The research, by the French Laboratory of Neurobiology and Cognition, is published in the magazine Science.

　　法国神经生物和认知学实验室进行的此项研究发表在《科学》杂志上。

　　In the study, 12 volunteers watched an image while researchers monitored their brain activity using MRI scans.

　　在研究中，当12名志愿者同时看一幅图像时，研究者们用核磁共振成像扫描仪来监控他们大脑的活动。

　　Volunteers were given a variety of tasks. In one they were told to concentrate simply on the durationof an image, in another they were asked to focus on the colour, and in a third they were asked to concentrate on both duration and colour. .

　　志愿者们被分配了各种不同的任务。一次他们被要求专注于图象持续的时间，另一次集中观察图象的色彩，第三次同时关注图象持续的时间和色彩。

　　The results showed that a network of brain regions was activated when more subjects were paid attention to duration.

　　结果表明，在观看图像的过程中，注意的对象多的话，就会激活大脑区域网络。

It is thought that if the brain is busy focusing on many aspects of a task, then it has to spread its resources thinly, and pays less heed to time passing.

　　科学家们认为如果大脑忙于关注一项任务中的多个方面，那么它不得不分散注意力，这样就不太会注意到时间的流逝。

　　Therefore, time passes without us really noticing it, and seems to go quickly.

　　所以，我们还没真正注意到时间，时间就已经过去了，而且似乎过得特别快。

　　However, if the brain is not stimulated in this way, it concentrates its full energies on monitoring the passing of time.

　　然而，如果大脑并没有受到这样的刺激，它就会把全部精力用来监控时间的流逝。

　　This may make time seem to drag, but in fact it is probably a more accurate perceptionof reality.

　　这样就会觉得时间过得特别慢，但是事实上这可能是对现实情况的更准确的认识。
Indeed, the researchers found that the more volunteers concentrated on the duration of the images, the more accurate were their estimates of its duration.

　　事实上，研究者们发现，志愿者们越是注意图像持续的时间，他们对于时间的估计就越准确。