科学家称未来将能记录人类梦境

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.

根据一项新报告，科学家们认为未来将有可能记录下人类的梦境并加以解释。

他们称已经发明了一套可以记录大脑高级活动的系统。

莫兰．塞尔夫博士告诉《自然》杂志说：“我们希望能解读人们的梦境。”

在此之前，了解人类梦境的唯一途径，就是在人们做梦之后心理学家向他们询问，然后试图对梦加以解释。

塞尔夫博士希望最终可以实现将人们对梦境的记忆同他们大脑活动的电子影像进行对照。

他告诉英国广播公司说：“关于人们为什么会做梦，至今尚没有明确答案。我们希望能回答的一个问题是，我们实际上是在什么时候做这个梦的？”

这位科学家认为，他的最新研究表明，大脑的某些神经元或个别脑细胞同特定的物体或概念相关。

他发现，当一位志愿者想到玛丽莲．梦露的时候，某个特定的神经元就开始兴奋起来。

按照塞尔夫博士的说法，如果建立一个数据库，识别出各种神经元与不同的概念、物体和人之间的关系，将可以使他们“解读受试者的思维”。

然而，临床心理医生兼梦境专家罗德里希．奥内尔博士认为，这种影像对于解读“复杂的梦境故事”帮助不大。

除了要获取个体神经元的详细影像之外，还需通过手术在受试者的脑部深处植入电极。

《自然》杂志的研究人员所使用的数据来自一些癫痫病人，这些病人的大脑中被植入了电极，用于监测和治疗其癫痫病。

不过，塞尔夫博士表示，他希望在随后的阶段中可以做到不用开刀手术就能监测人的大脑活动。

他说，若是能解读那些陷入昏迷状态、无法沟通的病人的思维，将是“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（电极）

invasive: (of medical treatment) involving cutting into the body（医疗）切入的；开刀的