-
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
This is an X-ray showing electrodes that surgeons use to find and remove the source of seizures1 (to cure epilepsy), while sparing the source of mental functions like language. In this study, recordings3 when patients spoke4 words revealed that one small part of the brain computes5 the meanings, structure, and sounds of words, separately and in a quick sequence. It is important to note that electrodes are only implanted in people's brains as part of existing and accepted surgical7 practice. We then get patients' consent to also record from these electrodes for research purposes. Electrodes are never implanted just for research. This image relates to an article that appeared in the October 16, 2009, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. N.T. Sahin of the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla, Calif., and colleagues, was titled, "Sequential Processing of Lexical, Grammatical, and Phonological Information within Broca's Area."
A new study on the brain is shedding light on how humans process language. The research, being carried out in San Diego, Boston and New York is helping8 scientists understand a part of the brain known as Broca's area. The study shows that the brain is more complex than scientists had realized.
The medical center at New York University is one of the clinical sites for the study.
Denise Harris, 39, is helping researchers gain a better understanding of the brain. She suffers from epilepsy, and doctors are monitoring her seizures in the hope of performing an operation to minimize them. Her head is bandaged. Wires protruding9 from the side are attached to electrodes implanted in her brain. Harris says doctors are monitoring her to see whether she is a good candidate for surgery.
"I've been on many medications throughout my life and after a while, they don't work," she said. "I still get seizures. So now, when they remove the part that the seizure2 is triggered from, it's supposed to stop."
But while Harris is in hospital, she is also helping scientists understand how the brain comprehends and uses language. For the study, researchers are monitoring the implanted probes on a part of the frontal lobe10 called Broca's area, named after 19th century French physician Pierre Paul Broca. He was the first doctor to recognize the major role of that area in language.
Through the implant6 process, called Intra-cranial Electrophysiology, or ICE, the researchers have found that Broca's area processes three different language functions in succession - within a quarter of a second. It is the first time the technique has been used to document how the brain processes grammar and produces words.
Eric Halgren of the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, is one of the principal investigators11 of the study.
"What we were able to find was that within a centimeter, around less than an inch, certainly, and probably half an inch, there were different regions - perhaps they overlap12 some - but they were doing, at different times, different processes, all within this small area," he said.
The first function deals with recognizing a word, the second with understanding the word's context in a sentence, and the third lets us articulate the word by speaking.
Harvard University brain expert Steven Pinker is another of the study's authors. Ned Sahin, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard and the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine was the first author of the paper outlining the work, which was published in the journal Science.
According to Sahin, scientists have known for some time that conventional explanations for how parts of the brain work need to be revised.
"Nearly every introductory textbook as well as people practicing in the field in speech pathology, for instance, teach and believe that there is a separation of tasks and a division of labor13 between two very different parts of the brain - Broca's area [at the front of the brain] and Wernicke's area [further back in the brain and named after 19th century neurologist Carl Wernicke], where Broca's area is responsible for producing, for speaking, and Wernicke's for comprehending," he said.
This study shows that Broca's area is involved in both speaking and comprehension, illustrating14 that parts of the brain perform more than one task.
"Here's an example of one relatively15 small part of the brain that's doing three very different things at three different times, but all within the space of a quarter of a second," he said.
But Eric Halgren points out that despite our growing knowledge, much about the human brain remains16 unknown.
"How does this hunk of flesh, which is not much different from a muscle - it's just a bowl of porridge - how does it produce the mind? It's a total mystery," he said.
He says brain studies are shedding light on the pieces of the puzzle and might one day solve the mystery.
收听单词发音 |
1
seizures
|
|
| n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
seizure
|
|
| n.没收；占有；抵押 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
recordings
|
|
| n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
spoke
|
|
| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
computes
|
|
| v.计算，估算( compute的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
implant
|
|
| vt.注入，植入，灌输 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
surgical
|
|
| adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
helping
|
|
| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
protruding
|
|
| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
lobe
|
|
| n.耳垂，（肺，肝等的）叶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
investigators
|
|
| n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
overlap
|
|
| v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
labor
|
|
| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
illustrating
|
|
| 给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
relatively
|
|
| adv.比较...地，相对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
remains
|
|
| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
购买
在百度中搜索