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研究发现 猴子不会说话是因为大脑的原因

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Monkeys have the vocal tracts to produce human speech sounds, but what they lack is a speech-ready brain, a new study has found.

据一项最新研究发现,猴子的声道可以发出人类语言的声音,但是它们缺少一个会说话的大脑。
The study, conducted by researchers from the U.S. and Europe and published this week in the U.S. journal Science Advances, used X-ray video to see within the mouth and throat of macaque monkeys induced to vocalize, eat food, or make facial expressions.
这份研究由美国和欧洲的研究者们联合进行、发表在本周的美国杂志《科学进展》上,在猕猴发出声音、进食和做出面部表情时,他们使用X射线来观察它们嘴巴和喉咙内部。
The scientists then used these data to build a computer model of a monkey vocal tract, allowing them to answer the question "what would monkey speech sound like, if a human brain were in control?"
科学家们随后用这些数据建立了一个猴子声道的电脑模型,从而使得他们回答这一问题--“如果猴子长了人脑,那么它们的语言是什么样的?”

研究发现 猴子不会说话是因为大脑的原因

The results showed that monkeys could easily produce many different sounds, enough to produce thousands of distinct words.

结果表明,猴子可以轻松地发出许多不同的声音,足以产生上万个不同的词汇。
For example, monkeys could produce comprehensible vowel sounds -- and even full sentences -- with their vocal tracts if they had the neural ability to speak.
举例来说,如果猕猴真的具有神经功能的语言能力,它们可以用自己的声道说出可理解的元音--甚至是完整的句子。
The researchers noted, however, that while monkeys would be understandable to the human ear, they would not sound precisely like humans.
不过研究者们指出,虽然人类可以理解猕猴说的话,但是它们的声音却和人类不大一样。
Therefore, the researchers concluded that previous research -- largely based on plaster casts made from the vocal tracts of a monkey cadaver -- underestimates primate vocal abilities and that evolution of human speech capabilities required neural changes rather than an adaptation of vocal anatomy.
因此研究者们作出结论,之前的研究(很大程度上基于一只死亡猴子声道的石膏模型)低估了灵长类动物的发声能力,而人类语言能力进化需要的是神经的改变,而不是声道生理构造的改变。
"Now nobody can say that it's something about the vocal anatomy that keeps monkeys from being able to speak -- it has to be something in the brain," said Asif Ghazanfar, a professor of psychology at the Princeton University and one of the study leaders.
该项研究领导者之一、普林斯顿大学心理学教授阿西夫表示:“现在没人说猴子不能说话是因为声道生理构造和人类不同了--而是它们大脑里的东西和人类不同。”

重点单词   查看全部解释    
plaster ['plɑ:stə]

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n. 石膏,灰泥,膏药
v. 涂以灰泥,敷以膏

 
evolution [.i:və'lu:ʃən]

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n. 进化,发展,演变

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comprehensible [.kɔmpri'hensəbl]

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adj. 可理解的,易懂的

 
primate ['praimit]

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n. 灵长目动物 n. (常大写)首席主教 n. 首领

 
distinct [dis'tiŋkt]

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adj. 独特的,不同的,明显的,清楚的

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adaptation [.ædæp'teiʃən]

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n. 改编,改编成的作品,适应

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produce [prə'dju:s]

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n. 产品,农作物
vt. 生产,提出,引起,

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vowel ['vauəl]

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n. 母音,元音

 
vocal ['vəukəl]

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adj. 声音的,口述的,歌唱的
n. 元音,

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understandable [.ʌndə'stændəbl]

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adj. 可理解的,能够懂的

 

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