在线英语听力室

科学美国人60秒 SSS LSD's Long, Strange Trip Explained

时间:2017-03-06 07:07:53

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

 

LSD is one of the most potent1 hallucinogenic drugs—active at just around 100 micrograms…a miniscule amount. That fact has fascinated pharmacologists for decades. Namely, how can it have such long-lasting effects…12 hours or more…at such tiny doses? 

To find out, researchers legally obtained LSD. And built copies of the receptors it binds2 to in the brain—serotonin receptors. They mixed the LSD and the receptors together, and crystallized the result. They then imaged the structure, using x-ray crystallography.

And they found that when LSD linked up with the serotonin receptor, a sort of "lid" formed over it. Almost like the drug went in, then pulled the door shut behind it. "You could think of the top part of LSD as a hand, holding onto the latch3 and pulling it down." Bryan Roth, a pharmacologist at University of North Carolina in Chapel4 Hill involved in the research. 

"This explains why LSD is so potent, why such a small amount of it is active, and secondly5 why it lasts for such a long period of time. Because basically once it gets in there it takes hours to come off the receptor." The study is in the journal Cell. [Daniel Wacker et al., Crystal Structure of an LSD-Bound Human Serotonin Receptor]

The result may also explain why microdosing—taking even smaller amounts of LSD, at sub-psychedelic levels—might work as a mood enhancer, as some users have reported. "It's clear from the data we have that these small doses can engage these receptors, and of course we know that the receptors that LSD interacts with, they're the same receptors that are thought to be involved in antidepressant drug action." 

Roth does not advocate trying it out. But he says the discovery of the "lid" might someday lead to the development of novel antidepressants—ones with long-lasting effects, at just the tiniest of doses.

—Christopher Intagliata


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 potent C1uzk     
adj.强有力的,有权势的;有效力的
参考例句:
  • The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
  • We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。
2 binds c1d4f6440575ef07da0adc7e8adbb66c     
v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 );装订;捆绑;(用长布条)缠绕
参考例句:
  • Frost binds the soil. 霜使土壤凝结。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Stones and cement binds strongly. 石头和水泥凝固得很牢。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 latch g2wxS     
n.门闩,窗闩;弹簧锁
参考例句:
  • She laid her hand on the latch of the door.她把手放在门闩上。
  • The repairman installed an iron latch on the door.修理工在门上安了铁门闩。
4 chapel UXNzg     
n.小教堂,殡仪馆
参考例句:
  • The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
  • She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午,她在小教堂的演出,可以说是登峰造极。
5 secondly cjazXx     
adv.第二,其次
参考例句:
  • Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二,动脑筋提出自己的见解。
  • Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次,需要确定所作用的载荷。

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。