VOA标准英语2014--Simulating Blindness Might Help Improve Hearing 模拟失明或有助于提高听力
时间：2019-01-14 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2014年(二月)
Simulating Blindness Might Help Improve Hearing 模拟失明或有助于提高听力
A new report suggests it might be possible to change the circuitry of the brain to better process sound, a finding that could give renewed hope to the 350 million people worldwide who suffer from hearing loss.
Patrick Kanold, an expert on how the brain processes sound and co-author of the new study published in Neuron, says a child's brain is malleable 1 enough to rewire some circuits that process sensory 2 information.
"We were interested if, at older ages, we can also coax 3 the brain to change,” he said.
To try to do that, the University of Maryland biologist and colleagues from Johns Hopkins University used a reversible technique to simulate blindness by keeping mice with normal vision and normal hearing in complete darkness for a week.
“We want[ed] to know if the deprivation 4 of vision changed the way you hear,” Kanold said.
At the end of the week, the mice were put in a sound-proof chamber 5 and subjected to a series of one-note tones to test their hearing. The scientists then measured the neural 6 response.
“And we found that they hear better and that connections in the brain had changed,” Kanold said. "It surprised us because during this [adult] age, if you would alter the auditory experience of mice, the hearing would not change, but we found if you deprive them of vision, the hearing did change.”
The mice developed more neural connections, and could better discriminate 7 among pitches and hear softer sounds.
“These tones could not be distinguished 8 by mice that were raised normally, but could be distinguished by animals that were sitting in the dark," Kanold said. "So they got much better distinguishing these very close by frequencies.”
Kanold says while the rodents 9' sharper hearing reverted 10 back to normal within a few weeks, the experiment demonstrated the adult brain may be less hard-wired than previously 11 thought. By temporarily preventing vision, Kanold says, it may be possible to change the brain circuitry to better process sound.
The next step for the researchers is work on making those changes in hearing last longer. Kanold says what they find could lead to treatments for people.
“This approach potentially might be useful for humans, where the peripheral 12 hearing is fine, but where the central processing of sound stimuli 13 is altered,” he said.
- Silver is the most malleable of all metals.银是延展性最好的金属。
- Scientists are finding that the adult human brain is far more malleable than they once thought.科学家发现成人大脑的可塑性远超过他们之前认识到的。
- Human powers of sensory discrimination are limited.人类感官分辨能力有限。
- The sensory system may undergo long-term adaptation in alien environments.感觉系统对陌生的环境可能经过长时期才能适应。
- I had to coax the information out of him.我得用好话套出他掌握的情况。
- He tried to coax the secret from me.他试图哄骗我说出秘方。
- Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.多实验都证实了睡眠被剥夺是危险的。
- Missing the holiday was a great deprivation.错过假日是极大的损失。
- For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
- The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。
- 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。
- You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
- They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。
- Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
- A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。
- Rodents carry diseases and are generally regarded as pests. 啮齿目动物传播疾病，常被当作害虫对待。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Some wild rodents in Africa also harbor the virus. 在非洲，有些野生啮齿动物也是储毒者。 来自辞典例句
- After the settlers left, the area reverted to desert. 早期移民离开之后，这个地区又变成了一片沙漠。
- After his death the house reverted to its original owner. 他死后房子归还给了原先的主人。
- The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
- Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。
- We dealt with the peripheral aspects of a cost reduction program.我们谈到了降低成本计划的一些外围问题。
- The hotel provides the clerk the service and the peripheral traveling consultation.旅舍提供票务服务和周边旅游咨询。