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

Researchers say a study on the brain is shedding light on how humans process language.  The research, conducted in San Diego, Boston and New York, is helping¹ scientists understand an important part of the brain known as Broca's area.

Denise Harris, 39, is helping with the study.  She suffers from epilepsy, and doctors at the medical center of New York University are monitoring her seizures³ in the hope of performing an operation to minimize them.

"I've been on many medications throughout my life and after a while, they don't work," she noted⁴.  "I still get seizures.  So now, when they remove the part that the seizure² is triggered from, it's supposed to stop."

While Harris is in hospital, she is helping scientists understand how the brain comprehends and uses language.

The results of the work, based on brain studies of Denise and other patients, were published in the journal Science.  

Using the process called Intra-cranial Electrophysiology, clinical tests in Boston and New York found that one small part of the brain, known as Broca's area, computes⁵ three different language functions, all within a quarter of a second.   The first deals with recognizing a word, the second with understanding the word's context in a sentence, and the third lets us articulate the word through speech.

One of the study's author, Eric Halgren of the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, says this part of the brain is central to language.

"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 overlap⁶ some - but they were doing, at different times, different processes, all within this small area," said Halgren.

Another study author, Ned Sahin, a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University and the UC San Diego School of Medicine, says scientists have suspected for some time that the traditional understanding of the brain needs revision.

"Nearly every introductory text book, as well as people practicing in the field in speech pathology, for instance, teaches and believe that there is a separation of tasks and a division of labor⁷ 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], where Broca's area is responsible for producing, for speaking, and Wernicke's for comprehending," explained Sahin.

This study shows that Broca's area does more than scientists had realized.  Sahin says researchers increasingly realize that individual parts of the brain have multiple functions.

"…  because here's an example of one relatively⁸ 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 added.

Eric Halgren says, despite our growing knowledge, much about the brain remains⁹ 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," noted Halgren.

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

 

1 helping   

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。

2 seizure   

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 seizures   

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

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 computes   

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 overlap   

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。

7 labor   

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。

8 relatively   

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。

9 remains   

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。