科學家稱未來將能記錄人類夢境
Scientists think it will be possible to record people's dreams and then interpret them, according to a new report.
They claim to have developed a system which allows them to record higher level brain activity.
Dr Moran Cerf told the journal Nature: "We would like to read people's dreams."
Previously the only way to access people's dreams is for psychologists to ask about them after the event and try to interpret them.
Dr Cerf hopes to eventually compare people's memories of their dreams with an electronic visualisation of their brain activity.
He told the BBC: "There's no clear answer as to why humans dream. And one of the questions we would like to answer is when do we actually create this dream?"
The scientist believes his latest research shows that certain neurons or individual brain cells are linked with specific objects or concepts.
He found that a particular neuron lit up when a volunteer thought about Marilyn Monroe.
If a database was built up identifying various neurons with concepts, objects and people it would allow them to "read the subject's minds", according to Dr Cerf.
However, Dr Roderick Oner, a clinical psychologist and dream expert, said that this kind of visualisation would be of limited help when it came to interpreting the "complex dream narrative".
In addition to get a detailed picture of individual neurons subjects had to have electrodes implanted deep in the brain using surgery.
The Nature researchers used data from patients who had electrodes implanted to monitor and treat them for brain seizures.
However, Dr Cerf said he hoped that it would be possible at a later stage to monitor people without invasive surgery.
He said it would be "wonderful" to be able to read the minds of coma patients who are unable to communicate.
根據一項新報告，科學家們認爲未來將有可能記錄下人類的夢境並加以解釋。
他們稱已經發明瞭一套可以記錄大腦高級活動的系統。
莫蘭•塞爾夫博士告訴《自然》雜誌說：“我們希望能解讀人們的夢境。”
在此之前，瞭解人類夢境的唯一途徑，就是在人們做夢之後心理學家向他們詢問，然後試圖對夢加以解釋。
塞爾夫博士希望最終可以實現將人們對夢境的記憶同他們大腦活動的電子影像進行對照。
他告訴英國廣播公司說：“關於人們爲什麼會做夢，至今尚沒有明確答案。我們希望能回答的一個問題是，我們實際上是在什麼時候做這個夢的？”
這位科學家認爲，他的最新研究表明，大腦的某些神經元或個別腦細胞同特定的物體或概念相關。
他發現，當一位志願者想到瑪麗蓮•夢露的時候，某個特定的神經元就開始興奮起來。
按照塞爾夫博士的說法，如果建立一個數據庫，識別出各種神經元與不同的概念、物體和人之間的關係，將可以使他們“解讀受試者的思維”。
然而，臨牀心理醫生兼夢境專家羅德里希•奧內爾博士認爲，這種影像對於解讀“複雜的夢境故事”幫助不大。
除了要獲取個體神經元的詳細影像之外，還需通過手術在受試者的腦部深處植入電極。
《自然》雜誌的研究人員所使用的數據來自一些癲癇病人，這些病人的大腦中被植入了電極，用於監測和治療其癲癇病。
不過，塞爾夫博士表示，他希望在隨後的階段中可以做到不用開刀手術就能監測人的大腦活動。
他說，若是能解讀那些陷入昏迷狀態、無法溝通的病人的思維，將是“很棒”的事情。
Vocabulary:
electrode: either of two points (or terminals) by which an electric current enters or leaves a battery or other electrical device（電極）
invasive: (of medical treatment) involving cutting into the body（醫療）切入的；開刀的
