90%的人有手机幻听综合症

 　　Many of us have reached in our pockets, feeling a vibration¹, wrongly believing our mobile phones have just rung.

　　许多人都曾有过这样的错觉：觉得手机在振动，于是去口袋拿手机，结果手机根本没响。

　　The phenomenon even has a name: "phantom² vibration syndrome³" – and found it is surprisingly common.

　　这一现象甚至有自己的名称，叫“振动幻听综合症”。研究显示这种症状极为常见，很多人都有。

　　Now scientists believe that we are so alert for phone calls and messages we are misinterpreting slight muscle spasms⁴ as proof of a call.

　　目前科学家认为，这是因为人们对电话和短信太过敏感，从而把轻微的肌肉痉挛误当做是来电的信号。

　　Robert Rosenberger, an assistant professor at the Georgia Tech Institute of Technology has studied the delusional⁵ calls.

　　乔治亚理工学院的助理教授罗伯特·罗森伯格对手机幻听现象进行了研究。

　　90%的人有手机幻听综合症

　　He said sufferers describe a vague tingling⁶ feeling which they think is their mobile phone indicating it has received a text message or call while on "silent".

　　罗森伯格称，手机幻听人士会有一种隐约的麻刺感，他们以为是静音状态下手机的来电或短信提醒。

　　But when the device is retrieved⁷, there was no one on the other end.

　　但把手机拿过来才发现它根本没响。

　　Dr Rosenberger said "I find so many people say, 'This happens to me, but I thought I was the only one, I thought I was weird⁸.'"

　　罗森伯格博士表示，他发现很多患者会说“我有手机幻听，但以为只有我自己这样，还一度觉得自己不太正常。”

　　It seems that the syndrome particularly affects people at the beck and call of mobile phones or pagers.

　　人们在等待电话或寻呼机呼叫时，这种症状似乎尤其容易出现。

　　A 2010 study by Michael Rothberg and colleagues found that nearly 70 per cent of doctors at a hospital in Massachusetts suffered phantom vibrations⁹.

　　2010年，迈克尔·罗斯博格和同事对马萨诸塞州的一所医院进行了调研，发现近70%医生的手机有过“幽灵震动”。

　　A more recent study of US college students found the figure was as high as 90 per cent.

　　而在最近针对美国大学生的一项研究中，有震动幻听的人数高达90%。

　　While the odd feeling is widespread, it does not seem to be considered a grave problem.

　　尽管越来越多的人受到手机幻听的干扰，但人们似乎并没把它当做一个严重的问题。

　　Dr Rosenberger said: "It’s not actually a syndrome in a technical sense. That’s just the name that’s got stuck to it."

　　罗森伯格博士说：“严格来说，手机幻听其实不是一种病。我们只是给它起了一个这样的名字而已。”

　　He added: "Only 2 per cent of people consider it a problem."

　　他补充道：“只有2%的人重视这个问题。”

　　While widespread, the scientific community has not yet invested much effort in getting to the bottom of why we suffer phantom calls.

　　尽管“幽灵来电”越来越普遍，但科学界并未投入太多精力来深究其产生的根本原因。

　　Dr Rosenberger said: "People are guessing it has something to do with nervous energy."

　　罗森伯格博士说：“人们猜测幻听的产生可能与紧张情绪有关。”

　　"The cognitive¹⁰ scientists are talking about brain chemistry, cognitive pathways changing. But it’s not like they have brain scans to go on."

　　“认知学家认为这是一种脑化学反应，导致认知路径发生了改变。但他们并未通过脑部扫描来进一步证明这一点。”

　　He said: "We have a phone call in our pocket all the time and it becomes sort of an extension of ourselves."

　　他说：“我们兜里的手机经常会响，这种情况已经成为我们本身的一部分了。”

　　"We have this sort of readiness to experience a call. We feel something and we think, OK, that could be a call."

　　“我们随时准备着接电话。有了类似手机振动的感觉，我们会想，嗯，应该是来电话了。”

　　Vocabulary

　　phantom：幽灵的；幻觉的

　　vague：模糊的；含糊的；不明确的

1 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。

2 phantom   

n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的

参考例句：

• I found myself staring at her as if she were a phantom.我发现自己瞪大眼睛看着她，好像她是一个幽灵。
• He is only a phantom of a king.他只是有名无实的国王。

3 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

4 spasms   

n.痉挛( spasm的名词复数 )；抽搐；（能量、行为等的）突发；发作

参考例句：

• After the patient received acupuncture treatment,his spasms eased off somewhat. 病人接受针刺治疗后，痉挛稍微减轻了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The smile died, squeezed out by spasms of anticipation and anxiety. 一阵阵预测和焦虑把她脸上的微笑挤掉了。 来自辞典例句

5 delusional   

妄想的

参考例句：

• You became delusional and attacked several people trying to escape. 你产生了错觉并攻击了许多人还试图逃走。 来自电影对白
• He is incoherent, delusional, suffering auditory hallucinations. 他出现无逻辑的，妄想的，幻听的症状。 来自电影对白

6 tingling   

v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• My ears are tingling [humming; ringing; singing]. 我耳鸣。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My tongue is tingling. 舌头发麻。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 retrieved   

v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Yesterday I retrieved the bag I left in the train. 昨天我取回了遗留在火车上的包。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He reached over and retrieved his jacket from the back seat. 他伸手从后座上取回了自己的夹克。 来自辞典例句

8 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

9 vibrations   

n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动

参考例句：

• We could feel the vibrations from the trucks passing outside. 我们可以感到外面卡车经过时的颤动。
• I am drawn to that girl; I get good vibrations from her. 我被那女孩吸引住了，她使我产生良好的感觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。