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It's a classic sci-fi plot device: A chip is implanted into someone's brain, and with a jolt of electricity, their brain is suddenly under someone else's control.
这是经典科幻小说情节中会用到的装置：被植入某人大脑的一个芯片，随着电流的震动，他们的大脑突然受到了其它人控制。
As with all good sci-fi, this is mostly fiction.
像所有优秀的科幻小说一样，这大多是虚构的。
But there is a bit of real science in there.
但这里面有一些是真实的科学。
Obviously, you can't just plant a chip in someone's head and start manipulating their thoughts and behavior.
显然，你不能只靠在某人大脑中植入芯片，就开始操纵他们的想法和行为。
But doctors and scientists can use electricity to activate or inhibit certain parts of the brain, to help treat serious medical conditions or mental disorders.
但是医生和科学家可以用电来激活或抑制大脑的某些部分，帮助治疗严重的躯体或精神疾病。
These treatments have changed the lives of many patients--especially those who may not have responded well to other treatments like medications or psychotherapy.
这些治疗改变了许多患者的生活，尤其是那些对药物或心理治疗等其他疗法反应不佳的患者。
Using electricity as a medical treatment is not new: We've known for centuries that electricity can have an effect on brain and nerve function.
将电用作一种医疗手段并不是什么新鲜事：几个世纪以来，我们都知道电可以影响大脑和神经功能。
But, for a long time, we did not understand why.
但很长一段时间，我们不明白其原因。
For example, ancient Romans were known to actually use an electric fish -- a kind of ray known as Torpedo nobiliana -- to treat patients with a variety of symptoms, from headaches to seizures.
例如，古罗马人知道用一种会放电的电鳐鱼，来治疗出现头痛或癫痫等各种症状的患者。
Just put the fish on you
就是把鱼放到你身上。
The ray was known to stun anything that came in contact with it, so the medical professionals of the time would just put this ray on the heads of their patients to numb their symptoms.
这种鳐鱼能把任何与之接触的东西击晕，所以当时的医学专家就把鳐鱼放在病人头上，使他们的症状麻木。
Put a fish on it!
把鱼放上去！
How do we know that they didn't know why this worked?
我们怎么知道他们不明白为什么这样会有效呢？
Because they sometimes used the same technique to treat … hemorrhoids.
因为他们有时也用同样的方法治疗痔疮。
Just put a fish on it!
把鱼放上去！
Fast forward to the nineteenth century, when physicians started experimenting with applying electricity to the exposed human brain.
早在19世纪，医生们就开始尝试给暴露出的人脑通电。
One physician experimented on the exposed cerebral cortices of decapitated prisoners.
一位医生曾对斩首囚犯暴露出的大脑皮质进行实验。
He found that by stimulating the surface of the cortex with electricity, he could cause the face to actually grimace.
他发现用电刺激皮质表面，他可能会让脸部扭曲。
Gruesome as it was, this at least provided some new scientific insights.
虽然这挺可怕的，但至少提供了一些新的科学见解。
It proved that the brain could be directly stimulated with electricity.
这证明了电能直接刺激大脑。
Scientists were starting to learn a very important truth: the human nervous system relies on electricity to function.
科学家们开始了解一个非常重要的事实：人类的神经系统依靠电来工作。
Nerve cells use electricity and chemicals to communicate with one another, transmitting information like little messages throughout your body and brain.
神经细胞利用电和化学物质相互交流，把小块信息传遍身体和大脑。
Your body depends on these electrical signals to do just about everything.
你的身体依赖这些电信号来做任何事情。
From smiling to walking, processing memories or feelings, it all comes back to electrical signals in the brain.
从微笑到走路，处理记忆或感觉，所有这些都会回归到大脑中的电信号。
Beginning in the nineteen thirties, physicians built on this knowledge, developing something known as the Montreal Procedure to help treat epilepsy patients.
从20世纪30年代开始，医生们就是基于这种知识，开发出一种叫做蒙特利尔程序的方法来帮助治疗癫痫患者。
This method used an electrical probe to directly stimulate different parts of a patient's cerebral cortex.
这种方法使用电子探针直接刺激患者大脑皮层的不同部位。
After removing a section of a patient's skull, a physician would use the probe to electrically trigger different sections of the brain.
