TED演讲:演奏乐器如何益智(1)

 　　Did you know that every time musicians pick up their instruments, 知道每当音乐家弹奏他们的乐器时

　　there are fireworks going off all over their brain? 他们脑里是到处在施放烟火吗？

　　On the outside, they may look calm and focused,  由外表看来，他们很冷静、专注

　　reading the music and making the precise and practiced movements required. 看着乐谱，做出所需的准确和熟练动作。

　　But inside their brains, there's a party going on. 但他们的脑里正开着一个派对。

　　How do we know this? 我们怎么会知道呢？

　　Well, in the last few decades,  在过去的几十年中，

　　neuroscientists have made enormous breakthroughs in understanding how our brains work  神经科学家对理解脑功能有了巨大的突破，

　　by monitoring them in real time with instruments like fMRI and PET scanners. 功归于能即时监测脑功能的仪器，例如功能性磁振造影 (fMRI) 、正电子发射计算机断层扫描仪 (PET)。

　　When people are hooked up to these machines, tasks, such as reading or doing math problems,  这些仪器扫描显示阅读、做数学题等行为

　　each have corresponding areas of the brain where activity can be observed. 引起脑内相应的活动区域。

　　But when researchers got the participants to listen to music, they saw fireworks. 但给研究参与者听音乐时神经学家看到了烟火。

　　Multiple areas of their brains were lighting¹ up at once, as they processed the sound,  处理声音的同时脑里多处同时亮起，

　　took it apart to understand elements like melody and rhythm,  将其分解成旋律、节奏等元素，

　　and then put it all back together into unified² musical experience. 而后再重新组合成一个完整的音乐体验。

　　And our brains do all this work in the split second between when we first hear the music and when our foot starts to tap along. 这些大脑运作发生在听到音乐和脚开始打节拍的一瞬间。

　　But when scientists turned from observing the brains of music listeners to those of musicians, 而当科学家由观察聆听者的大脑转至音乐家的大脑，

　　the little backyard fireworks became a jubilee³. 后院的小烟火变成了喜年庆典烟火。

　　It turns out that while listening to music engages the brain in some pretty interesting activities, 事实证明，听音乐时大脑忙碌于一些很有趣的活动，

　　playing music is the brain's equivalent of a full-body workout. 而弹奏音乐是相当于大脑的全身锻炼。

1 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

2 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

3 jubilee   

n.周年纪念；欢乐

参考例句：

• They had a big jubilee to celebrate the victory.他们举行盛大的周年纪念活动以祝贺胜利。
• Every Jubilee,to take the opposite case,has served a function.反过来说，历次君主巡幸，都曾起到某种作用。