人腦可預(yù)知危險(xiǎn)的第六感區(qū)域被發(fā)現(xiàn)英語(yǔ)美文
Brain Region Learns To Anticipate Risk
雖然一些學(xué)者對(duì)人類(lèi)也同樣具有“第六感”的這一說(shuō)法并不認(rèn)同，但是美國(guó)圣路易斯華盛頓大學(xué)的科學(xué)家日前經(jīng)研究證實(shí)，人類(lèi)大腦中確實(shí)存在著一個(gè)具有早期預(yù)警作用的特殊區(qū)域——這個(gè)區(qū)域可以監(jiān)控外界環(huán)境線索，同時(shí)衡量環(huán)境變化可能會(huì)給人體帶來(lái)的后果，并調(diào)解人們的行為以避免危險(xiǎn)情況的發(fā)生。
While some scientists discount the existence of a sixth sense for danger, new research from Washington University in St. Louis has identified a brain region that clearly acts as an early warning system -- one that monitors environmental cues, weighs possible consequences and helps us adjust our behavior to avoid dangerous situations.
動(dòng)物能夠通過(guò)察覺(jué)環(huán)境中發(fā)生的微妙變化，來(lái)感知迫在眉睫的危險(xiǎn)。而人類(lèi)究竟有沒(méi)有這種可以預(yù)知危險(xiǎn)的“第六感”呢?多年來(lái)，科學(xué)家們對(duì)這個(gè)問(wèn)題一直存在著不盡相同的觀點(diǎn)。
雖然一些學(xué)者對(duì)人類(lèi)也同樣具有“第六感”的這一說(shuō)法并不認(rèn)同，但是美國(guó)圣路易斯華盛頓大學(xué)的科學(xué)家日前經(jīng)研究證實(shí)，人類(lèi)大腦中確實(shí)存在著一個(gè)具有早期預(yù)警作用的特殊區(qū)域——這個(gè)區(qū)域可以監(jiān)控外界環(huán)境線索，同時(shí)衡量環(huán)境變化可能會(huì)給人體帶來(lái)的后果，并調(diào)解人們的行為以避免危險(xiǎn)情況的`發(fā)生。
據(jù)美國(guó)“每日科學(xué)”網(wǎng)站2月27日?qǐng)?bào)道，研究者將他們的這一結(jié)果發(fā)表在最近一期的《科學(xué)》雜志上。研究人員之一，華盛頓大學(xué)的認(rèn)知神經(jīng)科學(xué)家約叔亞·布朗表示：“我們的大腦能夠察覺(jué)出微妙的警示現(xiàn)象，這個(gè)能力比我們以前預(yù)想的要好得多。”
布朗說(shuō)：“過(guò)去，我們?cè)l(fā)現(xiàn)，如果人們不得不在互相排斥的選項(xiàng)中進(jìn)行選擇的時(shí)候，或是人們犯錯(cuò)之后，大腦額葉部(frontal lobes)的前扣帶腦皮質(zhì)(anterior cingulate cortex，ACC)就會(huì)變得活躍。但是現(xiàn)在我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，事實(shí)上，當(dāng)人們有可能犯錯(cuò)的時(shí)候，甚至是在人們作艱難的決定之前，大腦的這一區(qū)域就在學(xué)著認(rèn)知這些因素。看起來(lái)，它似乎是在扮演早期預(yù)警系統(tǒng)的角色。當(dāng)我們的行為可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致不好的結(jié)果時(shí)，它會(huì)提前對(duì)我們發(fā)出警告，所以我們能更小心，同時(shí)避免犯更多的錯(cuò)誤�！�
試驗(yàn)過(guò)程中，研究者要求一些身體健康的年輕人對(duì)電腦屏幕上出現(xiàn)的一系列提示作出反應(yīng)。首先，屏幕上顯示出一條白色或者藍(lán)色的破折號(hào)，隨后，這個(gè)破折號(hào)會(huì)轉(zhuǎn)變成為一個(gè)指向左邊或右邊的小箭頭。參加試驗(yàn)的人要按照屏幕上箭頭的指示方向快速地，相應(yīng)地按下左鍵或者右鍵。在這之后，會(huì)有一個(gè)更大的箭頭出現(xiàn)在屏幕上，它要求參與者按下相反的鍵。隨著第二個(gè)箭頭出現(xiàn)的時(shí)間被推遲得越久，人們就更傾向于按照第一個(gè)箭頭的方向按鍵，他們很難及時(shí)改變主意，避免按錯(cuò)鍵。
在容易出錯(cuò)的情況中，箭頭使用了不同的顏色。參與者的大腦功能磁共振成像表明，當(dāng)屏幕上出現(xiàn)與容易出錯(cuò)相關(guān)的顏色的時(shí)候，前扣帶皮質(zhì)就更加活躍。在經(jīng)歷了很多次測(cè)試之后，這種效應(yīng)就更加強(qiáng)烈。對(duì)此，布朗表示，當(dāng)出錯(cuò)的可能性可能很高的時(shí)候，前扣帶皮質(zhì)似乎從經(jīng)驗(yàn)中學(xué)到了什么。
由于前扣帶皮質(zhì)在大腦處理認(rèn)知事項(xiàng)，特別是復(fù)雜和具有挑戰(zhàn)性的認(rèn)知事項(xiàng)時(shí)扮演了重要角色，所以近些年來(lái)，這一區(qū)域成為科學(xué)家的重點(diǎn)研究對(duì)象。這一區(qū)域發(fā)生異常和許多嚴(yán)重的精神疾病有著非常緊密的聯(lián)系，其中包括精神分裂癥和強(qiáng)迫癥等。
人們可以通過(guò)認(rèn)知機(jī)制進(jìn)行自我監(jiān)控，同時(shí)控制自己的行為。這項(xiàng)研究給人們提供了更為清楚的認(rèn)知機(jī)制的圖片，這對(duì)開(kāi)發(fā)更有效的治療精神疾病的方法具有重大的現(xiàn)實(shí)意義。同時(shí)，它也給人們提供了理解伴隨著精神疾病出現(xiàn)的一些失常行為的更好的方法。布朗說(shuō)：“我們的研究結(jié)果顯示出，精神分裂癥患者的前扣帶腦皮質(zhì)區(qū)域是如何受到損傷，從而導(dǎo)致早期預(yù)警系統(tǒng)發(fā)生崩潰的。這樣，精神分裂癥患者的大腦就無(wú)法預(yù)先控制一些失常行為的發(fā)生。而另一方面，在那些患有強(qiáng)迫癥的人們中間，即使不會(huì)有什么事情發(fā)生，前扣帶腦皮質(zhì)也會(huì)向人們預(yù)先發(fā)出警告�！�
