习惯早起，原来并不是因为自律？

习惯早起，原来并不是因为自律？
Mat
难度：CSE8
课程导读
常言道“一日之计在于晨”，我们从小就被教育要养成早起的好习惯。一直以来，爱早起被认为是性格使然，亦或是与后天养成的自律有关。但最近一项研究指出，习惯早睡早起，与人的性格特质无关，是体内基因的“功劳”。这项研究有什么新发现？古人类的DNA如何影响现代人的生物钟？一起来听今天的讲解。

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本篇课程首发于2024年1月10日
英文原文

Are You a Morning Person? You Might Want to Thank Your Neanderthal Genes

你喜欢早起吗？你可能得感谢你的尼安德特人基因

By Aylin Woodward

Are You a Morning Person? You Might Want to Thank Your Neanderthal Genes

Whether you're a morning person has long been tied to personality, but new research suggests DNA inherited from our extinct Neanderthal cousins ups the chance we're early risers.

你喜欢早起吗？你可能得感谢你的尼安德特人基因

长期以来，人们一直把是否喜欢早起与性格特质紧密联系在一起。但是，新的研究显示，从人类已经灭绝的近亲“尼安德特人”那里遗传而来的DNA，提高了我们喜欢早起的概率。

Our circadian rhythms—the biological clocks inside our cells that time when we sleep and wake—are linked to countless genes. Now researchers say they have found that bits of genetic code passed down to some of us from Neanderthals relate to our sleeping habits in the present day. The study was published in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution.

昼夜节律，即细胞内的生物钟，决定着我们何时入睡、何时睡醒，与大量的基因息息相关。现在，研究人员表示，他们发现从尼安德特人那里继承而来的一些遗传密码，与我们今天的睡眠习惯有着密切联系。这项研究发表在《基因组生物学与进化》期刊上。

"We've found many Neanderthal variants that consistently associate with a propensity for being a morning person," said Tony Capra, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of California and co-author of the new work. "Their effects are in the context of hundreds of other genes, but it is suggestive there is something meaningful about this."

加利福尼亚大学进化遗传学家、该项新研究的共同作者托尼·卡普拉（Tony Capra）表示：“我们发现，尼安德特人的多种基因变体一直都与早起倾向有关。尽管它们是在其他数百种基因共同作用下才产生影响的，但研究显示这仍有重要意义。”

Modern humans of European or Asian descent inherited about 2% of their genetic material from Neanderthals. The study authors identified 246 genes associated with circadian rhythms, and found that dozens of those genes had variants that differed between modern humans and Neanderthals. They found that people who had specific variants from Neanderthals had self-reported their preference for waking up early by selecting the descriptors "definitely a 'morning' person" or "more a 'morning' than 'evening' person."

有欧洲或亚洲血统的现代人从尼安德特人那里继承了约2%的遗传基因。这项研究的作者发现有246个基因与昼夜节律密不可分，其中有数十个基因变体在现代人和尼安德特人之间存在差异。他们发现，拥有尼安德特人特定基因变体的人会显示出早起倾向，他们自我描述称“绝对是一个爱早起的人”，或是“比起晚睡，更喜欢早起”。

生词好句
1.(be) tied to
When something is "tied to" another thing, it means they are connected or linked in some way.
拓展:
His success is tied to his hard work and creativity.
他的成功与他的勤奋和创新紧密相关。
The software problems are tied to some incorrect coding and programming.
这款软件的问题与一些不正确的编码、编程有关。

2.(to) up the chance (of something)
It is used to say that we can make something more likely or more possible, or something seems more likely.
拓展:
I don't think the simple plan will work, but we can up the chance of success if we use a different method.
我认为这个简单的计划不会奏效，但如果我们使用不同的方法，或许可以增加成功的机会。
We are not sure if the new medicine works or not, but this new study really ups the chance of proving its positive effects.
我们不确定这种新药是否有效，但这项新研究确实增加了证明其有效性的机率。

3.an early riser
An "early riser" is a person who naturally wakes up and starts their day early in the morning.
拓展:
My grandmother is an early riser. She wakes up at 5 AM every day.
我的奶奶是个爱早起的人，她每天早上5点起床。
Being an early riser allows you to enjoy the sound of birds singing in the morning.
早起可以使你享受到小鸟啁啾。

4.countless
英 [ˈkaʊntləs]美 [ˈkaʊntləs]
adj. It means too many to be counted or so many that it's difficult to give a number; or to express "lots of something".
拓展:
I've told you countless times to tidy up your bedroom.
我已经告诉过你无数次要整理你的卧室了。
She received countless messages of support after the accident.
事故发生后，她收到了无数条支持信息。

5.in the present day
It means the current time or the time period we are living in now.
拓展:
In the present day, technology plays a significant role in our lives.
当今，技术在我们的生活中扮演着重要的角色。
The challenges we face in the present day are quite different from those of the past.
我们当下面临的挑战与过去大不相同。

6.a propensity for
If someone has a propensity for something/doing something, it means they have a natural habit or tendency to do that thing.
拓展:
She has a propensity for breaking cups and plates when she washes dishes.
洗碗时，她有打碎杯盘的习惯。
Our teacher has a propensity to give low scores when he marks our writing.
老师在给我们的作文打分时，总喜欢打低分。

7.in the context of
It is used to explain something within a specific situation. We often use it when we talk about a smaller thing as part of a bigger thing.
拓展:
We need to think about these individual numbers in the context of the whole research experiment.
我们需要在整个研究实验的背景下思考这些个别数字。
The problem isn't so bad when we look at it in the context of the wider economic situation.
当我们从更广泛的经济形势下来看这个问题时，它并没有那么糟糕。

8.meaningful
英 [ˈmiːnɪŋfl]美 [ˈmiːnɪŋfl]
adj. It describes something that is important, or has lots of real or deep meaning.
拓展:
The film had such a meaningful ending; it brought tears to her eyes.
这部电影结局十分有意义，使她热泪盈眶。
Giving a meaningful gift often matters more than the price of the gift.
送一份有意义的礼物往往比其价格更重要。

9.dozens of
It means a large but not-given number. It originally meant twelve (a dozen) or many groups of twelve. But nowadays in modern English, we just mean many, especially more than twenty.
拓展:
She has dozens of books on her shelves.
她书架上有几十本书。
Dozens of people were queueing up to buy tickets.
许多人在排队买票。

10.a preference for
Having "a preference for" something means you like or choose one thing over another. We often use it with 'over': to have a preference for one thing over another thing.
拓展:
He has a preference for tea over coffee in the morning.
他早上喜欢喝茶，不喜欢喝咖啡。
I have a preference for sweet food over spicy food.
比起辣的食物，我更喜欢甜食。