SSS 2009-11-03
时间：2019-01-08 作者：英语课 分类：Scientific American(十一)月
The other day my 3-year old God son and I were pillow fighting when he sat down, panting, and said with surprise, "I can feel my heart beating!" Sometimes it takes little kids to remind us just how amazing our bodies are.
Scientists believe that an area of the brain, the interior and anterior 1 cingulate cortex, is involved in what is known as interoceptive awareness 2—the awareness of our own physiological 3 sensations, like a heart beating deep within your body.
But recent research from the University of Iowa has shown that we can also use another separate pathway when we consciously experience our internal physical states.
This second pathway, they believe, runs from the skin to the somatosensory cortex, which is the part of the brain that maps the external body.
The results came from a study with a neurological patient, “Roger,” who has been studied in the lab for 15 years, after suffering brain damage from herpes simplex encephalitis. Roger has nearly complete damage to his insula and anterior cingulate cortex, but his somatosensory cortex is completely intact.
Researchers injected 11 healthy male subjects and Roger with a synthetic 4 form of adrenaline, which made their pulses’ shoot up by 25 beats per minute.
Roger felt his heartbeat as clearly as the other subjects, although slightly delayed. Researchers suspected Roger’s brain registered his heartbeats from the surface of his chest wall and from blood vessels 5 pulsating 6 under his skin. To confirm this they anesthetized his skin in specific areas, and administered adrenaline again.
The healthy subjects felt their heartbeat, as before. But Roger felt nothing.
This study suggests that both brain pathways are involved in interoceptive awareness, which can cover anything from a panic attack, to the sick-feeling of rejection 7, to a pounding heart from an afternoon pillow fight.
- We've already finished the work anterior to the schedule.我们已经提前完成了工作。
- The anterior part of a fish contains the head and gills.鱼的前部包括头和鳃。
- There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
- Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。
- He bought a physiological book.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
- Every individual has a physiological requirement for each nutrient.每个人对每种营养成分都有一种生理上的需要。
- We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
- It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。
- The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- Lights were pulsating in the sky. 天空有闪烁的光。
- Spindles and fingers moved so quickly that the workshop seemed to be one great nervously-pulsating machine. 工作很紧张，全车间是一个飞快的转轮。 来自子夜部分