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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Christie Nicholson . Got a minute?
The lure1 of gambling2 clearly comes from the chance of winning. But how exciting is it to almost win? A study in the February 12th issue of the journal Neuron looked at gambler’s brains’ reactions to “near misses,” such as when you get two cherries out of three at a slot machine. While gamblers describe near misses as more unpleasant than full misses, almost winning significantly increased the desire to keep gambling.
Fifteen subjects underwent brain scans as they gambled. Near misses activated3 the brains’ ventral striatum and anterior4 insula areas, which were also activated during random5 wins. The insula has been associated with drug craving6 and other addictive7 behaviors.
Interestingly, this effect only happened when gamblers had control of the lever. The inverse8 occurred when a computer took control. In that case, the near misses significantly demotivated the gambler to keep playing, and it was the complete misses that kept momentum9 alive. So next time, when you nearly get three cherries and you’re hyped up to try again, remember this is not like working on your golf swing—your odds10 at the slot machine don’t get better with practice.
Thanks for the minute for Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Christie Nicholson.
1 lure | |
n.吸引人的东西,诱惑物;vt.引诱,吸引 | |
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2 gambling | |
n.赌博;投机 | |
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3 activated | |
adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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4 anterior | |
adj.较早的;在前的 | |
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5 random | |
adj.随机的;任意的;n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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6 craving | |
n.渴望,热望 | |
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7 addictive | |
adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的,成为习惯的 | |
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8 inverse | |
adj.相反的,倒转的,反转的;n.相反之物;v.倒转 | |
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9 momentum | |
n.动力,冲力,势头;动量 | |
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10 odds | |
n.让步,机率,可能性,比率;胜败优劣之别 | |
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