全通翻譯/翻譯社

◎管淑平

An increasingly warped sense of humour could be an early warning sign of impending dementia, say UK experts.

英國專家說，越來越反常的幽默感，可能是一個人即將失智的早期警訊。

The University College London study involved patients with frontotemporal dementia, with the results appearing in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

倫敦大學學院這項由額顳葉失智症患者參與的研究，結果在「阿茲海默疾病期刊」發表。

Questionnaires from the friends and family of the 48 patients revealed many had noticed a change in humour years before the dementia had been diagnosed. This included laughing inappropriately at tragic events.

問卷調查這48名病患親友的結果顯示，許多人都在患者被診斷出失智症前數年，就注意到幽默感的改變。這包括不恰當地取笑悲劇事件。

Experts say more studies are now needed to understand how and when changes in humour could act as a red flag for dementia.

專家說，現在需要更多研究以了解幽默感如何以及何時出現變化，以作為失智症的示警訊號。

There are many different types of dementia and frontotemporal dementia is one of the rarer ones.

失智症有許多不同形式，額顳葉失智症是其中比較罕見的一種。

The area of the brain it affects is involved with personality and behaviour, and people who develop this form of dementia can lose their inhibition, become more impulsive and struggle with social situations.

這種失智症影響的大腦區域涉及個性和行為，罹患這種失智症的人可能失去抑制能力，變得比較衝動，有社交情境的問題。

新聞辭典

impending：形容詞，即將發生的，迫近的。例句：A big war is impending.（一場大戰即將爆發。）

warped：形容詞，反常的，扭曲的。例句：The attacker’s online posts revealed his warped mind.（這名攻擊者的網路發文披露他扭曲的心理。）

red flag：名詞，警告危險或有問題的訊號，激怒人的事物。例句：A 3-year gap in your job history will be a red flag to employers.（你的工作經歷上有一段3年空窗期，對雇主而言會是個警訊。）

全通翻譯引用自 http://iservice.ltn.com.tw/Service/english/english..