◎國際新聞中心
Scientists have shown they can change people’s moral judgements by disrupting a specific area of the brain with magnetic pulses.
科學家表示，他們可以以磁脈衝干擾腦部特定區域，改變人的道德判斷。
They identified a region of the brain just above and behind the right ear which appears to control morality. And by using magnetic pulses to block cell activity they impaired volunteers’ notion of right and wrong.
他 們辨認出在右耳後上方的一個大腦區塊，似乎控制道德感，而他們藉著使用磁脈衝封鎖細胞活動，損害了志願者的對錯觀念。
Lead researcher Dr Liane Young said："You think of morality as being a really high-level behaviour. To be able to apply a magnetic field to a specific brain region and change people’s moral judgments is really astonishing."
首席研究人員楊博士表示：「你認為道德是很高層次的行為，可以對大腦特定區塊施加磁場、改變人的道德判斷，真的 很讓人意外。」
The key area of the brain is a knot of nerve cells known as the right temporo-parietal junction （RTPJ）.
大腦此一關鍵區域是被稱為「右顳頂接點」 的神經細胞結。
The researchers subjected 20 volunteers to a number of tests designed to assess their notions of right and wrong. In one scenario participants were asked how acceptable it was for a man to let his girlfriend walk across a bridge he knew to be unsafe.
研究人員讓20名 志願者接受一連串測試，評量他們的對錯觀念。 在其中一個情況，參與者被問到，一個男人讓女朋友走過一條他知道不安全的橋，是否可接受。
After receiving a 500 millisecond magnetic pulse to the scalp, the volunteers delivered verdicts based on outcome rather than moral principle.
志 願者的頭皮接受500毫秒的磁脈衝之後，根據結果而非道德原則發表看法。
If the girlfriend made it across the bridge safely, her boyfriend was not seen as having done anything wrong. In effect, they were unable to make moral judgments that require an understanding of other people’s intentions.
如果這個女朋 友安全過橋，他們不認為她的男友有錯。實際上，他們不能做需要了解他人意向的道德判斷。
新 聞辭典
impair：動詞，削弱，減少。例句：A recurring knee injury may have impaired his chances of winning the tournament.（不斷復發的膝傷降低了他贏得此次比賽的機會。）
astonishing： 形容詞，讓人驚訝的。例句：She did astonishingly well in her exams.（她的考試成績出奇的好。）
subject： 動詞，使遭受。例句：In recent years, she has been subject to attacks of depression.（最近這幾年，她罹患憂鬱症。）
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