经济学人346:通感 闻起来像贝多芬

 　　Science and technology

　　科学技术

　　Synaesthesia

　　通感

　　Smells like Beethoven

　　闻起来像贝多芬

　　Using the word note to describe an odour may be more than just metaphor¹

　　用音符来描述气味可能并不仅仅是个隐喻

　　What do you hear?

　　你闻到了什么？

　　THAT some people make weird² associations between the senses has been acknowledged for over a century.

　　有些人的感觉之间存在着奇怪的联系，这种情况一百多年来已为世人所知；

　　The condition has even been given a name: synaesthesia.

　　它甚至还有了个名字，叫做通感。

　　Odd as it may seem to those not so gifted,

　　也许常人会觉得奇怪，

　　贝多芬.jpg

　　synaesthetes insist that spoken sounds and the symbols which represent them give rise to specific colours or that individual musical notes have their own hues³.

　　通感者却坚持说听到说话的声音时，他们脑子里出现的是特殊的颜色，还会说每个音符都有自己的色彩。

　　Yet there may be a little of this cross-modal association in everyone.

　　其实所有人可能都有点这种跨感官感知联合现象。

　　Most people agree that loud sounds are brighter than soft ones.

　　大多数人都同意响亮的声音比轻柔的声音亮些。

　　Likewise, low-pitched sounds are reminiscent of large objects and high-pitched ones evoke⁴ smallness.

　　同样，低音让人联想起宏大的物体，高音给人渺小的感觉。

　　Anne-Sylvie Crisinel and Charles Spence of Oxford⁵ University think something similar is true between sound and smell.

　　牛津大学的Anne-Sylvie Crisinel和Charles Spence认为，气味和声音之间也存在类似的联系。

　　Ms Crisinel and Dr Spence wanted to know whether an odour sniffed⁷ from a bottle could be linked to a specific pitch, and even a specific instrument.

　　Ms Crisinel 和Dr Spence想弄清楚瓶装的气味能否与特定的音调甚至乐器联系起来。

　　To find out, they asked 30 people to inhale⁸ 20 smells—ranging from apple to violet and wood smoke—which came from a teaching kit⁹ for wine-tasting.

　　为了找出答案，他们测试了30人，让每人吸入20种气味从苹果、紫罗兰的气味到木材烟尘这些气味来自品酒师教材。

　　After giving each sample a good sniff⁶, volunteers had to click their way through 52 sounds of varying pitches, played by piano, woodwind, string or brass¹⁰,

　　在认真体味每种气味后，志愿者要从52种音调不同、

　　and identify which best matched the smell.

　　音色各异的声音中点选出听起来感觉与气味最相配的。

　　The results of this study, to be published later this month in Chemical Senses, are intriguing¹¹.

　　研究结果十分有趣，本月将被发表在《Chemical Senses》杂志上。

　　The researchers’ first finding was that the volunteers did not think their request utterly¹² ridiculous.

　　第一，研究者发现志愿者并不认为这项实验荒唐透顶。

　　It rather made sense, they told them afterwards.

　　试验结束后，志愿者们说实验还是有点意义的。

　　The second was that there was significant agreement between volunteers.

　　第二，志愿者的意见有重要的共同点。

　　Sweet and sour smells were rated as higher-pitched, smoky and woody ones as lower-pitched.

　　他们认为酸、甜的气味音调高，烟味和木头的气味音调低；

　　Blackberry and raspberry were very piano.

　　黑莓味和覆盆子味闻起来很像钢琴，

　　Vanilla¹³ had elements of both piano and woodwind.

　　香草味像钢琴和木管乐的混合体，

　　Musk¹⁴ was strongly brass.

　　麝香味则非常像铜管乐。

　　It is not immediately clear why people employ their musical senses in this way to help their assessment¹⁵ of a smell.

　　为什么人们会用乐感来帮助自己评价味道？答案并不能被立刻揭晓。

　　But gone are the days when science assumed each sense worked in isolation¹⁶.

　　但是科学已不再认为人的各种感觉之间没有联系了。

　　People live, say Dr Spence and Ms Crisinel,

　　博士Dr Spence和Ms Crisinel说：

　　in a multisensory world and their brains tirelessly combine information from all sources to make sense, as it were, of what is going on around them.

　　人们生活在这个世界上，万事万物会引起各种感觉。大脑似乎在不停地综合来自各方面的信息，判断周围发生的事情。

　　Nor is this response restricted to humans.

　　这种反应也不仅仅发生在人类身上。

　　Studies of the brains of mice show that regions involved in olfaction also react to sound.

　　研究显示，老鼠大脑的嗅觉区同样会对声音做出反应。

　　Taste, too, seems linked to hearing.

　　味觉似乎也与听觉有关联。

　　Ms Crisinel and Dr Spence have previously¹⁷ established that sweet and sour tastes, like smells, are linked to high pitch, while bitter tastes bring lower pitches to mind.

　　此前Ms Crisinel和Dr Spence已经确定，酸味、甜味就像酸、甜的气味一样与高音相关；苦味则带来低音的感觉。

　　Now they have gone further.

　　如今他们走得更远。

　　In a study that will be published later this year they and their colleagues show how altering the pitch and instruments used in background music can alter the way food tastes.

　　在今年计划发表的一项试验中，二人与同事揭示了背景音乐中乐器和音调的改变会如何引起食物味道的改变。

　　In this experiment, each volunteer was given four pieces of toffee.

　　在这项试验中，每位志愿者得到了四块太妃糖。

　　They consumed the other two, however, to the accompaniment of a higher-pitched piano piece.

　　他们在忧郁低沉的铜管乐声中吃掉两块，又听着音调较高的钢琴曲吃掉另外两块。

　　Volunteers rated the toffee eaten during low-pitched music as more bitter than that consumed during the high-pitched rendition.

　　志愿者评价说，音乐的音调低时吃的糖较苦，音调高时吃的糖较甜。

　　The toffee was, of course, identical.

　　当然，所有的太妃糖都一样。

　　It was the sound that tasted different.

　　声音才是尝起来味道不一样的东西。

1 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

2 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

3 hues   

色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点

参考例句：

• When the sun rose a hundred prismatic hues were reflected from it. 太阳一出，更把它映得千变万化、异彩缤纷。
• Where maple trees grow, the leaves are often several brilliant hues of red. 在枫树生长的地方，枫叶常常呈现出数种光彩夺目的红色。

4 evoke   

vt.唤起，引起，使人想起

参考例句：

• These images are likely to evoke a strong response in the viewer.这些图像可能会在观众中产生强烈反响。
• Her only resource was the sympathy she could evoke.她以凭借的唯一力量就是她能从人们心底里激起的同情。

5 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

6 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

7 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 inhale   

v.吸入(气体等)，吸(烟)

参考例句：

• Don't inhale dust into your lung.别把灰尘吸进肺里。
• They are pleased to not inhale second hand smoke.他们很高兴他们再也不会吸到二手烟了。

9 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

10 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

11 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

13 vanilla   

n.香子兰，香草

参考例句：

• He used to love milk flavoured with vanilla.他过去常爱喝带香草味的牛奶。
• I added a dollop of vanilla ice-cream to the pie.我在馅饼里加了一块香草冰激凌。

14 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

15 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

16 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

17 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。