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Caffeine Merely Masks Alcohol"s Effect
Cup of coffee after a night on the town to sober up? Well, a mouse study finds that caffeine does not counter the intoxicating effects of alcohol. It merely masks the inebriation, which could lead to poor decisions. Because drinkers might think they’ve sobered up, whereas they could just be more wired. The study is in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience.
疯狂一夜后来杯咖啡恢复精神？但发表在行为心理学杂志上的一项研究用老鼠证明，咖啡因并不能抵消酒精的兴奋作用。它只能算得上缓兵之计，让酩酊大醉后的大脑反应迟钝晚点出现而已。酒鬼们以为他们已经清醒了，但只不过是表现的稍正常一些。
Researchers gave mice doses, separately and together, of caffeine and alcohol. Tests then gauged how well the mice learned how to avoid part of a maze that appeared dangerous because of bright lights or loud sounds. And mouse anxiety was tested, through their willingness to be in an open area.
研究者们给一部分老鼠定量酒精，另一部分老鼠则接受咖啡因和酒精的混合体。然后通过设计好的迷宫用来测试老鼠们的学习能力和避险能力。这个迷宫部分用强光和噪音来标识危险，同时也看它们是否愿意找块空地待会儿从而了解小家伙们的焦虑程度。
No surprise, drunk animals were more relaxed and had less anxiety, and had trouble learning to avoid possible danger. Then the mice got alcohol and caffeine together. And the caffeine did not improve a drunk animal’s ability to learn. So the mouse is more relaxed but less able to avoid threats—if it had a tiny car available it probably would have thought it was “fine, I’m fine enough to drive it.”
如人所料，喝得醉醺醺的老鼠们都很轻松，一点都不焦虑，当然也不会躲避潜在的危险。而另一组又喝酒又喝咖啡的，显而易见，咖啡也没帮上什么忙。所以两组结果差不多，轻轻松松而又大脑短路、反应迟钝。如果这毛茸茸的小东西有辆小车可开。一定会说："我....我没醉，能自己开车回家。"
—Steve Mirsky
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