(单词翻译:单击)
It's a story that plays out every Friday night somewhere.
这个故事每周五晚上都会在某处上演。
People are having a good time with their friends when they have a few too many drinks and suddenly everything is spinning.
人们喝了很多酒，和朋友们一起玩得很开心时，突然开始天旋地转。
They might try to lay down to try to sleep it off, but that just makes it worse.
他们可能会试着躺下睡一觉，但这只会让情况变得更糟。
Yep, they've got the spins.
是的，他们在旋转。
And, strange as it might seem, that's not because the alcohol they drank is messing with their brain.
而且，奇怪的是，这并不是因为他们喝的酒扰乱了大脑。
The spins are a form of vertigo, which is the illusion that you or the world around you are moving.
旋转是眩晕的一种形式，这是一种错觉，你或周围的世界正在移动。
But that illusion doesn't happen because alcohol affects neurons.
但这种错觉不是因为酒精影响神经元所致。
I mean, don't get me wrong, alcohol does affect neurons.
我的意思是，别误会，酒精会影响神经元。
And it messes with your brain in a lot of ways—like, it lowers your inhibitions and impairs your memory.
酒精在很多方面会扰乱大脑，比如，它会降低抑制力，削弱记忆。
But the spins happen for a different reason—and to understand that, you first have to understand how your brain knows when you're moving.
但是，出现旋转有不同的原因，要理解这一点，首先要了解大脑如何知道你在移动。
Deep within each ear are three semicircular canals — curved tubes which are oriented at different angles and filled with a fluid called endolymph.
每个耳朵的深处都有三个半规管，这是一种弯曲的管子。它们所朝的方向不同，里面充满了一种叫做内淋巴的液体。
At one end of each tube is a cupula, a jelly-like mound that has a bunch of tiny sensory receptors called hair cells embedded in it.
在每根管子的一端是一个帽状结构，这是一个果冻状的小墩，里面嵌有叫做毛细胞的微小感觉感受器。
As the name implies, these cells have thin, hair-like projections coming out of them.
顾名思义，这些细胞都有纤细的毛发状突起。
And when those quote "hairs" bend, the cells send electrical signals to the brain that say "hey, something is happening".
这些“毛发”弯曲时，细胞会向大脑发送电信号，说“嘿，有事情发生了”。
For the hair cells in the cupula, that something is that the head is turning.
对于帽状结构中的毛细胞来说，就是头在转动。
When your head turns, the semicircular canals rotate along with it.
头转动时，半规管也随之旋转。
But inertia makes the endolymph inside lag behind a little bit and therefore press up against the cupulas.
但是，惯性会使内淋巴结稍微滞后一点，因此会向上压在帽状结构上。
That pressure bends the cupulas and their hair cells.
这种压力使帽状结构和毛细胞弯曲。
The brain figures out exactly how your head is turning based on which cupulas in which ears are sending it signals that they're being bent.
大脑根据耳朵发出弯曲的信号，准确地判断出头转动的方式。
This is why ballerinas use the technique of spotting when doing a bunch of pirouettes.
这就是芭蕾演员在做一系列的脚尖旋转时，使用定点技术的原因。
By keeping their head facing one direction as much as possible, they minimize the amount of time where endolymph is pressing on their cupulas, and essentially "trick" their brains into thinking they're spinning less.
通过让头尽可能朝着一个方向，可以减少内淋巴压迫帽状结构的时间，这样可以“欺骗”大脑，让它们认为他们的旋转变少了。
But alcohol messes with this whole system for one simple reason: it's not as dense as your endolymph.
但是酒精扰乱了整个系统，原因很简单：酒精的密度没有内淋巴液浓。
There aren't a ton of blood vessels in your inner ear—and most of them are in or near the cupula.
内耳里没有很多血管，而且大部分血管都在帽状结构内或靠近帽状结构。
Because of that, alcohol present in your blood diffuses into the cupula faster than it diffuses into the endolymph, making the jelly-like structure less dense than its neighboring fluid.
正因为如此，血液中的酒精扩散到帽状结构的速度比扩散到内淋巴液的速度快，使得果冻状结构的密度低于周围的液体。
The difference in relative densities changes the pressure on the cupula, which causes it to distort.
相对密度的差异改变了帽状结构的压力，使其变形。
And when that distortion happens, the hair cells bend and start signaling to the brain that the head is turning —even though it's staying completely still…
发生变形时，毛细胞会弯曲并开始向大脑发出信号，表明头部正在转动，即使头完全静止不动。
And you feel like you're the ballerina doing those pirouettes.
感觉你就像芭蕾舞演员在做脚尖旋转。
At this point, most people just want to go lie down, close their eyes, and sleep it off—but in the cruelest of ironies, that actually just makes the spins worse.
此时，大多数人只想躺下，闭上眼睛，然后睡一觉。但最具讽刺意义的是，这只会让旋转变得更糟。
See, there's supposed to be a separate system in the inner ear that detects forward-and-back motion and gravity.
