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It's Halloween this week, so we're bringing the science to the supernatural.
本周就要过万圣节啦，所以我们讲点超自然的事情。
And this episode is all about our favorite furry frights: werewolves.
本期将讲述我们最喜欢的小毛怪：狼人。
Werewolf stories date back at least to the Ancient Greeks, and they were pretty widespread in Europe.
狼人的故事至少可以追溯到古希腊时期，在欧洲相当普遍。
You can find them in Nordic and Celtic mythologies, for example.
比如，你可以在北欧和凯尔特神话中发现他们的身影。
And we're still fascinated by werewolves, just ask Team Jacob.
我们仍为狼人着迷，看看Jacob的支持者就知道啦。
While turning into a wolf is definitely not a thing people do, these myths don't come from nowhere.
虽然变身狼人绝对不是普通人能做到的事，但这些神话并不是无中生有的。
The idea that a bite could make someone behave strangely or that people could grow thick fur could have come from real scientific phenomena,
咬一口就能让人们行为怪异或是长出浓密毛发的想法或许是源于真实的科学现象，
specifically, a misunderstanding of certain illnesses.
准确来说，是源于对某种疾病的误解。
The notion that a bite can turn man into beast could have come from rabies, for example.
例如，咬一口就能把人变成野兽的想法可能源于狂犬病。
Rabies is caused by a virus that infects the central nervous system and salivary glands.
狂犬病由一种病毒引起，对中枢神经系统和唾液腺造成影响。
And like many were-myths, it's transmitted by the bite of an infected creature.
和很多类似神话一样，这也是因为被某个被感染生物咬了一口后变身的。
People infected with the virus become agitated and behave very strangely. They may hallucinate and suffer from insomnia.
感染这种病毒的人变得很激动，行为非常怪异。他们或许会产生幻觉，会出现失眠情况。
Those symptoms arise because the virus harms brain cells and interferes with the chemicals that neurons use to communicate with each other.
那些症状的出现是因为病毒伤害了脑细胞并妨碍神经系统用于彼此交流的化学物质。
For example, it can mess with the levels of serotonin, a chemical involved in controlling the sleep cycle, feeling pain, and behaviors like aggression.
比如，这种病毒会干扰血清素水平，血清素是一种参与控制睡眠周期、疼痛感知以及进攻性行为的化学物质。
In later stages of infection, the virus invades the salivary glands, sometimes causing excessive salivation.
在感染的后期阶段，病毒入侵唾液腺，有时会导致唾液分泌过多。
And that saliva contains transmissible viruses, so if the person bites someone else, they can pass along the virus.
唾液中含有传播性病毒，因此如果患病者咬到其他人，他们会传播这种病毒。
Though, human to human transmission of rabies is rare.
虽然，人类之间传播狂犬病很少见。
Our teeth aren't particularly sharp and we rarely bite hard enough to break skin.
我们的牙齿并不是很锋利，我们很少会那么用力的把皮肤咬破。
Mammals with pointy canine teeth are much more efficient. And rabies is a life-threatening illness.
有大尖牙的哺乳动物更容易咬破。狂犬病是一种会威胁生命的疾病。
If a patient isn't treated with antivirals and the vaccine before the virus settles in, infections are almost always fatal.
如果在进入体内前，病人没注射抗病毒药和疫苗，感染几乎是致命的。
Put yourself in the shoes of a rural farmer in medieval Europe. An oddly-behaving, aggressive dog shows up in your village and bites your neighbor.
换位思考一下欧洲中世纪的农民。你所在的村庄里出现了一只行为怪异凶恶的狗，还咬了你的邻居。
Then, your neighbor begins acting strangely, as well.
然后你的邻居也开始行为古怪。
They're agitated, maybe even aggressive, and foaming at the mouth like that scary dog was, and then they die.
他们很激动，甚至有攻击性，口吐白沫，就像是那只可怕的狗一样，然后他们死掉了。
Back before we understood what a virus was or how they work,
回到我们之前对这种病毒的理解，
a werewolf was as good an explanation as any for how a bite could make a person change like that,
狼人就是咬一口如何把人变成那个样子的好例子，
especially if you'd heard rumors about people with wolf-like appearances.
特别是如果你听过那些关于有着狼一样外表人类的谣言。
Such rumors could have come from real medical conditions like Congenital Hypertrichosis terminalis:
这种谣言可能来源于真实的医疗疾病，比如先天性全身终毛增多症：
the excessive growth of pigmented hair due to a genetic abnormality.
由于遗传异常而导致的着色毛发的过度增长。
In the past it was literally called "werewolf syndrome" because people with it grow unusually thick,
在过去，这被称为“狼人综合征”，因为患这种疾病的人毛发异常浓密，
and somewhat fur-like hair on their face and body. The condition is extremely rare, though.
并且脸上和身体上的毛发像是皮毛一样。尽管这种情况非常罕见。
Doctors have documented less than 100 cases since the middle ages. And because of that, it's been hard to study.
自中世纪时期，医生记载病例不超过100件。因此，很难进行研究。
It took almost two decades to suss out what causes the condition in one well-studied family, for example.
