背单词能激活人的疼痛感?

 　　单词能给人心理暗示？科学家说了，下次去拔牙的时候，先问问你的牙医有没有读过一些不该读的单词，不然受苦的就是你了，因为受到诸如“钻”“凿”这种单词的心理暗示，下手会特别重。

　　Sticks and stones may break your bones – but words can hurt you too, a study suggests。

　　棍子和石头会伤到骨头，但一项调查显示，纯粹的单词也会伤到人。

　　Scientists found that reading a list of words associated with agonising experiences triggers a reaction in the part of the brain that handles pain. Although there is no immediate¹ physical response, scientists suspect that hearing such words before experiencing pain could make the sensation worse, as the brain is primed to expect it。

　　科学家发现读一系列有关疼痛含义的词语会激活人脑中处理疼痛反应的区域。虽然没有即时的生理反应出现，但科学家认为在真正经历疼痛之前，先听到这些单词，会让疼痛更加严重，因为大脑相关区域已经在读单词时预热过了。

　　For instance, if a dentist talks about ‘drilling’ before he starts doing it, he could actually intensify² your discomfort³。

　　举个例子，如果一个牙医在给你看牙之前，读到了“钻、凿”这样的单词，他下手会更狠。

　　Professor Thomas Weiss, who led the study, said: ‘These findings show that words alone are capable of activating⁴ our pain matrix。

　　指导这项调查的Thomas Weiss教授说：“这些发现表明，单词本身就能激活我们的疼痛反应机制。”

　　"Our results suggest as well that verbal stimuli⁵ have a more important meaning than we have thought so far."

　　“语言刺激比我们想象中的更有效果。”

　　Some of the words – such as ‘tormenting’, ‘crampy’ and ‘excruciating’ – were chosen because they are associated with pain

　　一些诸如“折磨、痉挛和痛苦”这样的词被选中做测试，因为它们都与疼痛有关。

　　But others – such as ‘terrifying’, ‘horrible’, and ‘disgusting’ were selected to evoke⁶ negative emotions without being directly linked to pain。

　　其他词语，如“可怕、恐怖”以及“恶心”虽然不直接与疼痛相关，但能引起人们的反感。

1 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

2 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

3 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。

4 activating   

活动的，活性的

参考例句：

• "I didn't say we'd got to stop activating the masses! “我并没说就此不发动！ 来自子夜部分
• Presumably both the very small size and activating influence of fluorine atoms contribute to this exception. 这大概是由于氟原子半径小和活性高这两个原因的影响，氟原子对这种例外做出了贡献。

5 stimuli   

n.刺激（物）

参考例句：

• It is necessary to curtail or alter normally coexisting stimuli.必需消除或改变正常时并存的刺激。
• My sweat glands also respond to emotional stimuli.我的汗腺对情绪刺激也能产生反应。

6 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。