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If you’ve been around a newborn baby, you might have noticed that they smell just good.
如果你待在新生婴儿旁，你会发现他们闻起来香香的。
For a while, lots of people thought this mild, pleasant scent was just baby powder or sweet-smelling wipes.
曾经许多人认为这种温和宜人的香气来自于婴儿爽身粉或散发香味的柔湿纸巾。
Others claimed it was just a myth, a hallucination by sleep-deprived new parents.
其他人认为这种香气是假的，是睡眠被剥夺的父母的幻觉。
But, just like new house smell and new car smell, new baby smell is real!
但就像一个新房子新车会有味道一样，新生婴儿也是有味道的！
But, what exactly causes this special scent,
但是什么引起了这种特别的香气呢
and why do scientists think it might be an evolutionary benefit for mothers and their babies?
为什么科学家会会认为这种香气对母亲和婴儿的发展有益？
Our body odors are made of lots of different secreted chemicals,
我们的体味由很多不同的分泌化学物质组成，
but it’s hard to figure out how each one contributes to our natural smells.
但很难理清每种物质对我们自身气味起到什么作用。
And newborn baby smell is extra hard to study,
新生婴儿的香味更难研究，
because the scent is usually gone after about 6 weeks.
因为这种香气通常会在约六周后消失。
Researchers think one factor could be leftover amniotic fluid,
研究员认为一种因素可能是剩余的羊水，
which is the protective substance that surrounds the embryo as it grows.
这是一种环绕胚胎周围的保护物质。
Plus, there might be traces of vernix caseosa,
另外还有胎儿皮脂的痕迹，
a white-ish layer of waxy oils and cells that coats babies' skin when they're born.
含蜡油和细胞的一个发白层，在婴儿出生时会包裹在婴儿皮肤上。
But even though we don't know exactly what causes this scent, scientists want to understand why it exists.
但即使我们并不知道这种香气的起因，科学家还是想了解这种香气为什么存在。
A 2013 study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology found evidence that suggests
2013年刊登在《心理学前沿》中的一项研究中发现的证据显示
this scent may affect certain brain regions of all women, but especially new mothers.
这种香味可能会影响所有女性大脑的某个区域，尤其是新生儿母亲。
To test this, they rounded up a group of 30 women that were about the same age:
为了证实这一点，他们组织了一组约同年的30位女性：
15 who had given birth within the previous six weeks, and 15 who had never given birth.
15名是前六周生完孩子的，另15个事没生过孩子的。
The researchers isolated baby smell from baby pajamas,
研究员将婴儿香气和婴儿睡衣隔离开来，
specifically, from 18 newborns that weren't related to any of the participants.
特别是从18名和参与者毫无关系的新生儿中隔离。
Then, they had the women smell the newborn odors while undergoing brain scans.
然后他们一边让女士们闻着新生婴儿的味道一边进行脑部扫描。
All of the women showed activity in the reward-related areas of the brain.
所有女性大脑中与赏罚有关的区域都活跃起来。
There was slightly more brain activity in new moms.
相比之下，生完孩子的母亲的大脑的该区域稍微更加活跃一些。
Basically, the researchers think that the smell might act as a sort of incentive:
从根本上说，研究员认为这种香气可能会是一种激励：
to get the new moms to feel pleasure when they take care of babies.
为了让生完孩子的母亲在照顾婴儿时感到愉悦。
This could promote more maternal care, and offset some of the exhaustion and hard work of parenting.
这能够促进更多的母本行为并抵消抚养时的劳累和辛苦。
But, what about new dads? Are they affected by this baby smell too?
但新爸爸呢？他们也会受婴儿香气的影响么？
Well, we still have a lot to learn about the smell of newborn babies.
好吧，我们关于新生婴儿的香气仍需继续了解。
And there haven't been any studies involving men yet,
只是目前还没有关于男士的研究，
although researchers think the effects of baby smell might be similar.
虽然研究员认为新生婴儿香气的效果相同。
Thanks for asking, and thanks especially to our patrons on Patreon who keep these answers coming.
谢谢提问，谢谢Patreon观众的提问。
If you'd like to submit a question to be answered,
如果你想提交问题，
or get some videos a few days before everyone else, go to patreon.com/scishow.
或是观看更多视频，请登录patreon.com/scishow
And don't forget to go to youtube.com/scishow and subscribe!
不要忘记去youtube.com/scishow进行订阅！
