英语听力文摘 English Digest 214、动作与大脑

　　Word Up, Brain

新发展起来的大脑皮层在调节机能上起着主要作用；而皮层下各级脑部及脊髓虽也有发展，但在机能上已从属于大脑皮层。高等动物一旦失去大脑皮层，就不能维持其正常的生命活动。人类的大脑皮层更产生了新的飞跃，有了抽象思维的能力，成为意识活动的物质基础。人类大脑皮层的神经细胞约有140亿个，面积约2200平方厘米，主要含有锥体形细胞、梭形细胞和星形细胞（颗粒细胞）及神经纤维。按细胞与纤维排列情况可分为多层，自皮层表面到髓质大致分为六层。皮层的神经元之间联系十分广泛和复杂，在皮层的不同部位，各层的厚薄、各种神经细胞的分布和纤维的疏密都有差异。根据皮层的不同特点和功能，可将皮层分为若干区。机体的各种功能在皮层具有定位关系，如运动区、感觉区等。

　　Learn about the motor cortex and its functions on this Moment of Science.

We are going to perform a little experiment.Ready?Go ahead and tap your foot. What just happened? Well, you were able to move your foot thanks to the motor cortex(大脑皮层运动区)–a strip 1 of tissue（组织） running from ear to ear across the surface of the brain that is responsible for controlling voluntary movement（随意性运动）. The instant you decided 2 to move your foot, the part of your brain’s motor cortex responsible for sending commands to the foot went into action.

Now, if you’re somewhere where you have access to a paper and pen or pencil, write down the word “kick”, and then read it to yourself. Guess what? Your brain just（1） lit up（（使）兴奋起来） as though you were actually about to make a kicking motion 3.

According to a recent study, it turns out that merely reading words that describe actions, like “kick,” “jump,” or “run” makes your motor cortex（2） kick up（踢起） its feet, so to speak. When you read action verbs, blood rushes to the corresponding 4 part of your motor cortex and neurons（神经元） start firing as though you were actually doing that action.

Ok, so the motor cortex is really cool. But so what?

Well, besides the motor cortex, according to the study, other parts of the brain involved with learning 5 new actions and understanding language also get revved 6 up（跃跃欲试的） when we read action verbs. This means that understanding language seems to involve different areas of the brain （3）pitching in（协力，做贡献） to help us learn words together with the actions they describe. With more research, scientists may be able to use this knowledge to help treat language disorders 7 and related 8 problems,and that would be truly cool.

注释：

（1）light up

1.照亮, 亮起来

The room suddenly lit up.

房间的灯突然亮了。

2.点烟, 开始吸烟

He struck a match and lit up.

他划着一根火柴, 点火抽烟。

3.(使)变得喜悦, (使)兴奋起来

Her face lit up when she heard the news.

当她听到这个消息时, 她的脸上闪出喜悦的光彩。

4.开街灯或车灯

Drivers who forget to light up at night often cause accidents.

晚上忘记开车灯的司机常常出车祸。

（2）kick up

1.踢起

She kicked the sand up.

她踢起沙子。

2.引起

The boys were kicking up a terrific 9 row.

这些男孩在起哄。

3.抬高

Benson signaled the auctioneer quietly and kicked the bid up another thousand dollars.

本森悄悄地向拍卖人做了个手势, 然后把出价又抬高了1000美元。

4.发生故障; 变得不听话

He felt his stomach started to kick up.

他感到胃开始不舒服了。

（3）pitch in

1.动手做,使劲做

After the Christmas dinner, we all pitched in to clean up the house.

圣诞晚餐后,我们全都动手帮助清理房子。

They all pitched in and finished the work within two hours.

他们全部努力地做,两小时内就把工作完成了。

2.协力,做出贡献

We all pitched in to buy Uncle George a birthday present.

我们大家出钱给乔治叔叔买生日礼物。