How do dogs "see" with their noses? - Alexandra Horowitz

狗怎麼利用他的鼻子看世界 - Alexandra Horowitz

譯者: 柏愷 邱 審譯者: Simon Sun

"Hi, Bob."

「嗨！鮑柏！」

"Morning, Kelly. The tulips looks great."

「早安，凱莉。那鬱金香看起來真棒。」

Have you ever wondered how your dog experiences the world?

你是否曾經好奇你的狗狗 如何感受這個世界?

Here's what she sees.

這是牠所看到的。

Not terribly interesting.

沒有很有趣。

But what she smells, that's a totally different story.

但牠聞到的卻又是另一回事。

And it begins at her wonderfully developed nose.

這一切都源自於牠靈敏發達的鼻子。

As your dog catches the first hints of fresh air,

當狗狗接收到新鮮空氣的第一個訊息時,

her nose's moist, spongy outside helps capture any scents the breeze carries.

牠鼻子外濕潤海綿狀的構造可以 幫助牠擷取空氣中攜帶的各種訊息。

The ability to smell separately with each nostril,

兩個鼻孔有各自不同的嗅覺能力,

smelling in stereo,

以及立體嗅覺,

helps to determine the direction of the smell's source

幫助牠判斷氣味來源的方向

so that within the first few moments of sniffing,

所以在狗狗剛聞到一個東西,

the dog starts to become aware of not just what kind of things are out there

牠不僅開始察覺氣味中所含的物質

but also where they're located.

同時知道那些物質位在哪裡。

As air enters the nose,

當空氣進入鼻子時,

a small fold of tissue divides it into two separate folds,

有一個小小的皺褶組織會將 空氣分成兩個部分,

one for breathing and one just for smelling.

一部分用來呼吸，另一部分用來聞ㄝ

This second airflow enters a region

用來聞的那部分將會進入一個區域

filled with highly specialized olfactory receptor cells,

裡面佈滿高度特化的嗅覺受器細胞,

several hundred millions of them, compaired to our five million.

相較於人類只有五百萬個嗅覺細胞， 狗狗則有數億個！

And unlike our clumsy way of breathing in and out through the same passage,

不同於人類吸氣和吐氣都經由 同一個通道的笨拙呼吸方式,

dogs exhale through slits at the side of their nose,

狗狗利用位在鼻子側邊的狹縫吐氣,

creating swirls of air that help draw in new odor molecules

使空氣形成漩渦以吸引新的氣味分子

and allow odor concentration to build up over mulitple sniffs.

讓氣味分子集中以產生多次的吸氣。

But all that impressive nasal architecture wouldn't be much help

但若是缺乏處理鼻子採集的大量訊息的東西

without something to process the loads of information the nose scoops up.

那令人讚歎的鼻腔構造仍然無法運作。

And it turns out that the olfactory system dedicated to proessing smells

於是嗅覺系統竭力於處理氣味

takes up many times more relative brain area in dogs than in humans.

在大腦的嗅覺區塊相對的比人類還要多好幾倍

這一切讓狗狗在比人類可察覺的 氣味濃度低一億倍的狀況下可以辨認

All of this allows dogs to distinguish

and remember a staggering variety of specific scents

還能記住各式各樣特別的氣味

at concentrations up to 100 million times less than what our noses can detect.

跟記住多的驚人的特定氣味

If you can smell a spritz of perfume in a small room,

如果說你可以聞到一間 小房間內的一抹香水味

a dog would have no trouble smelling it in an enclosed stadium

那狗就有辦法在一個 室內體育場內聞到那股香水味

and distinguishing its ingredients, to boot.

並且辨認它的成份

And everything in the street, every passing person or car,

街上的任何東西， 任何一個路過的人或車

any contents of the neighbor's trash,

鄰居家垃圾中所有的內容物

each type of tree,

各種種類的樹

and all the birds and insects in it

和樹上所有的鳥和昆蟲

has a distinct odor profile telling your dog what it is, where it is,

都有它獨特的氣味好讓你的狗狗 分辨那是什麼以及它的位置

and which direction it's moving in.

還有那東西正往哪裡移動

Besides being much more powerful than ours,

狗的嗅覺不僅比人類的強大

a dog's sense of smell can pick up things that can't even be seen at all.

牠的嗅覺甚至可以發現看不見的東西

A whole separate olfactory system,

一個叫做犁鼻器的完全獨立的嗅覺系統

called the vomeronasal organ, above the roof of the mouth,

位在口腔頂壁的上方

detects the hormones all animals, Including humans, naturally release.

可以偵測所有動物包括人類 自然散發出的賀爾蒙

It lets dogs identify potential mates,

這讓狗狗可以識別潛在的伴侶

or distinguish between friendly and hostile animals.

或是辨別其他動物是友善還是抱有敵意的

It alerts them to our various emotional states,

這可以使狗狗意識到 我們的各種情緒狀態

and it can even tell them when someone is pregnant or sick.

甚至可以讓牠們知道 哪個人是懷孕或生病的

Because olfaction is more primal than other senses,

由於嗅覺是最主要的感官

bypassing the thalamus to connect directly to the brain structures

它會跳過視丘直接和腦部聯絡

involving emotion and instinct,

包括情緒和本能

we might even say a dog's perception is more immediate and visceral than ours.

狗的感知能力比人類的快速和本能

But the most amazing thing about your dog's nose

但狗的鼻子最驚人的地方在於

is that it can traverse time.

它可以跨越時間

The past appears in tracks left by passersby,

聞出來往路人留下的軌跡

and by the warmth of a recently parked car

可以透過剛剛離開的車輛氣味

where the residue of where you've been and what you've done recently.

透過殘留氣味知道你去了哪裡 和你做的一切

Landmarks like fire hydrants and trees

消防栓或樹木等其他地標

are aromatic bulletin boards carrying messages of who's been by,

是留下氣味的告示牌 並告訴發出氣味的人已經通過

what they've been eating,

他們了什麼

and how they're feeling.

或是他們感到了什麼

And the future is in the breeze,

而在微風中

alerting them to something or someone approaching long before you see them.

警告他們某人或某事接近牠們多遠 你會看到他

Where we see and hear something at a single moment,

在那裏我們看到或聽到的東西 在某個單一的時刻

a dog smells an entire story from start to finish.

狗的氣味 整個故事的開始到結束

In some of the best examples of canine-human collaboration,

在一些最好關於狗跟人合作的例子，

dogs help us by sharing and reacting to those stories.

狗幫助我們透過分享和反應的故事

They can respond with kindness to people in distress,

牠捫會友善地回應深陷痛苦中的人

or with aggression to threats

或侵略與威脅

because stress and anger manifest as a cloud of hormones

因為壓力和憤怒表現為雲激素

recognizable to the dog's nose.

可以認識到狗的鼻子

With the proper training,

有適當的訓練

they can even alert us to invisible threats

對於無形的威些 他甚至可以對我們發出警告

ranging from bombs to cancer.

範圍從炸彈到腫瘤都能辦到

As it turns out, humanity's best friend

事實證明狗是人類最好的朋友

is not one who experiences the same things we do,

不是每個人的經驗都是同樣的事情

but one whose incredible nose reveals a whole other world beyond our eyes.

但狗的鼻子證明了 另一個世界超越我們的眼睛