Zapping the Brain Improves Math Skills It's barely enough to light a light bulb, but passing a very mild current of electricity through the brain can turn on a metaphorical light bulb in a person's brain. 一些仅够打开灯泡的小电流，也许会开启你大脑里的那盏灯泡。 Scientists from the University of Oxford have shown that they can improve a person's math abilities for up to six months. The research could help treat the nearly 20 percent of the population with moderate to severe dyscalculia (math disability), and could probably aid students in other subjects as well. Oxford的研究团队称他们可能找到方法改善学习数学困难的状况。 "I am certainly not advising people to go around giving themselves electric shocks," said Roi Cohen Kadosh, a scientist at the University of Oxford and a co-author of a new paper. "But we are extremely excited by the potential of our findings." Kadosh:『我不建议其他人电自己的脑，但这研究真的很令人兴奋 XD 』 The UK scientists used a method known as transcranial direct current stimulation, or TDCS. This non-invasive technique involves passing electricity through the skull to increase or decrease the activity of neurons, usually for less than 15 minutes. 英国学者是利用跨颅电刺激的方式，这是一种非侵入式，让电流穿过头骨直接刺激神经元 ，通常少於15分钟。 The amount of electricity is tiny, so small that most patients don't even know it is happening. In fact, many scientists were initially skeptical it would have any effect at all, said Jim Stinear, Director of the Neuralplasticity Laboratory at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. 这电流小到你可能没有感觉，所以有人怀疑它是否有效果。 For this experiment the scientists directed the current into the brain's parietal lobe, which is involved in number processing. Instead of learning familiar Arabic numerals, however, the scientists had the participants learn a new series of symbols that represented numbers. Then, while their brains were being stimulated, they tested the participants ability to organize those numbers. 这个实验刺激的是顶叶，一般认为和数字处理有关。而受试者被刺激後，他们学习新的符 号来代表不同的数字。 Patients who were on TDCS showed an improved ability to order the numbers. 病患被TDCS刺激过有着更好得效果。 The electric current makes it subtly easier or more difficult to stimulate a particular group of nerves, depending on the needs of the researchers and the patient. For example, if researchers want to make it easier for a patient to learn, then the nerves will fire more readily. 电流可以让一组神经变的更敏感或是更难被刺激。神经被激发的多，则受试者的学习会更 容易。 Other studies have shown that TDCS can improve a variety of brain functions, from pain management to rehabilitation after traumatic events, said Jim Stinear, Director of the Neuralplasticity Laboratory at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. But what is "really remarkable," about this new research is how long the effects lasted: six months. 其他研究也说TDCS可以增加大脑功能，例如疼痛管理或创伤後复健。但最特别的是，这个 研究发现效果可以有六个月。 If TDCS can improve number processing in normal people, it should be able to improve number processing in people who have lower than normal number processing skills, and that's who the Oxford scientists will be testing next. TDCS should be able to improve other types of learning, such as language, as long as they are near the surface of the brain. 如果TDCS可以改善正常人的数字能力，则可以改善大部分低於水平的大众学习数字的能力 ，这是下一个研究目标。TDCS也有可能改善其他能力，只要那些脑区在大脑的表面。 Structures like the hippocampus, which are buried under entire lobes of the brain, are likely beyond the reach of TDCS, said Cohen Kadosh. Kadosh:『海马回就超过了可以刺激的范围。』 While the Oxford scientists don't advocate plugging yourself into a wall socket, they do eventually hope to create a device that will provide an appropriate amount of electrical current to the brain, and have filed a patent on such a device. 研究者虽然不建议你把自己插到插座上 XD 但他们希望可以利用这概念并申请专利。 Such a device won't instantly make you better at math, help you recover from a stroke faster, or manage pain better, said Stinear. Anybody using a device will still have to put in a significant amount of effort. 这机器不会马上让你的数学起死回生、让你中风愈後良好、或者更好得疼痛管理。其实 还是要靠自己。 Drawing a parallel between a popular stimulant, Stinear said that coffee can help you wake up,but if you just sit on the couch you still aren't being productive. The same goes for TDCS. 就像你喝了咖啡提了神却待在沙发上一样，只会於事无补。TDCS也是一样。 "Electrical stimulation will most likely not turn you into Albert Einstein," said Kadosh, "but if we're successful it might be able to help some people to cope better with math." TDCS不会让你变成爱因斯坦啦！ -- 原始网址： http://news.discovery.com/human/brain-electricity-math.html 蛮有趣的研究！ --

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