研究員監測多語者腦部活動了解使用語言時的大腦運作情形。示意圖。（路透）

◎林家宇

In a new study involving a group of polyglots, the brain activity of the participants was monitored using a method called functional magnetic resonance imaging as they listened to passages read in various languages.

由一群多語者參與的一項新研究，使用一種名為功能性磁振造影的技術，在參與者聆聽以各種語言朗讀的文章段落時監測其腦部活動。

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With one intriguing exception, activity increased in the areas of the cerebral cortex involved in the brain’s language-processing network when these polyglots - who spoke between five and 54 languages - heard languages in which they were the most proficient compared to ones of lesser or no proficiency.

一項引人好奇的例外情況是，比起較不熟稔或不熟稔的語言，這些具備5至54種語言能力的多語者在聽聞最精通的語言種類時，大腦皮質涉及語言處理網路的區域就會更加活躍。

But an exception caught the attention of the researchers. In many of the participants, listening to their native language elicited a lesser brain response compared to hearing other languages they knew - on average down about 25%. And in some of the polyglots, listening to their native language activated only a part of the brain’s language network, not the whole thing.

但有另一項引起研究員注意的例外。許多參與者在聽到自己的母語時，引起的腦部反應比聽到其它知曉的語言時更少，平均減少約25％。部分多語者聽到母語時僅觸發大腦語言網路的一部分，而非全部。

新聞辭典

proficient：形容詞，熟練的、精通的。例句：He is proficient in five languages.（他精通五種語言）

intriguing：形容詞，有趣的、引人入勝的。例句：The main plot of this novel is bizarre but intriguing.（這本小說的主要情節離奇卻又耐人尋味）

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