盲人的回声定位能力之研究
文章来源:未知 文章作者:enread 发布时间:2011-05-26 05:20 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
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Everybody has heard about echolocation(回声定位) in bats and dolphins. These creatures emit bursts of sounds and listen to the echoes that bounce back to detect objects in their environment. What is less well known is that people can echolocate, too. In fact, there are blind people who have learned to make clicks with their mouths and to use the returning echoes from those clicks to sense their surroundings. Some of these people are so adept1(熟练的) at echolocation that they can use this skill to go mountain biking, play basketball, or navigate2 unknown environments. Researchers at Western's Centre for Brain and Mind have recently found evidence that blind echolocation experts use what is normally the 'visual' part of their brain to process the clicks and echoes. This study, which appears this month in the scientific journal, PLoS ONE, is the first to investigate the neural3 basis of natural human echolocation.

The researchers first made recordings4 of the clicks and their very faint echoes using tiny microphones in the ears of the blind echolocators as they stood outside and tried to identify different objects such as a car, a flag pole, and a tree. The researchers then played the recorded sounds back to the echolocators while their brain activity was being measured in Western's state-of-the-art fMRI brain scanner. Remarkably5, when the echolocation recordings were played back to the blind experts, not only did they perceive the objects based on the echoes, but they also showed activity in those areas of their brain that normally process visual information in sighted people. Most interestingly, the brain areas that process auditory information were no more activated6 by sound recordings of outdoor scenes containing echoes than they were by sound recordings of outdoor scenes with the echoes removed. Importantly, when the same experiment was carried out with sighted control people who did not echolocate, these individuals could not perceive the objects, and neither did their brain show any echo-related activity.

As lead author Lore7 Thaler, postdoctoral fellow at Western, explains "this suggests that visual brain areas play an important role for echolocation in blind people".

Co-author, Stephen Arnott, Scientific Associate at the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto, adds "there is the possibility that even in sighted people who learn to echolocate, visual brain areas might be recruited".

Since the study was the first of its kind, this question, like many others, remains8 to be investigated in future research. But as senior author Mel Goodale, Canada Research Chair in Visual Neuroscience, explains "even at this point, it is clear that echolocation enables blind people to do things that are otherwise thought to be impossible without vision, and in this way it can provide blind and vision-impaired people with a high degree of independence in their daily lives".



点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 adept EJIyO     
adj.老练的,精通的
参考例句:
  • When it comes to photography,I'm not an adept.要说照相,我不是内行。
  • He was highly adept at avoiding trouble.他十分善于避开麻烦。
2 navigate 4Gyxu     
v.航行,飞行;导航,领航
参考例句:
  • He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
  • Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。
3 neural DnXzFt     
adj.神经的,神经系统的
参考例句:
  • 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。
4 recordings 22f9946cd05973582e73e4e3c0239bb7     
n.记录( recording的名词复数 );录音;录像;唱片
参考例句:
  • a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
  • old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐
5 remarkably EkPzTW     
ad.不同寻常地,相当地
参考例句:
  • I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
  • He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。
6 activated c3905c37f4127686d512a7665206852e     
adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • The canister is filled with activated charcoal.蒸气回收罐中充满了活性炭。
7 lore Y0YxW     
n.传说;学问,经验,知识
参考例句:
  • I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他,向他讨教他的渊博的学问。
  • Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。
8 remains 1kMzTy     
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
参考例句:
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
TAG标签: People blind echolocate
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