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. 一些僅夠打開燈泡的小電流，也許會開啟你大腦裡的那盞燈泡。 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的研究團隊稱他們可能找到方法改善學習數學困難的狀況。 "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:『我不建議其他人電自己的腦，但這研究真的很令人興奮 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. 英國學者是利用跨顱電刺激的方式，這是一種非侵入式，讓電流穿過頭骨直接刺激神經元 ，通常少於15分鐘。 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. 這電流小到你可能沒有感覺，所以有人懷疑它是否有效果。 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. 這個實驗刺激的是頂葉，一般認為和數字處理有關。而受試者被刺激後，他們學習新的符 號來代表不同的數字。 Patients who were on TDCS showed an improved ability to order the numbers. 病患被TDCS刺激過有著更好得效果。 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. 電流可以讓一組神經變的更敏感或是更難被刺激。神經被激發的多，則受試者的學習會更 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. 其他研究也說TDCS可以增加大腦功能，例如疼痛管理或創傷後復健。但最特別的是，這個 研究發現效果可以有六個月。 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可以改善正常人的數字能力，則可以改善大部分低於水平的大眾學習數字的能力 ，這是下一個研究目標。TDCS也有可能改善其他能力，只要那些腦區在大腦的表面。 Structures like the hippocampus, which are buried under entire lobes of the brain, are likely beyond the reach of TDCS, said Cohen Kadosh. Kadosh:『海馬迴就超過了可以刺激的範圍。』 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. 研究者雖然不建議你把自己插到插座上 XD 但他們希望可以利用這概念並申請專利。 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. 這機器不會馬上讓你的數學起死回生、讓你中風愈後良好、或者更好得疼痛管理。其實 還是要靠自己。 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卻待在沙發上一樣，只會於事無補。TDCS也是一樣。 "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不會讓你變成愛因斯坦啦！ -- 原始網址： http://news.discovery.com/human/brain-electricity-math.html 蠻有趣的研究！ --

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