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We've all heard these stories: People that live together have their periods together.
我们都听过这些故事：同居的人们连生理期到的时间也是一样的
An average menstrual cycle lasts around 28 days: it starts with shedding built-up tissue in the womb, then prepping for pregnancy again.
平均28天左右为一月经周期：当成堆的细胞组织开始脱落时 子宫内再次为受孕做准备
But one person might have a relatively long cycle, where someone else has a shorter cycle -- and they fluctuate month to month.
相对而言 某些人生理周期较长 而有些人的则较短 不同人的经期会在月与月之间波动
So what's the scientific basis for menstrual cycles syncing up … or is it just a myth?
所以让经期同步的科学依据是什么…难道这只是个谜？
The first publication about this phenomenon in humans was in 1971, in the scientific journal Nature.
第一次关于这人体现象的文章在1971年被发表在科技杂志 《自然》上
Psychologist Martha McClintock was supposedly inspired by what she noticed as an undergraduate at a women's school:
据说 心理学家Martha McClintock还是大学生时 她在女子学校中
All of her close friends seemed to get their periods at the same time.
她的所有好友似乎都在同一时间来月经
So, she did a study, and surveyed 135 students in a dorm at her alma mater, Wellesley College.
她为此以Wellesley大学的同一宿舍楼的135名学生为研究对象展开一项研究
Three times during the academic year, she asked them for information:
她一学年3次询问他们上两次月经来的时间
when their last two periods were, and who they were hanging out with.
他们都是和谁一起出去玩的
Then, McClintock analyzed these data to see how menstrual cycles changed in close friend groups.
然后 McClintock分析了这些数据 观察在密友之间生理期是如何改变的
In October, near the start of the school year, she found that groups of friends had cycles that were off by an average of 6.4 days.
十月 刚刚开学 她发现许多朋友 的生理期平均都相隔了6.4天
By April, groups of friends had periods closer together -- only about 4.6 days apart.
到了4月份 许多朋友生理期时间更相近 平均都相隔了4.6天
So it seemed like their menstrual cycles were syncing up,
这看上去他们的生理期同步了
and this phenomenon was dubbed the McClintock effect, though it's more formally known as menstrual synchrony.
这被称为McClintock效应 尽管它更以“经期同步”而出名
But the driving force was still a mystery.
但是使经期同步的根源还是个迷
Some researchers, including McClintock, hypothesized that pheromones were involved.
一些研究员 包括McClintock 猜测是一种信息素造成的
Pheromones are chemical substances that are released by an animal and detected by others in the same species,
信息素是一种由动物产生且能被其他同类动物探测到的一种化学物质
causing a behavioral or physiological reaction.
它能引起动物们一些行为上或心理上的反应
Some animals use them to communicate, and they're common in lots of social insects, like ants or bees.
一些动物用信息素交流 这种交流在群居的昆虫中非常普遍 比如说蚂蚁或蜜蜂
A couple studies in the late 1970s and 80s, including experiments by McClintock,
在1970年末到80年代的一些研究包括McClintock做的相关实验
looked into menstruation and pheromones in some mammals, like, rats, hamsters, and two non-human primates.
是关于像老鼠 仓鼠 和两类非人灵长类动物这类哺乳动物的月经和信息素
Most of these studies involved groups of around 2 to 5 animals.
这些研究主要包含2到5种动物
Their menstrual cycles seemed to align if they were breathing the same air, so maybe airborne pheromones were involved.
并得出结论：如果它们都呼吸相同的空气 它们的经期循环几乎会一致 这可能是因为 空气中的信息素在作祟
But researchers in the late 1990s and early 2000s tried to repeat some of the rat and hamster studies,
但是一些研究者在上世纪九十年代末和2000年初也曾尝试重复做这个老鼠和 仓鼠的研究
and weren't able to reproduce the results.
但他们并没有能力再次证明这个结论
Without consistent findings, we can't really know if menstrual synchrony exists in mammals, or if it's caused by pheromones.
没有相同的调查结果 我们不知道经期同步这一现象是否真的存在于哺乳动物之中 或者它是否因信息素而起
Not to mention, those animals and humans aren't the same.
不要忘了 这些被研究的动物和人类是不一样的东西
For one thing, we still don't really even know if humans make pheromones.
