Diagnosing a zombie: brain and behavior (Part two) - Tim Verstynen & Bradley Voytek

殭屍診斷報告：大腦與行為 - 提姆．凡史提尼（Tim Verstynen）和布萊德雷．沃泰克（Bradley Voytek）

Transcriber: tom carter Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

譯者: Hao-Wei Chang 審譯者: Jephian Lin

(Zombie noises) Doctor 1: So, here we are again.

（殭屍聲） 博士 1：我們又來到這了。

You know, I've been thinking. Why is this thing so angry?

你知道的，我一直在想這件事。 為什麼這隻東西這麼生氣？

Doctor 2: Maybe he's just hungry.

博士 2：可能它只是餓了。

D1: (Laughs) I'm not going in there to feed it.

博士 1：（笑）我可不想進去餵它。

No, this seems like something very primal.

不，這看起來像是很原始的情感。

D2: This is kind of a hard one,

博士 2：這是個困難的問題，

because we don't really have any biological definitions for emotions like anger.

因為我們並非真的對生氣 這類情緒有生物學上的定義。

Sure, brain imaging studies have shown that some brain regions are more active when people are angry,

當然，腦部掃描的研究顯示 部份區域在人生氣時較為活化。

but these are almost always correlational.

但這些都是相對的。

When it's warmer outside, people wear less clothing,

當外面比較溫暖時， 人會穿比較少的衣服，

but if I strip down to my birthday suit, it doesn't make it sunny.

但是如果我脫個精光， 不一定表示陽光普照。

D1: (Laughs) It's like having someone run on a treadmill and saying

博士 1：（大笑）這就像讓人在跑步機上邊跑步，然後說：

"Look at how much more his arms move when he runs faster!

『他跑越快時手看起來動得越快！

The arms must be where running happens."

手應是用來跑步的。』

D2: That's why working with people with brain lesions is so important to neuroscience.

博士 2：這就是為什麼大腦受創的人 在神經學研究上極為重要。

It adds some causal evidence that a brain area might be required for a behavior.

它提供了行為和所需腦部區塊 因果關係的證據。

Same with brain simulation studies.

就像腦部刺激實驗一樣。

If stimulating a brain area causes a behavior,

如果刺激腦部特定區域會導致特定行為，

then that's good evidence that the brain region is involved in that behavior.

那這就是說明腦部區域和 特定行為有關的最好證據。

So like studies with cats in the 1950s

所以，像是 1950 年代在貓上進行的實驗

showed that stimulating a small almond-shaped area deep in the brain called the amygdala

顯示刺激一個形似杏仁、 且被稱為杏仁核的區域

leads to aggressive or predatory behaviors.

會導致侵略性和捕食性行為。

These things look pretty aggressive to me.

這些對我來說挺令人振奮的。

D1: Right. But other studies have shown that stimulating different parts of the amygdala

博士 1：對啊，但其他研究顯示刺激杏仁核的其他部份

can actually suppress predatory behaviors.

反而會抑制捕食性行為。

So it's kind of a complicated little brain structure.

所以大腦結構真是小而精巧。

D2: Yeah. And fMRI studies have found that the amygdala is active in violent criminals.

博士 2：對，不過 fMRI 顯示杏仁體在暴力犯罪時被活化。（fMRI：功能型核磁共振）

D1: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Careful there.

博士 1：噢、噢、噢。小心點。

Just because criminals have the same active brain regions as people who are angry,

不要只因為人類犯罪和生氣 都活化相同的腦部區域，

doesn't mean that they're inherently aggressive.

就認為他們有與生俱來的暴力傾向。

That's like saying because I kiss with the same face hole that I use to burp,

這好比說因為我用同一張嘴親吻和打嗝，

then these two things are related.

這兩件個動作是有相關性。

It's a false equivalence.

這是錯誤的等價關係。 （錯誤的等價關係：因忽略兩者間的差異，而以為彼此相等）

D2: Huh! Never thought of it like that. That's a good point.

博士 2：哈！從沒這樣想過。這是個好論點。

D1: You know, the amygdala is part of the Papez circuit.

博士 1：你知道杏仁核是巴貝茲迴路的一部份。 （巴貝茲迴路：和情緒、記憶形成有關的腦組織）

This system was discovered by James Papez, who used the rabies virus to lesion different areas in the cat's brain.

這是由詹姆斯．巴貝茲所發現。 他用狂犬病毒讓貓腦部不同的區域受損。

He found that the amygdala was physically connected to another region called the hippocampus --

他發現杏仁體和 一個被稱為海馬迴的區域有連接，

a little seahorse-shaped area that is needed to turn short-term memories into long-term memories.

這一小塊狀似海馬區域和 將短期記憶轉換成長期記憶有關。

It's thought that this connection between the amygdala and hippocampus

一般認為這個杏仁體和海馬迴之間的連結

links emotion and memory together,

將情緒與記憶連接在一起，

so that you remember really emotional stuff better than boring everyday things.

所以你對情緒性事件會比 日常作息有更深的印象。

D2: Yeah, like Patient H.M. In the 1950s, surgeons removed both his left and right hippocampuses

博士 2：對，就像病患 H.M. 的例子一樣。 在1950年代，外科醫師

to treat his epilepsy.

切除了他左、右兩邊的海馬迴以治療癲癇。

But after the surgery, he couldn't remember any new information for longer than a few minutes.

但在手術之後， 他無法記住數分鐘前所獲得的新訊息。

Zombies appear to be pretty forgetful, wouldn't you agree?

殭屍也是一樣不長記性，你不覺得嗎？

D1: (Laughs) Absolutely. Between the amygdala-related aggression,

博士1：（大笑）這是當然。 關於和杏仁體有關的攻擊性，

and memory deficits from the hippocampus,

以及海馬迴相關的記憶缺陷，

Papez may have actually accidentally created the first zombie cat.

巴貝茲或許不小心創造出第一隻殭屍貓。

D2: Aw, come on now, let's not get carried away.

博士 2：噢，拜託，別偏離主題。

But now we do have some testable hypotheses.

既然我們已經有可供驗證的假說。

I'd put money on its aggression and memory problems being linked to abnormalities

我打賭侵略性和記憶障礙 分別和它

in its amygdala and hippocampus, respectively.

在杏仁體和海馬迴的變異有關。

D1: Great! So all we need to do now is figure out how to experimentally test this.

博士 1：太好了！現在我們只需要 想怎麼用實驗來證實它了。

Do you think it'll let us examine its brain to verify our hypothesis?

你認為它會讓我們 用它的腦袋來證實這假說嗎？

D2: Uh, you know, I think I might be more comfortable not knowing the answer to this one.

博士 2：嗯，你知道嗎？ 我實在不想當面問它這個問題。

D1: Hmm. Maybe we could get a graduate student to do it for us?

博士 1：嗯，或許我們可以找個研究生來替我們做？