Pain could be contagious, a groundbreaking new study claims.
一项开拓性的最新研究声称，疼痛能够传染。

Lab mice were put through a series of tests which should not have been painful - ticklish at the most.
参加了一系列本来没有疼痛感试验的实验室老鼠却表现得极为不安。

But the rodents reacted as if their feet were burning.
它们的反应好像是双腿在被灼烧。

The experiments by researchers in Portland, Oregon, suggested the mice caught this heightened sensitivity from other mice who were primed to feel pain.
由俄勒冈州波特兰市的研究人员们进行的实验表明，这些老鼠敏感性的增加源自于其它即将感受到疼痛的老鼠那里。

Both groups of mice were in the same room, in cages approximately 1.5 meters apart from each other - but they could not see each other.
这两组老鼠在同一个空间内，处于两个间隔约1.5米的笼子里——但是它们看不到对方。

The scientists believe they picked it up through smell.
科学家们相信老鼠的疼痛感是通过气味传播的。

If true, this could explain some mysterious illnesses, including fibromyalgia - the feeling of pain without a logical medical reason for it.
如果这是真的，那么就可以解释一些奇怪的疾病，包括纤维肌痛——一种尚无合理医学解释的疼痛感。

"We've shown for the first time that you don't need an injury or inflammation to develop a pain state," lead researcher Andrey Ryabinin, a neuroscientist at Oregon Health and Science University, said.
俄勒冈健康与科学大学首席研究员安德烈.里亚比宁表示：“我们首次证明了没有受伤或炎症也能产生疼痛感。”

"Pain can develop simply because of social cues."
“疼痛仅仅是因为社会暗示而产生的。”

Even Ryabinin was surprised by the result of the study - which was not the point of his investigation.
即使是里亚比宁也对这一研究结果感到意外——这并不是他的研究要点。