TED演讲:我们的大脑是如何交流的?(3)

 So I'm banging out my story and I know it's good, and then I start to make it -- 我大声说出我的故事，我知道很好笑，为了让故事...

Suddenly, you can see that the responses in all of the subjects lock to the story,  突然间，所有人的脑波响应都随着故事的进展

and now they are going up and down in a very similar way across all listeners. 而上上下下，波型都很类似。 

And in fact, this is exactly what is happening now in your brains when you listen to my sound speaking.  事实上，各位听我讲话的时候，这种现象也正在你的大脑里发生；

We call this effect "neural¹ entrainment."  我们把这种现象称为神经震荡同步化效应。

And to explain to you what is neural entrainment, let me first explain what is physical entrainment. 为了要解释什么是神经震荡同步化，让我先解释什么是物理震荡同步化。

So, we'll look and see five metronomes. Think of these five metronomes as five brains.  我们来看看这五个节拍器，把这五个节拍器想象成五个大脑。

And similar to the listeners before the story starts, these metronomes are going to click, but they're going to click out of phase. 如同故事开始前的五位听者一样，这五个节拍器会开始打拍子，但并不同步。

Now see what will happen when I connect them together by placing them on these two cylinders². 现在来看一下，当我把它们放在这两个圆筒上，会发生什么事，

Now these two cylinders start to rotate.  两个圆筒开始滚动了。

This rotation³ vibration⁴ is going through the wood and is going to couple all the metronomes together. And now listen to the click. 圆筒滚动的振动，透过木板，把所有节拍器同步在一起，听听看现在的滴答声。

This is what you call physical entrainment. 这就是物理震荡同步化。

Now let's go back to the brain and ask: What's driving this neural entrainment?  现在让我们回到大脑，问一个问题：是什么在驱动神经震荡同步化呢？

Is it simply the sounds that the speaker is producing?  是讲者发出的声音？

Or maybe it's the words. Or maybe it's the meaning that the speaker is trying to convey. 还是所说的字汇？还是讲者想要表达的意思呢？

1 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。

2 cylinders   

n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 )；圆柱；汽缸；（尤指用作容器的）圆筒状物

参考例句：

• They are working on all cylinders to get the job finished. 他们正在竭尽全力争取把这工作干完。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• That jeep has four cylinders. 那辆吉普车有4个汽缸。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 rotation   

n.旋转；循环，轮流

参考例句：

• Crop rotation helps prevent soil erosion.农作物轮作有助于防止水土流失。
• The workers in this workshop do day and night shifts in weekly rotation.这个车间的工人上白班和上夜班每周轮换一次。

4 vibration   

n.颤动，振动；摆动

参考例句：

• There is so much vibration on a ship that one cannot write.船上的震动大得使人无法书写。
• The vibration of the window woke me up.窗子的震动把我惊醒了。