另外 我们现在仍然未知人类是否有信息素
But some researchers have conducted human studies to try and replicate McClintock's initial findings.
但是一些研究者坚持探索相关的人类研究 意图再次得出McClintock的 初次结论
Throughout the 1990s, a team of psychologists surveyed close-knit groups of women,
在1990年代 一支心理学家的队伍研究了一群关系亲近的女性 包括
including college students in dorms, coworkers, mothers and daughters, and lesbian couples living together.
住在同宿舍的大学生 同事 母女或是同居的百合
Sometimes menstrual synchrony occurred, and sometimes it didn't.
他们中的一些月经同步了 但有些并没有
Even as recent as 2006, scientists haven't been able to show that the McClintock effect is a definite thing, or pinpoint potential causes.
即使到了近代2006年 科学家仍然没有办法去证明McClintock的实验结果 是确切的 还是存在不确定因素
Plus, several researchers have re-analyzed McClintock's initial study, and found some problems with her methods.
再加上 一些研究人员曾再次分析McClintock的初次研究 他们发现了一些原实验中 方法上的问题
One researcher, for example, suggested that how the data were collected and analyzed
例如 某个研究人员猜测 实验数据的收集和分析方式
could've exaggerated the lack of synchrony at the beginning of the study.
在研究的最初 可能夸大了同步性缺失
Like, if someone had their period just before data collection started, their next would be in 28-ish days.
比如说 如果有人的月经在实验开始记录之前就开始了 那么他们的下次经期 就会在28天前后
So if someone had had their period right after data collection started,
所以如果有人的月经在实验开始记录之后才刚好开始
it would have seemed like there was a whole month between those cycles, rather than just a couple of days.
这样貌似 她们距离下一次月经有着约一个月的时长 而不会相差几天
Another team redid the statistical analysis, and suggested that the shift from 6.4 to 4.6 days could've happened by chance.
另外一个团队重新分析结果 发现女性月经从6.4天到4.6天的转变 是不可能偶然发生的
Any miscalculations or extra data points in a small study can make a huge difference when it comes to finding statistically significant data.
当人们查找并统计一些重大的数据时 任何小研究中的错误计算和一些额外多余的数据 都可以造成巨大的差异
It's been years since the last published study on menstrual synchrony,
距离上次关于月经同步性的公开发表的文章已有许多年了
and the inconclusive results seem to suggest that it's just a coincidence.
而未确定的调查结果貌似说明了那只是个巧合
So why do lots of people still swear that this thing exists?
但为什么还是有那么多人仍然认为这现象是存在的呢？
It probably comes down to our psychological perception.
这可能是因为我们的心理错觉造成的
Since different people have different menstrual cycles, they might not exactly synchronize.
因为不同人有着不同的月经周期 可能不会完全同步
But they can phase in and out of sync.
但是它可以分阶段地与她人同步 再变得时间上有差距
It's like when you're stopped at a red light,
就好比你在马路上看到红灯便止步
and you notice your turn signal starts blinking in sync with the car in front of you:
同时你发现自己的转向灯 与前方车辆同步闪烁
If you wait a little bit, you'll phase out of sync.
但如果你再等会儿 你就会发现不是同步的
But if you wait even longer, then you'll be blinking in unison again.
如果你再等久一点 你会又发现其同步闪烁了
So maybe with a relatively short study on menstrual cycles --
所以如果对McClintock的实验而言 相对短期时间内研究月经周期同步性
like seven or eight months in McClintock's study -- it might seem like there's synchrony.
比方说研究7或8个月 好像会有经期同步
Overall, it seems like the McClintock effect just doesn't have enough conclusive research to back it up...
总而言之 这些"McClintock效应"没有足够确切的研究结果 来支撑
But it does show us that a good science experiment isn't just about proving or disproving something.
但是这研究却告诉了大家科学实验并不只是证明或反驳结论
It's about checking your biases, designing well-controlled studies that are reproducible by other scientists,
它是检查你的研究方向是否有偏差 从而设计可以由其他科学家重复的更可控的研究
being careful with your statistics, and always asking new questions.
但是要小心实验数据 总是要探寻新问题
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谢谢观看在Patreon网站上由我们的赞助商提供的本期 视频
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如果你想要支持我们的节目 点击patreon.com/scishow
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不要忘了去youtube.com/scishow订阅我的视频！
