For a while, lots of people thought this mild, pleasant scent was just baby powder or sweet-smelling wipes.

許多人以為微淡且宜人的香味是嬰兒爽身粉的味道或是來自於帶有甜味的濕紙巾

Others claimed it was just a myth, a hallucination by sleep-deprived new parents.

其他人則認為這只是一種迷思，新手父母因睡眠不足所帶來的錯覺

But, just like new house smell and new car smell, new baby smell is real!

但事實上，就跟新房子或車子一樣，新生兒確實也有體香

But what exactly causes this special scent, and why do scientists think it might be an evolutionary benefit for mothers and their babies?

但是，這種特別的香味究竟是從何而來，為什麼科學家認為它可以為母親以及新生兒們帶來演進上的好處？

Our body odors are made of lots of different secreted chemicals, but it’s hard to figure out how each one contributes to our natural smells.

人類身體的味道是由許多不同的分泌化學物質組成，然而，卻很難分別出每一種化學物質所造成的氣味為何

And newborn baby smell is extra hard to study, because the scent is usually gone after about 6 weeks.

新生兒身上的味道更是難以研究，因為這種味道會隨者時間於出生後六週消失

Researchers think one factor could be leftover amniotic fluid, which is the protective substance that surrounds the embryo as it grows.

研究學者認為其一原因有可能是因為羊水的殘餘物，也就是一種環繞於胚胎外保護其成長的物質

Plus, there might be traces of vernix caseosa, a white-ish layer of waxy oils and cells that coats babies’ skin when they’re born.

再加上，新生兒的皮膚上可能會殘留胎兒皮脂、含油及細胞的奶白層

But even though we don’t know exactly what causes this scent, scientists want to understand why it exists.

話雖如此，我們還是無法確定這種氣味是由何而來，科學家都試圖想要了解它的存在

A 2013 study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology found evidence that suggests this scent may affect certain brain regions of all women, but especially new mothers.

一份 由Frontiers日報於 2013年出版的研究報告中指出這種氣味有可能會影響所有女性大腦中的某一區塊，特別是新手媽媽

To test this, they rounded up a group of 30 women that were about the same age: 15 who had given birth within the previous six weeks, and 15 who had never given birth.

為了要驗證這個想法，他們召集了三十位相同年齡的女性十五位於過去六週剛生產完的女性，以及十五位從未生產過的女性

The researchers isolated baby smell from baby pajamas, specifically, from 18 newborns that weren’t related to any of the participants.

研究人員離析了十八位新生胎兒睡衣上的氣味，且這十八名新生兒與所有的參與者沒有任何親屬關係

Then they had the women smell the newborn odors while undergoing brain scans.

接著研究人員讓這些女性參與者在配有大腦掃描的機器下聞這些新生兒的氣味

All of the women showed activity in the reward-related areas of the brain.

所有的女性的大腦的酬賞行為區塊都顯得特別活躍，而其中新手媽媽的活躍程度又稍稍比其他女性來得大

There was slightly more brain activity in new moms.

Basically, the researchers think that the smell might act as a sort of incentive: to get the new moms to feel pleasure when they take care of babies.

基本上，研究學者認為這種氣味可能扮演著一種獎勵的角色讓新手媽媽能在照顧嬰兒時有愉悅感，這亦會提升母愛行為 並能抵銷養育時所帶來的疲累感

This could promote more maternal care, and offset some of the exhaustion and hard work of parenting.

But what about new dads? Are they affected by this baby smell too?

但對於新手爸爸來說呢？嬰兒身上的氣味也會影響父親嗎？

Well, we still have a lot to learn about the smell of newborn babies.

對於新生兒生上的氣味我們仍然還有許多功課要做

And there haven’t been any studies involving men yet, although researchers think the effects of baby smell might be similar.

在此類的研究中，目前對於男性部分尚未加以探討，雖然研究學者認為這種氣味亦會對男性帶來同樣的影響

Thanks for asking, and thanks especially to our patrons on Patreon who keep these answers coming.

謝謝你們的問題，特別感謝提供這些解答的Patreon贊助人

If you’d like to submit a question to be answered, or get some videos a few days before everyone else, go to patreon.com/scishow.

如果您有任何問題想提問，或是提前收到我們的解答請至patreon.com/scishow

And don’t forget to go to youtube.com/scishow and subscribe!

不要忘記 youtube.com/scishow訂閱喔！