在切除病人头骨的一部分后，医生通过探针用电来触发大脑的不同部分。
While the patient was awake and providing feedback, the physician would use the probe to stimulate different parts of the brain -- which would produce sensations like flashing lights or smells that the patient could report.
当病人醒着并提供反馈时，医生会用探针刺激大脑的不同部位——这会产生病人可能报告的闪光或气味之类的感觉。
Epileptic patients sometimes experience "auras" before the onset of a seizure. These "auras" might involve very particular sensations or perceptions — like the smell of burnt toast, for example.
癫痫患者有时在发作前会有“先兆”，这些“先兆”可能涉及非常特殊的感觉或知觉，比如烤面包的味道。
If the patient reported something similar to their seizure aura as a result of the electrical stimulation, the doctor knew they'd found the part of the brain causing the seizures.
如果病人报告电刺激后的感觉和引起癫痫先兆的感觉相似，医生就知道他们找到了导致癫痫发作的大脑部位。
And they could remove or destroy a small section of tissue there.
他们可以去除或破坏那里的一小部分组织。
Freaky as it sounds, this often successfully reduced the patient's risk of seizures.
听起来很奇怪，这通常能成功降低患者癫痫发作的风险。
And the Montreal Procedure was also used to map out the brain, notably the sensory and motor cortices.
蒙特利尔程序也被用来描绘大脑，特别是感觉和运动皮质。
By the second half of the twentieth century, physicians were learning that certain types of electrical stimulation were especially useful in treating symptoms related to neurological movement disorders like Parkinson's disease.
到20世纪下半叶，医生们已经了解到，某些类型的电刺激对于治疗与帕金森病等神经运动障碍相关的症状尤为有效。
Though it's still not fully understood, it's believed that electrical stimulation affects the way nerve cells in the brain, called neurons, communicate with one another.
虽然还没完全理解其原理，但人们相信电刺激会影响大脑中称为神经元的神经细胞相互交流的方式。
For example, Deep Brain Stimulation, or DBS for short, is often used to treat symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease.
例如，深部脑刺激，或简称为DBS，通常用于治疗与帕金森病相关的症状。
Electrodes are planted deep within the patient's brain.
将电极植入病人的大脑深处。
These electrodes release controlled electrical signals, and these messages may encourage the brain to release an energy-carrying molecule we all use, ATP.
这些电极释放可控的电信号，这些信息可能会使大脑释放一种我们都会使用的携带能量的分子，三磷酸腺苷ATP。
As the brain releases ATP, a chemical called adenosine gradually builds up, initiating a process that helps to slow nerve signals related to uncontrollable movements, like tremors.
随着大脑释放ATP，逐渐形成一种叫做腺苷的化学物质，从而开启一个有助于减缓与不可控制运动（如震颤）相关的神经信号的过程。
Though it was originally approved to help treat Parkinson's disease, DBS may also help with treating symptoms related to depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder, since DBS can help with regulating brain activity.
尽管DBS最初获准帮助治疗帕金森氏病，但它也能帮助治疗与抑郁症或强迫症相关的症状，因为DBS有助于调节大脑活动。
By the sixties and seventies, researchers were starting to experiment with electrical implants within the brain to help treat chronic pain, epilepsy and other neurological disorders.
到了60年代和70年代，研究人员开始在大脑内进行电子植入物实验，以帮助治疗慢性疼痛、癫痫和其他神经疾病。
But most of these implants weren't practical, because they needed bulky external power sources.
但这些植入物中的大多数都不实用，因为它们需要庞大的外部电源。
However, the invention of the cardiac pacemaker in the nineteen sixties showed that it was possible to place a mobile power supply into a person's body safely.
然而，20世纪60年代心脏起搏器的发明表明，可以将移动电源安全地置入人体内。
With DBS currently, for example, the electrodes planted in a patient's brain are controlled by a small power source that's placed in a patient's chest.
例如，对于植入患者大脑的电极，由放置在患者胸部的小电源控制。
Today, a number of different brain-stimulation therapies are used to help treat a variety of disorders.
今天，人们利用许多不同的脑刺激疗法来帮助治疗各种疾病。
Aside from DBS, there is also electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT.
除了DBS外，还有电休克疗法，或称ECT。
This method is used to treat disorders like depression and schizophrenia.
这种方法用于治疗抑郁症和精神分裂症等疾病。
With ECT, an electric current passes through electrodes on a patient's scalp, triggering the brain to cause a brief seizure.
