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VOA标准英语2010年-Brain Study Sheds Light on Language Us

时间:2010-02-05 06:31来源:互联网 提供网友:z1234511520   字体: [ ]
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This is an X-ray showing electrodes that surgeons use to find and remove the source of seizures1 (to cure epilepsy), while sparing the source of mental functions like language. In this study, recordings3 when patients spoke4 words revealed that one small part of the brain computes5 the meanings, structure, and sounds of words, separately and in a quick sequence. It is important to note that electrodes are only implanted in people's brains as part of existing and accepted surgical7 practice. We then get patients' consent to also record from these electrodes for research purposes. Electrodes are never implanted just for research. This image relates to an article that appeared in the October 16, 2009, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. N.T. Sahin of the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla, Calif., and colleagues, was titled, "Sequential Processing of Lexical, Grammatical, and Phonological Information within Broca's Area."

A new study on the brain is shedding light on how humans process language.  The research, being carried out in San Diego, Boston and New York is helping8 scientists understand a part of the brain known as Broca's area.  The study shows that the brain is more complex than scientists had realized.

The medical center at New York University is one of the clinical sites for the study.

Denise Harris, 39,  is helping researchers gain a better understanding of the brain.  She suffers from epilepsy, and doctors are monitoring her seizures in the hope of performing an operation to minimize them.  Her head is bandaged.  Wires protruding9 from the side are attached to electrodes implanted in her brain.  Harris says doctors are monitoring her to see whether she is a good candidate for surgery.

"I've been on many medications throughout my life and after a while, they don't work," she said. "I still get seizures.  So now, when they remove the part that the seizure2 is triggered from, it's supposed to stop."

But while Harris is in hospital, she is also helping scientists understand how the brain comprehends and uses language.  For the study, researchers are monitoring the implanted probes on a part of the frontal lobe10 called Broca's area, named after 19th century French physician Pierre Paul Broca.  He was the first doctor to recognize the major role of that area in language.

Through the implant6 process, called Intra-cranial Electrophysiology, or ICE, the researchers have found that Broca's area processes three different language functions in succession - within a quarter of a second.  It is the first time the technique has been used to document how the brain processes grammar and produces words.

Eric Halgren of the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, is one of the principal investigators11 of the study.

"What we were able to find was that within a centimeter, around less than an inch, certainly, and probably half an inch, there were different regions - perhaps they overlap12 some - but they were doing, at different times, different processes, all within this small area," he said.

The first function deals with recognizing a word, the second with understanding the word's context in a sentence, and the third lets us articulate the word by speaking.

Harvard University brain expert Steven Pinker is another of the study's authors. Ned Sahin, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard and the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine was the first author of the paper outlining the work, which was published in the journal Science.  

According to Sahin, scientists have known for some time that conventional explanations for how parts of the brain work need to be revised.

"Nearly every introductory textbook as well as people practicing in the field in speech pathology, for instance, teach and believe that there is a separation of tasks and a division of labor13 between two very different parts of the brain - Broca's area [at the front of the brain] and Wernicke's area [further back in the brain and named after 19th century neurologist Carl Wernicke], where Broca's area is responsible for producing, for speaking, and Wernicke's for comprehending," he said.

This study shows that Broca's area is involved in both speaking and comprehension, illustrating14 that parts of the brain perform more than one task.

"Here's an example of one relatively15 small part of the brain that's doing three very different things at three different times, but all within the space of a quarter of a second," he said.

But Eric Halgren points out that despite our growing knowledge, much about the human brain remains16 unknown.

"How does this hunk of flesh, which is not much different from a muscle - it's just a bowl of porridge - how does it produce the mind?  It's a total mystery," he said.

He says brain studies are shedding light on the pieces of the puzzle and might one day solve the mystery.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 seizures d68658a6ccfd246a0e750fdc12689d94     
n.起获( seizure的名词复数 );没收;充公;起获的赃物
参考例句:
  • Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因,有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句
2 seizure FsSyO     
n.没收;占有;抵押
参考例句:
  • The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
  • The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。
3 recordings 22f9946cd05973582e73e4e3c0239bb7     
n.记录( recording的名词复数 );录音;录像;唱片
参考例句:
  • a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
  • old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐
4 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
5 computes 16e609f4a0c1dec290cc3e2c1992de38     
v.计算,估算( compute的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • This article also computes STL model volume and research simply model complexity. 文章还评估了STL实体体积,对模型的复杂度进行了研究。 来自互联网
  • This macro computes the length of the day, from sunrise to sunset. 把根据要求确定出来的日出日没间隔作为我们通常直觉上的一个白天。 来自互联网
6 implant YaBxT     
vt.注入,植入,灌输
参考例句:
  • A good teacher should implant high ideals in children.好教师应该把高尚理想灌输给孩子们。
  • The operation to implant the artificial heart took two hours.人工心脏植入手术花费了两小时。
7 surgical 0hXzV3     
adj.外科的,外科医生的,手术上的
参考例句:
  • He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
  • All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前,必须消毒。
8 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
9 protruding e7480908ef1e5355b3418870e3d0812f     
v.(使某物)伸出,(使某物)突出( protrude的现在分词 );凸
参考例句:
  • He hung his coat on a nail protruding from the wall. 他把上衣挂在凸出墙面的一根钉子上。
  • There is a protruding shelf over a fireplace. 壁炉上方有个突出的架子。 来自辞典例句
10 lobe r8azn     
n.耳垂,(肺,肝等的)叶
参考例句:
  • Tiny electrical sensors are placed on your scalp and on each ear lobe.小电器传感器放置在您的头皮和对每个耳垂。
  • The frontal lobe of the brain is responsible for controlling movement.大脑前叶的功能是控制行动。
11 investigators e970f9140785518a87fc81641b7c89f7     
n.调查者,审查者( investigator的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
  • The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 overlap tKixw     
v.重叠,与…交叠;n.重叠
参考例句:
  • The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
  • Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。
13 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
14 illustrating a99f5be8a18291b13baa6ba429f04101     
给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 ); 说明; 表明; (用示例、图画等)说明
参考例句:
  • He upstaged the other speakers by illustrating his talk with slides. 他演讲中配上幻灯片,比其他演讲人更吸引听众。
  • Material illustrating detailed structure of graptolites has been etched from limestone by means of hydrofluoric acid. 表明笔石详细构造的物质是利用氢氟酸从石灰岩中侵蚀出来。
15 relatively bkqzS3     
adv.比较...地,相对地
参考例句:
  • The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
  • The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。
16 remains 1kMzTy     
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
参考例句:
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
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TAG标签:   postdoctoral  postdoctoral
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