Study discovers the genes that make us “night owls” or“larks”

By Molly Flatt

新研究顯示，早睡早起有助于身體健康，保持心情愉悅，還有瘦身功效。

通過分析“夜貓子”和“早起鳥”的DNA，研究發現：早起的人會比晚睡的人更瘦。

早起的人罹患抑郁癥和失眠癥的幾率也更小。

Astudy that analysed the DNA of self-professed“nights owls” and “morning larks” found that people who like to rise early tend to be thinner than those who go to bed later.

They are also less prone to depression and less likely to suffer from insomnia.

Almost 90,000 people were asked if they were naturally a morning or a night person and had their DNA analysed.

This revealed 15 genes that were linked to a person being a “lark” or an “owl”.

A preference for mornings rose with age,with more than twice as many of over-60s describing themselves as morning types than under-30s.

通過一份分析自稱 “夜貓子”和 “早起鳥”的DNA的研究發現：早起的人會比晚睡的人更瘦。早起的人罹患抑郁癥和失眠癥的幾率也更小。此項研究讓近9萬人選擇自己是“夜貓子”還是“早起鳥”，并分析了他們的DNA。

研究結果表明，人類體內有15個基因與“早起還是晚睡”有關。

年齡越大，人起的就越早。認為自己是早起類型的人中，60歲以上的比30歲以下多出一倍。

《自然通訊》期刊中有文章表明，女性比男性更愛早起。

此項研究的研究人員來自總部位于加利福尼亞州的個人基因檢測公司23andMe，他們也無法確知生物鐘與健康之間為何如此密切相關。

但這背后的原因也許很簡單，經常熬夜讓那些夜貓子的身體付出了代價。

舉例來說，該研究表明，與體重有關的一個基因會影響人們的最佳狀態是在早上還是夜晚。

研究人員大衛·海因茲說：“我們喜歡把我們的偏好和行為看當作‘我們是誰’這個問題的核心。研究生理特質如何影響人早起或晚睡等行為偏好其實挺有趣的?！?/p>

大衛還說：“現如今，可供研究的基因庫數據龐大，我們可以發現各種病癥背后的遺傳學原理，有望對個體特殊性有更深的理解?！?/p>

但“夜貓子”們也不必沮喪。之前的一項研究表明，晚睡的人比那些天還沒亮就起床的人更聰明。

確切地說，根據一項英國研究，最聰明的人在零點29分時睡覺，而智商最低的那些人在晚上11點41分關燈上床。

人們認為，“夜貓子”和“早起鳥”這種分類可以從人類進化上找到深層原因。在石器時代，早起的人帶頭采集食物，晚睡的人則在夜晚守夜。

Women were more likely to enjoy mornings than men,the journal Nature Communications reports.

The researchers,from the California—based genetic testing company 23andMe aren't sure why a person's body clock might be so strongly linked to health.

But it might to be as simple as too many late nights taking their toll on evening types.

For instance,the study suggested that a gene that is involved in body weight also affects whether someone is at their best in the morning or at night.

Researcher David Hinds said:“We like to think of our preferences and behaviour as core to ‘who we are’and it's interesting to see how our biology influences these things,like whether you are a morning person or a night owl.”

“With largegenetic databasesavailable for study,we can uncover the genetics behind a variety of conditions and diseases and hopefully reach a better understanding of how we differ from one another.”

But“night owls” needn't despair because a previous study found them to be brainier than those who leap out of bed when it is still dark.

To be precise,the brainiest go to bed at 29 minutes past midnight—while least clever turn off the bedroom light at 11：41pm,the British study found.

It is thought the division into “larks” and“owls” has its roots deep in evolution,with early risers in the Stone Age taking the initiative in food gathering,while late bidders stood guard late.