国家地理 我们为什么说谎(7)

Patrick Couwenberg's staff and fellow judges in the Los Angeles County Superior Court believed he was an American hero. By his account, he had been awarded a Purple Heart in Vietnam. He'd participated in covert¹ operations for the Central Intelligence Agency. The judge boasted of an impressive educational background as well -- an undergraduate degree in physics and a master's degree in psychology². None of it was true. When confronted, Couwenberg's defense⁴ was to blame a condition called pseudologia fantastica, a tendency to tell stories containing facts interwoven with fantasy. The argument didn't save him from being removed from the bench in 2001.

在洛杉矶县高级法院，法官帕特里克·库文伯格的同事们相信他是美国的英雄。据他介绍，他曾在越南被授予紫心勋章。他参加了中央情报局的秘密行动，有着令人印象深刻的教育背景：物理学本科学位和心理学硕士学位。然而，以上经历纯属捏造。当库文伯格的谎言暴露时，他的辩护是把这种情况称为幻想性谎语癖--一种在叙事时将幻想编入事实中的倾向。然而2001年，这种借口并没有帮他免受革职。

There appears to be no agreement among psychiatrists⁵ about the relationship between mental health and lying, even though people with certain psychiatric disorders⁶ seem to exhibit specific lying behaviors. Sociopathic individuals -- those diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder⁷ -- tend to tell manipulative lies, while narcissists may tell falsehoods to boost their image.

精神科医生似乎对心理健康和谎言之间的关系缺乏一致意见，即使有精神障碍的人似乎也表现出特定的说谎行为。那些被诊断为反社会人格障碍的人，倾向于说出操纵性的谎言，而自恋者可能会利用谎言来提高他们的形象。

But is there anything unique about the brains of individuals who lie more than others? In 2005 psychologist Yaling Yang and her colleagues compared the brain scans of three groups: 12 adults with a history of repeated lying, 16 who met the criteria⁸ for antisocial personality disorder but were not frequent liars⁹, and 21 who were neither antisocial nor had a lying habit. The researchers found that the liars had at least 20 percent more neural¹⁰ fibers¹¹ by volume in their prefrontal cortices, suggesting that habitual¹² liars have greater connectivity within their brains. It's possible this predisposes them to lying because they can think up lies more readily than others, or it might be the result of repeated lying.

但是，那些比常人说更多谎的人的大脑有独特之处吗？2005年，心理学家杨亚玲和同事比较了三组被试的大脑扫描图，这三组人员包括12名经常说谎的成年人，16名具有反社会人格但不是经常说谎的人，21名既不是反社会也没有说谎习惯的人。 研究人员发现，说谎者的前额皮质中多出至少20%的神经纤维，这表明习惯性的说谎者在大脑内具有更大的连通性。这可能会让他们撒谎，因为他们可以比其他人更容易思考谎言，或者这可能是反复说谎的结果。

Psychologists Nobuhito Abe at Kyoto University and Joshua Greene at Harvard University scanned the brains of subjects using functional¹³ magnetic resonance¹⁴ imaging (fMRI) and found that those who acted dishonestly showed greater activation¹⁵ in the nucleus¹⁶ accumbens -- a structure in the basal forebrain that plays a key role in reward processing. "The more excited your reward system gets at the possibility of getting money -- even in a perfectly¹⁷ honest context -- the more likely you are to cheat," explains Greene. In other words, greed may increase one's predisposition to lying.

通过使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）扫描被试的大脑，京都大学的心理学家阿部修士和哈佛大学的约书亚·格林发现，那些不诚实行动的人的伏隔核表现出更大的活跃，伏隔核是在奖励处理中发挥关键作用的基地前脑中的一个结构。格林解释道：“即使在完全诚实的情况下，奖励系统对获取收益的兴趣越大，就越有可能作弊。”换句话说，贪婪可能会增加人们对撒谎的倾向。

One lie can lead to another and another, as evidenced by the smooth, remorseless lying of serial¹⁸ con³ men such as Hogue. An experiment by Tali Sharot, a neuroscientist at University College London, and colleagues showed how the brain becomes inured¹⁹ to the stress or emotional discomfort²⁰ that happens when we lie, making it easier to tell the next fib. In the fMRI scans of the participants, the team focused on the amygdala, a region that is involved in processing emotions. The researchers found that the amygdala's response to lies got progressively weaker with each lie, even as the lies got bigger. "Perhaps engaging in small acts of deception²¹ can lead to bigger acts of deception," she says.

正如霍格这样的连环诈骗犯的自然而又毫无悔恨的谎言一样，编织的一个谎言只是以后无数个谎言的开始。伦敦大学学院的神经科学家塔利·沙罗和同事们的一个实验表明，当我们说谎时，大脑如何变得习惯于压力或情绪上的不适，从而更容易地说下一个谎。在被试的fMRI扫描中，团队专注于杏仁核的研究，这是大脑中处理情绪的区域。研究人员发现，即使谎言逐渐升级，杏仁核对谎言的反应逐渐变弱。她表示：“也许参与到小的欺骗行为可能会导致更大的欺骗行为。”

1 covert   

adj.隐藏的；暗地里的

参考例句：

• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
• The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。

2 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

3 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 psychiatrists   

n.精神病专家，精神病医生( psychiatrist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They are psychiatrists in good standing. 他们是合格的精神病医生。 来自辞典例句
• Some psychiatrists have patients who grow almost alarmed at how congenial they suddenly feel. 有些精神分析学家发现，他们的某些病人在突然感到惬意的时候几乎会兴奋起来。 来自名作英译部分

6 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

8 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

9 liars   

说谎者( liar的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The greatest liars talk most of themselves. 最爱自吹自擂的人是最大的说谎者。
• Honest boys despise lies and liars. 诚实的孩子鄙视谎言和说谎者。

10 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。

11 fibers   

光纤( fiber的名词复数 )； （织物的）质地； 纤维，纤维物质

参考例句：

• Thesolution of collagen-PVA was wet spined with the sodium sulfate as coagulant and collagen-PVA composite fibers were prepared. 在此基础上，以硫酸钠为凝固剂，对胶原-PVA共混溶液进行湿法纺丝，制备了胶原-PVA复合纤维。
• Sympathetic fibers are distributed to all regions of the heart. 交感神经纤维分布于心脏的所有部分。

12 habitual   

adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的

参考例句：

• He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。
• They are habitual visitors to our house.他们是我家的常客。

13 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

14 resonance   

n.洪亮；共鸣；共振

参考例句：

• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments.一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。
• The areas under the two resonance envelopes are unequal.两个共振峰下面的面积是不相等的。

15 activation   

n. 激活，催化作用

参考例句：

• A computer controls the activation of an air bag.电脑控制着气囊的启动。

16 nucleus   

n.核，核心，原子核

参考例句：

• These young people formed the nucleus of the club.这些年轻人成了俱乐部的核心。
• These councils would form the nucleus of a future regime.这些委员会将成为一个未来政权的核心。

17 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

18 serial   

n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的

参考例句：

• A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
• Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

19 inured   

adj.坚强的，习惯的

参考例句：

• The prisoners quickly became inured to the harsh conditions.囚犯们很快就适应了苛刻的条件。
• He has inured himself to accept misfortune.他锻练了自己，使自己能承受不幸。

20 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。

21 deception   

n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计

参考例句：

• He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产。
• He was jailed for two years for fraud and deception.他因为诈骗和欺诈入狱服刑两年。