TED演讲：拥有大脑的真正原因(8)

 　　What evidence is there for this?  那有什么证据支持这点吗？

　　Well there's one very clear example where a sensation generated by myself feels very different then if generated by another person.  我们认为其中一个非常明了的例子就是自身产生的动作带来的感觉与他人做同样动作带来的感觉是十分不同的。

　　And so we decided¹ the most obvious place to start was with tickling².  我们认为最直接的着手点就是挠痒痒这件事。

　　It's been known for a long time, you can't tickle³ yourself as well as other people can.  众所周知，人们挠自己的时候总是不如别人挠自己的时候痒。

　　But it hasn't really been shown, it's because you have a neural⁴ simulator, simulating your own body and subtracting off that sense.  但是没有被证明为什么，其实是因为每个人自己有一个神经模拟器模拟出自己动作带来的效果。

　　So we can bring the experiments of the 21st century by applying robotic technologies to this problem.  然后在感觉里自动减去这个效果，所以我们可以用21世纪的实验条件把机器人技术应用到这个问题上。

　　And in effect, what we have is some sort of stick in one hand attached to a robot,  具体办法是，我们让试验者一只手握着一根连接在机器人上的小棍，

　　and they're going to move that back and forward.  由手带动一起前后移动。

　　And then we're going to track that with a computer and use it to control another robot, which is going to tickle their palm with another stick.  这时候我们用计算机追踪这个移动模式，然后用同样的模式带动另一个机器人，去用另一根小棍挠试验者的另一只手的手心。

　　And then we're going to ask them to rate a bunch of things including ticklishness⁶. 之后，我们会让试验者给一系列指标打分，也包括痒痒的程度。

　　I'll show you just one part of our study.  在这里我展示我们实验的其中一部分。

　　And here I've taken away the robots, but basically people move with their right arm sinusoidally back and forward.  图上没有画那两个机器人，基本上人们的右臂是以类正弦的方式前后移动的。

　　And we replay that to the other hand with a time delay.  这时候我们把这个移动加上某个时间延迟，在另一只手上重放。

　　Either no time delay, in which case light would just tickle your palm, or with a time delay of two-tenths of three-tenths of a second. 延迟可以是0，就像直接挠手心一样，也可以是0.1秒、0.2秒、0.3秒这样的延迟。

　　So the important point here is the right hand always does the same things -- sinusoidal movement.  这里的重点是试验者的右手一直做同样的类正弦动作。

　　The left hand always is the same and puts sinusoidal tickle.  左手一直在被同样的类正弦动作挠着。

　　All we're playing with is a tempo⁷ causality.  唯一我们改变的就是因与果之间的步调。

　　And as we go from naught⁸ to 0.1 second, it becomes more ticklish⁵.  当我们把延迟从0加到0.1秒的时候，感觉上越来越痒。

　　As you go from 0.1 to 0.2, it becomes more ticklish at the end.  再从0.1到0.2秒，越到后来越痒。

　　And by 0.2 of a second, it's equivalently ticklish to the robot that just tickled⁹ you without you doing anything.  到了0.2秒的时候发痒的程度已经等同于自己什么也不做，机器人直接来挠的效果了。

　　So whatever is responsible for this cancellation¹⁰ is extremely tightly coupled with tempo causality.  因此不管是什么造成了自身动作的抵消，一定与因果之间的步调大有联系。

　　And based on this illustration, we really convinced ourselves in the field that the brain's making precise predictions and subtracting them off from the sensations. 受这个实验的启发，我们终于相信了那个论点，也就是大脑能够做出准确预测并将预测结果从实体感觉里减去。

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 tickling   

反馈，回授，自旋挠痒法

参考例句：

• Was It'spring tickling her senses? 是不是春意撩人呢？
• Its origin is in tickling and rough-and-tumble play, he says. 他说，笑的起源来自于挠痒痒以及杂乱无章的游戏。

3 tickle   

v.搔痒，胳肢；使高兴；发痒；n.搔痒，发痒

参考例句：

• Wilson was feeling restless. There was a tickle in his throat.威尔逊只觉得心神不定。嗓子眼里有些发痒。
• I am tickle pink at the news.听到这消息我高兴得要命。

4 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。

5 ticklish   

adj.怕痒的；问题棘手的；adv.怕痒地；n.怕痒，小心处理

参考例句：

• This massage method is not recommended for anyone who is very ticklish.这种按摩法不推荐给怕痒的人使用。
• The news is quite ticklish to the ear,这消息听起来使人觉得有些难办。

6 ticklishness   

n.怕痒，小心处理

参考例句：

7 tempo   

n.(音乐的)速度；节奏，行进速度

参考例句：

• The boss is unsatisfied with the tardy tempo.老板不满于这种缓慢的进度。
• They waltz to the tempo of the music.他们跟着音乐的节奏跳华尔兹舞。

8 naught   

n.无，零 [=nought]

参考例句：

• He sets at naught every convention of society.他轻视所有的社会习俗。
• I hope that all your efforts won't go for naught.我希望你的努力不会毫无结果。

9 tickled   

（使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐

参考例句：

• We were tickled pink to see our friends on television. 在电视中看到我们的一些朋友，我们高兴极了。
• I tickled the baby's feet and made her laugh. 我胳肢孩子的脚，使她发笑。

10 cancellation   

n.删除，取消

参考例句：

• Heavy seas can cause cancellation of ferry services.海上风浪太大，可能须要取消渡轮服务。
• Her cancellation of her trip to Paris upset our plan.她取消了巴黎之行打乱了我们的计划。