What would life be like without music?
如果没有了音乐，生活将会是什么样子呢？
Songs and tunes fill our lives, affecting our emotions, bringing back memories and sometimes making us dance. There is a song for everyone and for every occasion, but it seems that it's sad music that moves us most.
我们的生活中充满了歌曲和曲调，它们影响着我们的情感，勾起我们的回忆，有时甚至让我们想要合着音乐跳舞。每个人都有最喜欢的歌，每个场合都有最适合的歌，但似乎还是悲伤的音乐最能打动我们。
Sad music certainly does its job in making us depressed, emotional, and causing us to sob — it's something we might listen to after a break-up, for example. And a recent study has shown why some people are hooked on sad music.
悲伤的音乐确实会让我们沮丧、情绪化，让我们哭泣——例如，分手后我们可能会听悲伤的音乐。最近的一项研究揭示了为什么有些人会沉迷于悲伤的音乐。
Professor David Huron from Ohio State University conducted the research and looked at the difference between people who love to listen to sad music and those who can't stand it.
俄亥俄州立大学的大卫 · 休伦教授进行了这项研究，他观察了喜欢听悲伤音乐的人和不能忍受悲伤音乐的人之间的差异。
He told the BBC radio programme The Why Factor that it comes down to a natural hormone called prolactin. He says: "as you might have guessed from the name, it's associated with 'lactation' from breast-feeding. When people cry, they also release prolactin. And, there are circumstances in which prolactin seems to have this comforting effect."
他告诉英国广播公司的广播节目The Why Factor，这可以归结为一种叫做催乳素的天然激素。他说：“你可能已经从这个名字中猜到了，它与来自母乳喂养的‘泌乳’有关。当人们哭泣时，他们也会释放催乳素。而且，在某些情况下，催乳素似乎具有这种安慰作用。“
It seems that people who like sad music are maybe getting too much prolactin, or more than is normal, and when they hear sad, downbeat music, it gives them a good feeling. But if prolactin isn't released, or there isn't enough of it, some people find that sad sounds don't help to cheer them up.
看起来喜欢悲伤音乐的人可能摄入了太多的，或者比正常摄入量更多的催乳素，当他们听到悲伤的、低沉的音乐时，这会让他们感觉好一些。但是如果催乳素没有释放出来，或者没有足够的催乳素，一些人会发现悲伤的声音无法让他们振作起来。
Previous research by Durham University has also suggested that listening to sad music can trigger pain and sadness; but it can also provide comfort and even enjoyment.
杜伦大学之前的研究也表明，听悲伤的音乐可以引发痛苦和悲伤；但它也可以提供安慰，甚至是愉悦。
A high number of people they surveyed were cheered up by listening to supposedly sad songs. Though the feeling may not be exactly the same as happiness, it may be the ability to cope with the sadness that gives the feeling of comfort.
他们调查的很多人听了一些据说是悲伤和快乐不完全一样，但是它可能是一种处理悲伤的能力，并且带来了安慰的感觉。
So, reacting to sad music on the radio may have nothing to do with the melancholic sound of a string quartet or a singer who's got the blues, but rather a natural chemical reaction taking place in our bodies.
因此，对电台里播放的悲伤的音乐做出反应，可能与弦乐四重奏的忧郁风格或歌手忧伤的声音毫无关系，而是我们体内发生的一种自然的化学反应。