花了大概两个世纪，对一个家庭进行了充分研究才弄清是什么导致了这种情况。
In 1984 it was clear they had some kind of mutation on the X chromosome.
1984年，很明显他们的X染色体中出现某些变异。
The location was narrowed to a specific region of the X chromosome in 1995,
1995年，才将此定位到了X染色体的某个特定区域，
but it wasn't until 2011 that researchers figured out exactly what was happening to the DNA.
但是直到2011年，研究人员才弄清DNA到底发生了什么。
Turns out, an insertion of DNA in that exact spot alters the expression of a gene called SOX3, which is involved in hair growth.
事实证明，这个特定区域的DNA嵌入改变了SOX3的基因表达，这个基因涉及毛发生长。
The gene becomes over-expressed and expressed in places where it shouldn't be,
基因变得过度表达，并且表达在了不该出现的地方，
leading to extra-thick body hair and hair growth on parts of the body that are usually hairless, like a person's eyelids.
导致额外毛发生长以及身体无毛处的毛发生长，比如眼睑。
Extra hair isn't really harmful on its own,
额外生长毛发本身无害，
though the condition is frequently associated with other genetic abnormalities that can cause health or development problems.
虽然这种情况总是与其他可以导致健康或发育问题的遗传异常相联系。
But humans are often unkind to people who look different, so the disorder can have a major psychological toll.
但是人类经常对不一样的人不友好，因此，这种障碍会带来心理上的痛苦。
People with congenital hypertrichosis used to be called "wolf men" and were often featured at fairs or in circus sideshows. Which is horrible.
患有先天性多毛症的人过去常被成为“狼人”并且常在马戏团中出现。这很可怕。
But way back before then, their existence could have easily fueled werewolf stories.
但此前，他们的存在很容易就为狼人故事添油加醋。
Some of those stories may have even been started by people who actually believed they were werewolves.
其中一些故事甚至源于那些真的相信自己是狼人的人。
People with what psychologists call lycanthropy may not look like wolves, but they think they do.
那些被心理学家成为变狼狂的人或许看起来并不像狼人，但是他们以为自己看起来像。
They insist their body has changed, that their canine teeth have gotten longer and pointier and their body hair has gotten thicker.
他们坚称自己身体出现变化，他们的牙齿变得更长、更尖了，他们的身体变得多毛。
They may even begin to behave like a wolf, running around on all-fours, howling, and demanding meals of raw meat.
他们的行为甚至也开始像狼，四只奔跑、嚎叫、吃生肉。
That's because lycanthropy is a kind of Delusional Misidentification Syndrome,
这是因为变狼狂是一种妄想性错认综合征，
a type of psychological condition where a person, well, ‘misidentifies' things.
这种心理疾病是一个人，嗯，‘识别错误’某些东西。
Basically, something's gone awry in the part of their brain that recognizes their physical body, causing them to think they've become a wolf.
主要是他们大脑识别身体的部分出现扭曲，导致他们认为自己变成了狼。
If you didn't know much about mental illness, if you were living in medieval Europe,
如果你不了解精神病，如果你生活在中世纪欧洲
for example, it would be very unnerving if someone began behaving like a wolf and insisting they had grown sharp teeth and large pointy ears.
如果有人开始像狼一样行动并坚称他们长了尖牙和大尖耳朵，那么是够让人不安的。
It's not hard to see why you might think they were under the influence of a supernatural entity.
大家可能难以想象他们为什么会受超自然想象的巨大影响。
But the actual causes of delusional misidentification syndromes remain a bit of a mystery.
但是妄想性错认综合征的成因仍是个谜。
They're rare and usually associated with schizophrenia, major mood disorders, or injuries due to stroke or trauma,
它们很少见，常和精神分裂症、主要情绪障碍或是中风或外伤受损，
especially ones that occur in the right frontal lobe of the brain.
尤其是那些大脑右额叶受伤相联系。
But scientists are only just beginning to understand how our brain constructs what we know as our physical self.
但是科学家才刚开始了解大脑构建。
In the meantime, doctors can help people with lycanthropy with antipsychotic medications.
同时，医生可以用抗精神病药帮助患有变狼狂症的人。
Similarly, there are a lot of options like cosmetic hair removal that can help people manage congenital hypertrichosis.
同样还有很多选择，比如妆用脱毛膏可以帮助他们缓解多毛症状。
So nowadays, we know that conditions like lycanthropy or hypertrichosis which could have spurred werewolf myths are nothing to fear.
如今，我们对变狼狂症或多毛症有了了解，狼人的神话也并不可怕了。
But you can still be scared of rabies. That is a virus you really don't want to mess with. Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow!
但是你还是可以害怕一下狂犬病。这种病毒是你真的不会想要惨和的。感谢收看本期《科学秀》！
If you enjoyed learning about the very real diseases that might have inspired werewolf myths,
如果喜欢学习那些启发狼人神话的真实疾病
you might like our episode on why so many cultures have vampire stories.
你或许会喜欢关于吸血鬼故事的视频。
