词汇大师--How a Conversation Can Really Become...

　　AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: When two people "click," that means they really understand each other. Well, that metaphorical¹ clicking could be the sound of what researchers call "speaker-listener neural² coupling."
RS: Studies to date have largely analyzed³ speech production and comprehension independently within individual brains. But new research at Princeton University examines their relationship in producing successful communication.
AA: We talked with lead authors, Lauren Silbert and Greg Stephens. They began the study by recording⁴ Silbert as she lay with her head inside an fMRI -- a functional⁵ magnetic resonance⁶ imaging machine, essentially⁷ a giant magnet that scans the brain at work. She reminisced about her life.
LAUREN SILBERT: " I spent a good amount of time in the fMRI scanner telling stories, just as if I was talking to a friend, trying to communicate something about my life. We then played the recordings⁸ back to eleven different listeners while they were also individually in the scanner.

　　"After the scan we have a behavioral assessment⁹ of how much they actually did understand. So then we can sort of measure this coupling between the speaker and listener in correlation¹⁰ with how well the communication was."
RS: "And, Greg, what did you find?"
GREG STEPHENS: "At the end of the experiment, we have a functional scan of Lauren's brain and we have a functional scan of these eleven listener brains. So then we're faced with the task of how do we assess how similar are these brains patterns, how coupled are they.
"And so the first result was that actually it turns out that there's extensive coupling between the two, which extends well beyond sort of low-level auditory areas and it goes all the way up into sort of central cortex. It involves a lot of the language areas that people have seen.
"So that was kind of the first finding, which is that there was sort of this extensive coupling between the two processes that you might have thought, naively¹¹, that they would be kind of different, the production side and the comprehension side."
AA: "So, in plain English, you're basically saying it's a real meeting of the minds."
LAUREN SILBERT: [Laughs]

　　GREG STEPHENS: "Basically we are saying that, actually. And, as a little bit of context, you know, what we think might be going on is simply that we're all human, we have similar brains and so that when you comprehend speech you might use similar machinery¹², similar algorithms as you do when you produce it, because we're all sort of using the same fundamental machine, the same brain."
RS: "What does this tell us about who we are and how we operate?"
LAUREN SILBERT: "First, I think it tells us that these two processes that we look at as opposite processes are actually not so opposite. Sort of an extrapolation from the mirror neuron hypotheses, where in order to understand what somebody is saying you have to also produce what they're saying, which, you know, could tell us a bit about empathy or whatever it is you want to think from that.
"Another thing that it tells us is that our brains don't exist in isolation¹³. We grow up, we develop in relation to our surroundings, to people around us, and we communicate in relation to other people. We have interactive¹⁴ processes. We don't exist solely¹⁵ in isolation."
AA: "What did you find, actually, when you started looking at people speaking two different languages to each other? What did you find when you looked at their brain activity?"
RS: "And how were they any different from what your paper relates?"
LAUREN SILBERT: "Well, so in the paper we use one control where we have a Russian speaker and non-Russian speaking listeners. So in that case there's no understanding that's going on at all. And in that case we see no coupling between the brains."
AA: "Now do you think you would get the same results, for example, if -- I mean, you were just using some technical language, you were talking about mirror neurons and this and that. And now if someone maybe wasn't familiar with it who was just listening to you talk about that, do you think if you were to look at their brain and your brain you would see different patterns, showing that you weren't coupled?"
LAUREN SILBERT: "Yes, I do, actually. I think that their brains would start searching for something that I have already moved on to something else, and there would be a difference in processing."
AA: "So they can just blame their brain, right? It's not just lack of understanding."
LAUREN SILBERT: "Or, on my side, I have to bring whoever I'm speaking with into my world in order to make it as successful a communication as possible."
RS: Lauren Silbert and Greg Stephens are researchers at Princeton University in New Jersey¹⁶. Their study appears in the Proceedings¹⁷ of the National Academy of Sciences.
AA: And that's WORDMASTER for this week. With Rosanne Skirble, I'm Avi Arditti.

1 metaphorical   

a.隐喻的，比喻的

参考例句：

• Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样，我们在换喻（者翻译为转喻，一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法）上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
• So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说，我们可以这样作个比喻：熵像是时间之矢。

2 neural   

adj.神经的，神经系统的

参考例句：

• The neural network can preferably solve the non- linear problem.利用神经网络建模可以较好地解决非线性问题。
• The information transmission in neural system depends on neurotransmitters.信息传递的神经途径有赖于神经递质。

3 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

5 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

6 resonance   

n.洪亮；共鸣；共振

参考例句：

• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments.一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。
• The areas under the two resonance envelopes are unequal.两个共振峰下面的面积是不相等的。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 recordings   

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

9 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？

10 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

11 naively   

adv. 天真地

参考例句：

• They naively assume things can only get better. 他们天真地以为情况只会变好。
• In short, Knox's proposal was ill conceived and naively made. 总而言之，诺克斯的建议考虑不周，显示幼稚。

12 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

13 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。

14 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

15 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

16 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

17 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