布朗還表示：“有趣的是，在吸毒人員和患有帕金森疾病的人中間，我們也發(fā)現(xiàn)了相同的神經(jīng)傳遞素(多巴胺)介入的證據(jù)。也就是說(shuō)，似乎多巴胺在訓(xùn)練前扣帶腦皮質(zhì)認(rèn)識(shí)到該什么時(shí)候發(fā)送預(yù)警信號(hào)的問(wèn)題上起著至關(guān)重要的作用。”
While some scientists discount the existence of a sixth sense for danger, new research from Washington University in St. Louis has identified a brain region that clearly acts as an early warning system -- one that monitors environmental cues, weighs possible consequences and helps us adjust our behavior to avoid dangerous situations.
"Our brains are better at picking up subtle warning signs than we previously thought," said Joshua Brown, Ph.D., a research associate in psychology in Arts & Sciences and co-author of a study on these findings in the Feb. 18 issue of the journal Science.
The findings offer rigorous scientific evidence for a new way of conceptualizing the complex executive control processes taking place in and around the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a brain area located near the top of the frontal lobes and along the walls that divide the left and right hemispheres.
"In the past, we found activity in the ACC when people had to make a difficult decision among mutually exclusive options, or after they made a mistake," Brown said. "But now we find that this brain region can actually learn to recognize when you might make a mistake, even before a difficult decision has to be made. So the ACC appears to act as an early warning system -- it learns to warn us in advance when our behavior might lead to a negative outcome, so that we can be more careful and avoid making a mistake."
The ACC has been the focus of intensive scientific research in recent years because it plays a critical role in the brain"s processing of especially complex and challenging cognitive tasks. Abnormalities in the region are closely associated with a host of serious mental problems, including schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
By providing a clearer picture of the cognitive mechanisms by which we self monitor and control our behavior, the study is an important step in efforts to develop more effective treatments for mental illness. It also provides a new way of understanding inappropriate behaviors that often accompany mental illnesses.
"Our results suggest how impairment of the ACC mechanisms in schizophrenia can lead to breakdowns in the early warning system, so that the brain fails to pre-empt or control inappropriate behavior," Brown said. "On the other hand, in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder, the ACC might warn of an impending problem even when no problem is imminent."
"Interestingly, we also found evidence that the same neurotransmitter involved in drug addiction and Parkinson"s disease, namely dopamine, seems to play a key role in training the ACC to recognize when to send the early warning signal," he added.
Known to be an important component of the brain"s executive control system, the ACC is believed to help mediate between cold, hard, fact-based reasoning and emotional responses, such as love, fear or anticipation.
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