采用ECT时，电流通过患者头皮上的电极，触发大脑导致短暂的癫痫发作。
We're still not sure how ECT works in the brain, but it may involve changes in both neurotransmitters like dopamine and the brain's stress response.
我们仍然不确定ECT在大脑中的工作方式，但它可能涉及多巴胺等神经递质的变化，以及大脑的应激反应。
Likewise, a technique known as vagus nerve stimulation uses electrical pulses to stimulate the parts of the brain that are associated with seizures, to treat epilepsy.
同样，一种称为迷走神经刺激的技术使用电脉冲刺激与癫痫发作相关的大脑部位，治疗癫痫。
It can also be used in other cases, like severe depression.
它也可以用于治疗其他疾病，如严重的抑郁症。
In this case, the pulses come from a device implanted in the patient's chest and stimulate the left vagus nerve, which passes a signal on to the brain.
在这种情况下，脉冲来自植入患者胸部的装置，它会刺激左侧迷走神经，该神经将信号传至大脑。
This nerve is part of the control system that helps to regulate involuntary actions, like heart rate.
这种神经是控制系统的一部分，有助于调节心率等非自主行为。
It also acts like a freeway of sorts, sharing information from the brain to the heart, abdomen, lungs, and neck and back again.
它也有点像一条高速公路，从大脑到心脏、腹部、肺部和颈部，再到背部共享信息。
These pulses may help control or limit the effects of seizures by spurring neurons to release neurotransmitters that help to modify the excitability of certain cells, lessening or even stopping seizures.
这些脉冲可能通过刺激神经元释放神经递质来帮助控制或限制癫痫发作的影响，神经递质有助于改变某些细胞的兴奋性，降低甚至停止癫痫发作。
Electrical brain implants might sound like science fiction, but these techniques are grounded in pure reality.
脑电植入听起来像科幻小说，但这些技术都与现实为基础。
Brain stimulation techniques have radically improved how physicians treat neurological and mental-health conditions.
脑刺激技术已经从根本上改善了医生治疗神经和心理健康疾病的方法。
As these technologies improve, neuroscientists will hopefully continue to develop more effective, and less invasive, treatments, truly changing the lives of countless people around the world.
随着这些技术的进步，神经科学家有望继续开发更有效、更少侵入性的治疗方法，真正改变世界各地无数人的生活。
Not all of us have medical needs serious enough to warrant electrodes in our brains.
不是所有人的病症都严重到需要在大脑中放置电极。
But for those of us who like to manipulate our minds in more conventional ways, we're lucky to have audiobooks.
但是对于我们中那些喜欢用更传统的方式操控思想的人来说，我们很幸运能够拥有有声读物。
Compelling stories lets us experience new worlds, new ideas, and new people -- and Audible can hook you up.
引人入胜的故事让我们体验全新的世界、新的想法和新朋友，Audible可以让你深深为之吸引。
I recently have been listening to the work of Becky Chambers.
我最近一直在听贝基·钱伯斯的作品。
The first installment in the series is called The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.
本系列的第一部分叫做“通往小行星愤怒星球的漫长之路”。
It's beautiful, it's human, it's peculiar, it's just everything that I want from a story that's going to give me insight into people, but also not be terribly stressful.
故事唯美，富有人情味，很特别。它能让我洞察人性，而且不会让我感到特紧张。
And, it's just a great sci-fi story!
这是一部伟大的科幻故事！
And yes, they can connect their brains to computers.
是的，他们可以把大脑和电脑连接起来。
Audible also makes original content
Audible上也有原创故事。
These are exclusive audio titles created by celebrated storytellers from worlds as diverse as sci-fi, journalism, literature, and more.
都是全球著名作者创作的独家音频作品，包括科幻小说、新闻纪实、文学著作等等。
And so you can grab titles from Becky Chambers or from just about any author you like in the largest collection of audiobooks on the planet.
你可以从贝基·钱伯斯的书或者任何你喜欢的作家读起，这是最大的有声读物藏库。
You can get your first audiobook for free plus 2 Audible Originals when you try Audible for 30 days.
你可以免费获得第一本有声读物，试用Audible 30天时，还可获赠两本Audible Originals读物。
Visit audible.com/scishowpsych or text " scishowpsych " to 500 500 to try it out!
登陆audible.com/scishowpsych，或发送文字“scishowpsych”至500 500，赶快试用吧！
