaks and menstrual cycles, matching de la Iglesia’s theory light is not the Moon’s only way of influencing us.

Helfrich-Förster還發(fā)現(xiàn)了引力峰值和月經(jīng)周期之間的微弱相關(guān)性，這與德·拉·伊格萊西亞的理論相吻合。光并不是月球影響我們的唯一方式。