VOA标准英语2012--Decoding Brainwaves Allows Scientists to Pry into Thoughts

Decoding¹ Brainwaves Allows Scientists to Pry² into Thoughts

Scientists have taken the first step toward making it possible to eavesdrop³ on people's thoughts by successfully decoding brain waves associated with hearing.
Their eventual⁴ goal is to create a prosthetic device that would provide a voice for those who are unable to speak.
A variety of health conditions can rob people of their ability to speak, including stroke, a neuromuscular disease called amyotrophic lateral⁵ sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease, and locked-in syndrome⁶, in which individuals are completely awake and aware of their surroundings but unable to move or communicate with the outside world.
To help these people regain⁷ a voice, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, set out to build a device that could translate human thoughts into speech. They have achieved a first step toward that goal by decoding the electrical activity in a region of the brain, called the superior temporal gyrus, that’s stimulated⁸ by hearing.
Senior researcher Robert Knight⁹, who heads U.C. Berkeley's neuroscience center, says the experiments involved a group of epilepsy patients who listened quietly to words that were played to them.
Researcher Brian Pasley created a computer program that can recognize individual words in the brainwave patterns by their rhythm - or the spacing of syllables¹⁰ - and by their audio frequencies - the high and low sounds in the words.
To obtain the sound-stimulated brainwave patterns, Pasley used a device called an electroencephalograph, which measures the electrical firing of the patients’ auditory circuits through electrodes already implanted in the patients' brains when they hear spoken words.
He reproduced those words digitally by feeding the brain wave data into an electronic voice synthesizer.
The next step will be to see whether brainwaves generated not by hearing a word but by just thinking it could also be converted electronically into speech.
“I think there’s some evidence that in certain cases the same brain areas will activate¹¹ or turn on when you are imagining sounds or speech as to when you are actually listening," Pasley says. "But still, a lot of work needs to be done to really understand how similar those two processes are or how different. We just don’t know at this point.”
Pasley’s mentor¹², Robert Knight, believes it’s only a matter of time before researchers are able to map the brain circuitry involved in conscious speech. He predicts the first device allowing people to talk with their thoughts - literally¹³, to speak their minds - will become a reality in five years.

1 decoding   

n.译码，解码v.译（码），解（码）( decode的现在分词 )；分析及译解电子信号

参考例句：

• We cannot add any other memory to this system without further decoding. 如果不增加译码，就不能使系统的存贮容量有任何扩展。 来自辞典例句
• Examples using the 8250 will be presented in hardware section to clarify full-decoding schemes. 在硬件一节中有应用说明全译码方案8250的例子。 来自辞典例句

2 pry   

vi.窥(刺)探，打听；vt.撬动(开，起)

参考例句：

• He's always ready to pry into other people's business.他总爱探听别人的事。
• We use an iron bar to pry open the box.我们用铁棍撬开箱子。

3 eavesdrop   

v.偷听，倾听

参考例句：

• He ensconced himself in the closet in order to eavesdrop.他藏在壁橱里，以便偷听。
• It is not polite to eavesdrop on the conversation of other people.偷听他人说话是很不礼貌的。

4 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

5 lateral   

adj.侧面的，旁边的

参考例句：

• An airfoil that controls lateral motion.能够控制横向飞行的机翼。
• Mr.Dawson walked into the court from a lateral door.道森先生从一个侧面的门走进法庭。

6 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

7 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

8 stimulated   

a.刺激的

参考例句：

• The exhibition has stimulated interest in her work. 展览增进了人们对她作品的兴趣。
• The award has stimulated her into working still harder. 奖金促使她更加努力地工作。

9 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

10 syllables   

n.音节( syllable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a word with two syllables 双音节单词
• 'No. But I'll swear it was a name of two syllables.' “想不起。不过我可以发誓，它有两个音节。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

11 activate   

vt.使活动起来，使开始起作用

参考例句：

• We must activate the youth to study.我们要激励青年去学习。
• These push buttons can activate the elevator.这些按钮能启动电梯。

12 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

13 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。