Education Report - Can Brain Scans of Young Children Predict Reading Problems?
教育报道 - 儿童脑部扫描是否可以预测诵读障碍？
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道。
Dyslexia is a problem that interferes with the ability to recognize words and connect sounds with letters when people read. People with this learning disorder may also have problems when they write. Dyslexia is not related to eyesight or intelligence. The problem involves areas of the brain that process language.
诵读障碍是指人们在阅读时，识别单词并将文字与语音对应的能力受到了干扰。患有这种学习障碍的人也可能存在书写问题。诵读障碍和视力或智力无关，它涉及的是大脑中产生语言的区域。
Brain scientists are studying whether they can predict which young children may struggle with reading, in order to provide early help. John Gabrieli at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is leading a study of five-year-olds in about twenty schools in the Boston area.
脑科学家正在研究是否可以对青少年的诵读困难做出预测，从而提供早期帮助。麻省理工学院的约翰·加布里埃利（John Gabrieli）在波士顿地区的二十来所学校中领导了一项以5岁孩子为对象的研究。
JOHN GABRIELI: "We partner with schools that have kindergartens. And in this study what we do is, for all the children whose parents permit them to participate, we give them a brief set of paper-and-pencil tests to look at which children appear to be at some risk for struggling to read."
加布里埃利：“我们和开设了幼儿园的学校合作。在这项研究中我们要做的是，对所有获得父母许可参加研究的孩子进行一个简短的纸笔测试，看谁会表现出诵读困难的风险。”
So far, fifty of the kindergarteners have been examined in a machine that shows brain activity. The goal is to study five hundred children using fMRI, or functional magnetic resonance imaging. The scanner uses a high-energy magnetic field and radio waves to "look" inside the body.
到目前为止，已经有50所幼儿园使用一台显示大脑活动的仪器进行了检查。其目的是使用磁共振成像对五百名儿童进行研究。这台脑扫描仪器使用高能磁场和无线电波对身体内部进行检查。
Written tests are not always able to identify dyslexia or other problems. Professor Gabrieli says children can differ a lot in their abilities from day to day. He says brain scans may offer a more scientific way to identify problems. And with reading problems, he says, early identification is important.
笔试不总是能够诊断诵读障碍或其它问题。加布里埃利表示，儿童的能力每天都会有很大差异。他表示大脑扫描可以提供一个诊断问题的更科学途径。尽早发现对诵读障碍来说非常重要。
JOHN GABRIELI: "All the literature is that for intervention, behavioral programs, educational programs that help children overcome reading difficulties, the younger the child, the more effective they are."
加布里埃利：“所有文献均称，对于帮助孩子克服诵读困难的干预、行为程序和教育程序来说，孩子越小越有效。”
Reading problems are not usually identified until a child is in the third or fourth grade. The longer the wait before children are recognized as poor readers, he says, the less these interventions can help. And, as Professor Gabrieli points out, poor reading can make education a struggle.
诵读困难一般要到孩子上三、四年级才能确定。他表示，孩子被认定为诵读能力差之前等待的时间越长，干预所能做的也就越少。加布里埃利教授同时指出，诵读能力差也会导致学习困难。
JOHN GABRIELI: "Reading is -- everything. Even math and science have textbooks."
加布里埃利：“诵读包括一切。即使是数学和科学也都有教科书。”
During the brain imaging, the children are given tasks related to reading. They work with letters and sounds of language. The brain scans measure the extent to which certain parts of the brain become active while the children do the work. The neuroscientists say they are pleased with early results from the study, but have a lot more work to do.
在大脑成像过程中，孩子们被交给了诵读相关的任务。他们做字母游戏并读出该字母发音。脑扫描会测量孩子们此时大脑特定区域的活跃程度。神经科学家表示，他们对这项研究的早期成果表示满意，但还有很多工作要做。
The children get to take home the pictures of their brain in action. Professor Gabrieli says children who do not want to have a brain scan do not have to.
孩子们可以把这次大脑活动图像带回家。加布里埃利说，不想做大脑扫描的孩子也可以不做。
JOHN GABRIELI: "I can tell you that the ones who do want to do it have an excellent experience. Almost all, the vast majority, ask when they can do it again. We treat the entire experience as a game. When they go into the scanner, we tell them it is like going into a space rocket."
加布里埃利：“我可以告诉你，想做大脑扫描的孩子都有一次好的体验。几乎所有人都询问他们什么时候可以再做。我们把整个过程当作一个游戏。当他们进入到大脑扫描仪器时，我们告诉他们，这就像进入一个太空火箭中。”
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Steve Ember. |