VOA慢速英語:研究表明狗狗真的可以理解人類的情感

這里是美國之音慢速英語科技報道。

Researchers in Hungary have now confirmed what many dog owners already knew. Dogs or canines can understand our feelings. Scientists using a Magnetic Resonance Scanner, or MRI, to learn about dog emotions. The research showed that they are quite similar to the emotions of humans.

匈牙利的研究人員日前證實很多狗主人早就知道的事實,那就是狗或者犬科動物能夠理解我們的情緒! 科學(xué)家們使用核磁共振掃描儀(簡稱MRI)來研究狗的情緒。結(jié)果表明狗的情緒與人類的非常接近。

An MRI uses magnetic fields to produce images of the inside of the body. MRIs are painless, and do not require the patient to be cut open. However, the patient must remain still, and the patient must be awake to record brain activity.

核磁共振掃描儀利用磁場生成身體內(nèi)部圖像。做核磁共振成像是無痛的，患者也無需開刀。然而，必須保持不動，同時必須保持清醒以記錄大腦活動。

In the past, dogs have not being good MRI patients. They are not usually calm in a laboratory. But researchers at ELTE University in Hungary pet the dogs and gave them food treats. As a result, the scientists were able to capture images of the dogs' brains. Researcher Attila Andics says the study will help explain the relationships between dogs and humans.

過去，狗做核磁共振是無法實現(xiàn)的，因為在實驗室他們總是上竄下跳。但匈牙利羅蘭大學(xué)的研究人員通過愛撫以及美食款待，最終捕捉到狗狗大腦圖像。研究員阿提拉·安第西斯表示這次研究將可以用科學(xué)的方法解釋為什么狗和人類的關(guān)系如此親密。

"We have known for a long time that dogs and humans share similar social environment, but now our results show that dogs and humans also have similar brain mechanisms to process social information," said Andics.

安第西斯表示“很久之前我們就了解狗和人類有著類似的社會環(huán)境，但是現(xiàn)在我們的研究結(jié)果表明狗與人類同樣有類似處理信息的大腦機制。”

Researchers trained 11 dogs to stay completely still while images were taken of their brains. The researchers tested the dogs' reactions to about 200 emotional sounds, including crying, playful barking and laughing. Then they compared the dog reactions with reactions from humans in the study. The researchers discovered that the reactions were similar.

在獲取大腦圖像時，研究者訓(xùn)練11狗狗保持完全靜止。他們通過大約200種聲音，包括哭泣、頑皮的叫聲以及大笑聲來測試狗狗們的反應(yīng)。然后對比人類在同樣實驗中的反應(yīng)。最終結(jié)果是反應(yīng)非常接近。

The dog brain is also being studied at Duke University, in North Carolina. Evan MacLean is the Co-Director of the school's Canine Cognition Center. He feels the Hungarian results are an important step forward.

北卡羅萊納州杜克大學(xué)也在研究狗的大腦。埃文·麥克萊恩是該校犬科認(rèn)知中心主任，他認(rèn)為匈牙利人的研究向前邁出了很重要的一步。

"We've known for a long time that dogs have a lot of behavioral similarities compared to humans. But we don't know anything or very little at least about whether some of these behaviors are represented similarly inside the brain of the dog, so this research is providing a first glimpses to whether these behavioral similarities are underlined by similar neural processes," said MacLean.

麥克萊恩主任表示“很久之前我們就知道在很多方面狗和人類的行為都很類似，但是卻不知在大腦里的反應(yīng)是否也類似。因此這次研究就這些相似的行為是否有類似的神經(jīng)處理過程提供了科學(xué)依據(jù)”

This findings are not just important to dogs and the people who love them. Mr Andics says that the study establishes a new type of comparative brain science, it expands the possibilities for research.

安第西斯先生表示這次的調(diào)查結(jié)果不僅對狗和愛狗人很重要，它還建立了一種新型對比型大腦科學(xué)，從而為進一步研究創(chuàng)造可能。

He says it was not possible to measure the brain activities of a non-primate and a primate in a single experiment until now. And the Hungarian scientists say the study has a message for ordinary dog owners too, treat your dogs as a friend, and not just an animal. Now, there is scientific proof that they do in fact understand what you are feeling.

他說到目前為止，無法在單一實驗中測試非靈長類和靈長類動物的大腦活動。匈牙利的科學(xué)家們表示這次研究對狗主人也有啟示那就是別只把狗狗當(dāng)一只動物，而是當(dāng)成你們的朋友?，F(xiàn)在科學(xué)證明它們確實了解我們的感受。

And that's the Technology Report from VOA Learning English. I'm Jonathan Evans.

這就是今天美國之音慢速英語的科技報道，我是喬納森.埃文斯