科学家们探究谈话中大脑如何工作（在线收听）

科学家们探究谈话中大脑如何工作

As every portrait painter knows, the slightest change in the shape of eyebrows, the curvature of lips or a crease in the forehead can alter the expression of a person's face-and affect how someone else responds.

每个肖像画家都知道眉毛、嘴唇弯曲度以及前额皱纹的些微变化都会使得脸部表情发生改变，也会影响到其他人的反应。

Yale University neuroscientist Joy Hirsch said scientists would like to understand the neurocircuitry behind this interaction between individuals.

耶鲁大学神经科学家乔伊?赫斯克表示科学家们想要揭开人类个体这样的互动行为背后神经系统的奥秘。

“The visual information and facial expressions are actually coded intimately with the systems of the brain that are coding the language processes. This is something that had not been really appreciated before.”

“视觉信息和面部表情同大脑中掌控语言的系统紧密相关。我们之前都没意识到这点。”

Hirsch and her colleagues at the Yale Brain Function Lab are looking into what actually happens in our brains when we engage in simple conversation.

赫斯克和她的同事们正在耶鲁大学脑功能实验室研究当进行简单对话时大脑会作何反应。

Wearing skull caps with sensors that can register brain activity, researchers explain to each other pictures of simple objects.

佩戴上能记录大脑活动传感器的头盖帽后，研究员们彼此描述一些简单物体的图片。

“The new information here is that visual reports of, say, facial information are an intimate part of the language system as it is being used in an intimate situation.”

“我们得到的新信息是面部信息等的视觉信息是语言系统不可或缺的一部分。”

Facing each other, then separated by a partition, the researchers describe simple pictures appearing on computer screens, such as a basket, a bowl of rice or a lighted cigarette.

在面对面后进行隔开的测试，研究人员描述了显示在电脑屏幕上的简单图像，比如一只篮子，一碗饭，或者一只点燃的香烟。

A small laser in each of the 64 access points in the skull caps shines a light beam that penetrates about 2.5 centimeters into their brains.

这顶帽子上的64个接入点中每一个都有小型激光器，它们发送的光束可以穿透2.5厘米进入大脑。

The reflected light changes depending on whether the blood vessels at that point are oxygenated or depleted of oxygen, showing the level of brain activity.

反射光随着血管因氧合结合还是脱氧合状态改变，显示了大脑活动的水平。

A near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) machine records and displays the patterns of information flow.

一台近红外光谱仪进行记录并且显示了信息流的状态。

“We want to take the physiologic information that we recorded on the NIRS machine and we want to know where is that information anatomically.”

“我们想要收集记录在近红外光谱仪上的神经信息，而后从解剖学层面上搞清信息来源。”

In similar research, scientists at Princeton University are scanning the brains of people as they tell real-life stories and then playing back those stories to others.

而普林斯顿大学的科学家们也在进行类似的实验，他们对讲述真实故事人及听者的大脑进行扫描。

“What we are asking you is whether the listener's brain becomes similar to the speaker brain doing natural, real-life communication."

“我们探究的是在进行自然、真实的沟通时，听者的大脑活动是否和说话人的类似。”

Scientists say the findings may eventually help them better understand the patterns of neurocircuitry involved in communication and how they are different in people suffering from disorders such as autism or depression.

科学家们表示这些发现或许最终会帮助他们更好地了解交流过程中的神经系统，以及患有自闭症、抑郁症等患者这个模式会有何不同。