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说汉语者使用大脑更多部分! r6 m7 Q$ C* I4 f1 T1 y
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1 T" r% k0 }6 k% m( @说汉语普通话者讲话时同时使用大脑两边
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英国的研究人员发现,说汉语普通话的人可能比说英语的人用更多大脑。研究表明,说汉语普通话者讲话时同时使用大脑两边。
7 u9 M' `' ^$ `. K7 y说英语者只使用大脑一边。研究人员说,这项研究能够促进了解大脑处理语言的过程。
$ Y2 o4 i5 j: k7 k2 j另外,这项研究还可以帮助研究人员找到更好的办法,帮助人们在中风或者脑部受到类似损害后重新学习,掌握语言技能。
9 D* `) @! Z; J+ S在这项研究中,操汉语普通话和操英语的两组人接受脑部扫描。研究人员发现,人们讲英语时,靠近左太阳穴的左颞叶开始活跃。
5 Y' e9 B- @* O9 I他们发现,大脑这个区域的功能是把发音联系起来,形成单个词汇。
; ]4 a9 \. A8 d W研究发现,人们说汉语时,左颞叶和右颞叶一起活跃。研究人员说,说不同语言时,人的大脑在以不同方式破译语言。这就推翻了长期以来的看法。
+ E( T1 j7 W9 C. M汉语普通话十分难学。不同于操英语者,说汉语者使用音调区分不同词的不同意思。比如"马"音,用不同音调发音,可以是马,妈等不同的意思。
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Chinese 'takes more brainpower'
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Speaking Chinese may take more brainpower than speaking English, a study suggests. 3 W7 O- _7 v2 m
Researchers in Britain have found that people who speak Mandarin Chinese use both sides of their brain to understand the language. ) P. B- j4 \8 }
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This compares to English-language speakers who only need to use one side of their brain.
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+ N& t9 t+ L9 C* e7 f: }The researchers said the findings could boost understanding of how the brain processes languages.
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This, in turn, could one day help scientists to develop better ways of helping people to re-learn languages after a stroke or similar damage to the brain. # W: Z8 C6 `9 |" y+ o: @6 y0 ?
: X; N- C6 P7 wBrain scans 6 J$ {+ Z7 }: M# w# x' ]( F
3 A* e: o0 R6 Y" j1 lDr Sophie Scott and colleagues at the Wellcome Trust carried out brain scans on a group of Mandarin and English speakers.
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They found that the left temporal lobe, which is located by the left temple, becomes active when English speakers hear English.
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8 n3 r. V% H3 J+ A! ?7 t& yThe researchers believe that this area of the brain links speech sounds together to form individual words.
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They expected similar findings when they carried out scans on Mandarin speakers. 8 ]6 B. f. j6 v; h
4 T8 k8 J0 y- e) F/ f: W0 EHowever, they found that both their left and right temporal lobes become active when they hear Mandarin. 1 U% m. c8 i+ \ Y
; a; n- f1 h7 `2 ?0 D# Y: ]6 `"People who speak different sorts of languages use their brains to decode speech in different ways," said Dr Scott.
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! p; `# S; O7 [1 j; n8 k9 h* M"It overturned some long-held theories." ! @5 G a. c% |0 P' i4 p
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Mandarin is a notoriously difficult language to learn. Unlike English, speakers use intonation to distinguish between completely different meanings of particular words.
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4 {/ k4 a- B6 X* W! S9 ?For instance, the word "ma" can mean mother, scold, horse or hemp depending on how it is said. 5 l: {6 x+ T1 B" T; a k$ j
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The researchers believe that this need to interpret intonation is why Mandarin speakers need to use both sides of their brain. " `# D$ f7 ~. h0 m% l
: ?: J5 y. N1 ^; W0 i! ]The right temporal lobe is normally associated with being able to process music or tones.
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& d P/ H9 C, r4 e' H; H"We think that Mandarin speakers interpret intonation and melody in the right temporal lobe to give the correct meaning to the spoken words," said Dr Scott.
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! W. v. d# q# I: c) ~"It seems that the structure of the language you learn as a child affects how the structure of your brain develops to decode speech.
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"Native English speakers, for example, find it extraordinarily difficult to learn Mandarin." 0 T5 U, t2 ]4 c8 r6 j& z
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Learning languages
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3 `1 k9 F7 Q; u+ o0 R* {+ ZDr Scott said the findings could help scientists to understand how the brain learns language. " r* J2 H" K* C0 Y! j' X
* t$ ?- F$ S/ f: @$ YIt could be particularly useful in trying to understand how it re-learns language after a stroke. ! T4 G. f9 U( c# n6 q: {1 V+ K! G
7 P2 J6 u# C( _) t" xShe suggested it could also lead to new drugs to help people who have lost their language skills.
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"There is evidence from other studies that certain drugs affect learning in the brain regions that support hearing and speech," she said. ' J5 G/ e) b4 @7 I
5 o+ t& P s5 t. L, f. ]: a6 |5 u"This is something we can improve on."
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Dr William Marslen-Wilson, of the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at Cambridge University, welcomed the study.
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7 i) T& r% L0 ~"It is an interesting finding," he told BBC News Online. : G: i; D( o N8 }
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"Looking at languages that are very different from each other helps us to understand how the brain processes language.
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"It can also help us to understand language rehabilitation," he said. 5 _0 U3 A# I8 o- a9 p5 U
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"This field is really opening up but it is very early days."
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: Q7 m2 p3 y9 U7 N4 yThe findings will be included in the summer science exhibition at the Royal Society in London, which runs from 1 to 3 July. ! F- U9 B& E/ H7 s- Z
! O$ ~3 m. \( {6 P% EStory from BBC NEWS:( `# q! W& f0 H: K1 o
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[ Last edited by victorw on 2005-2-24 at 06:22 PM ] |
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