内耳应该有一个独立的系统来探测前后运动和重力。
But if the densities of the cupula and the endolymph aren't exactly equal, the semicircular canal system veers out of its lane.
但如果帽状结构和内淋巴管的密度不完全相等，半规管系统就会偏离其轨道。
Instead of the cupula essentially floating in the endolymph, it becomes lighter than it.
它不再是漂浮在内淋巴中的帽状结构，而是变得比它轻。
And that means it will distort from any change in head position.
这意味着它会因头部位置的任何变化而扭曲。
So it'll sound the rotation alarm in response to linear movements and gravity, too.
所以，它也会在线性运动和重力的作用下发出旋转警报。
You can see evidence of this happening if someone lays down when they're drunk.
如果有人喝醉后躺下，你就能看到发生这种情况的证据。
Their eyes will start to drift away from the floor and then quickly move towards the side they're laying on.
他们的眼睛会开始从地板上移开，然后迅速向躺在地上的一侧移动。
This is called positional alcohol nystagmus, and it happens because the brain attempts to keep the gaze steady as the head turns—until it realizes the head isn't turning, and snaps the eyes back.
这叫做酒精引起的位置性眼球震颤，它是因为大脑试图在头部转动时保持凝视稳定所致。直到意识到头部没有转动，才会将眼睛挪回去。
So, to recap: laying down, particularly on your side, makes the spins worse because your brain interprets gravity as rotation.
回顾一下：躺下，尤其是侧卧，会使旋转变得更糟，因为大脑将重力解释为旋转。
So, you don't want to lay down.
所以，不要躺下。
And you really don't want to close your eyes—they've actually been holding this whole situation in check.
真的不要闭上眼睛，它们一直在控制着整个局面。
That's because your ears aren't the only part of you that senses if you're moving.
这是因为耳朵并不是身体中唯一能感知移动的部分。
Your brain likes to use as many sources of information as possible to figure out what's happening around you.
你的大脑喜欢使用尽可能多的信息源，了解周围发生的事情。
So it combines messages from several different sensory systems.
所以，它结合了来自不同感觉系统的信息。
Psychologists call this multisensory integration.
心理学家称之为多感官整合。
And during the spins, the inner ear is sending the message of spinning, but the visual system is correctly telling your brain that everything is still.
在旋转的过程中，内耳发出旋转的信息，但是视觉系统告诉大脑，一切都是静止的。
And it just so happens that, as a species, humans rely on our sense of vision more than any other.
作为一个物种，人类对视觉的依赖程度超过其他任何物种。
So when there's a conflict between sensory systems, your brain tends to default to trusting your eyes.
所以，当感觉系统之间发生冲突时，大脑就会默认地相信眼睛。
If you take away that visual input by closing your eyes, the only information your brain gets is your ears' message of spinning.
如果闭上眼睛来消除视觉输入，大脑得到的唯一信息就是耳朵在旋转。
So it fully commits to that—and your spins feel even worse.
所以，它完全致力于这种情况，旋转的感觉更厉害。
There are a lot of suggestions for how to ease the spins.
有很多建议能缓解这种旋转。
Staying upright and keeping your eyes open can definitely help.
保持直立，睁大眼睛肯定会有帮助。
Some people suggest that if you do lay down, you should keep one foot on the floor so that the brain has some extra information about which direction is down.
有些人建议，如果要躺下，应该把一只脚放在地板上，这样大脑就多了一些哪个方向朝下的额外信息。
And some people find it's helpful to do something that relies heavily on vision—like watching a movie.
有些人发现做一些高度依赖视觉的事情有所帮助，比如看电影。
But whether such activities help by actively engaging the visual system and overriding the spin signals is unclear.
尚不清楚此类活动是否通过积极参与视觉系统，并覆盖自旋信号而有所帮助。
They might just distract you from feeling crummy.
它们可能会分散你的注意力，使你不会感觉很糟糕。
If all else fails: wait it out.
如果其他方法都没用，那就等着吧。
After about three hours, alcohol from your blood will have diffused throughout the endolymph.
大约三个小时后，血液中的酒精会扩散到整个内淋巴。
So the densities of the cupula and endolymph will have reached equilibrium and the spinning will stop.
因此，帽状结构和内淋巴的密度将达到平衡，旋转将停止。
Then, you just have to worry about a hangover.
然后你只需要担心宿醉了。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych!
感谢收看本期《心理科学秀》！
We hope you enjoyed today's tour of your brain.
希望你喜欢今天的大脑之旅。
If you want to learn more about how alcohol affects you, you might like our episode on the connection between booze and creativity.
如果你想了解更多关于酒精产生的影响，你可能会喜欢一期有关酒精和创造力之间关系的节目。
So why not watch that one next?
干嘛不接着看那集呢？
And please remember to always drink responsibly!
要记住，一定要理性饮酒！
