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This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute.
We all know people who are completely unflappable, able to remain calm in the face of total calamity1. Don’t you just hate those people? Well, a new study in the October 9th issue of the journal Neuron suggests that with a little practice, you could become one of them. Because researchers led by Nobel laureate Eric Kandel have taught mice how to be less skittish—training that physically2 changes their brains.
A lot of scientists who study learning in animals make use of a kind of behavioral test that couples a sound [audio of a memorable3 sound] with a stimulus4, such as a mild foot shock. Over time, the furry5 subjects figure out that the sound signals a coming shock. Kandel’s team turned that test on its head by using a sound [audio of a memorable sound] to signal safety. Mice trained in these tests show less anxiety when they hear their safety signal.
This learned safety, the scientists found, works just as well as a drug like Prozac to keep mice calm in stressful situations, such as being tossed into a pool of water, the rodent6 equivalent of getting stuck in traffic. By studying how this training changes the brain, scientists may be able to devise new ways to treat anxiety in people. So, next time you’re stuck in traffic, just remember, [audio of same memorable sound].
Thanks for the minute for Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.
1 calamity | |
n.灾害,祸患,不幸事件 | |
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2 physically | |
adj.物质上,体格上,身体上,按自然规律 | |
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3 memorable | |
adj.值得回忆的,难忘的,特别的,显著的 | |
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4 stimulus | |
n.刺激,刺激物,促进因素,引起兴奋的事物 | |
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5 furry | |
adj.毛皮的;似毛皮的;毛皮制的 | |
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6 rodent | |
n.啮齿动物;adj.啮齿目的 | |
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