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That allows Guenther and his team to experimentally manipulate various aspects of the system.
这使得冈瑟和他的团队能够实验性地操纵该系统的各个方面。
And it allows us to test different versions of the story regarding the basal ganglia’s involvement in stuttering by basically impairing different parts of the circuit and observing what happens in terms of speech output and also brain activity.
通过破坏电路的不同部分， 观察在语言输出和大脑活动方面发生了什么，允许我们测试关于基底神经节与口吃有关的不同版本的故事。
The basal ganglia, structures tucked beneath the brain’s cerebral cortex, play a critical role in initiating a variety of motor activities.
基底神经节，隐藏在大脑皮层下的结构，在启动各种肌动活动中起着关键作用。
They basically monitor our thoughts, sensations and actions and they determine which actions we should perform next.
基底神经节主要监控我们的思想、感觉和行为，并决定我们下一步应该做什么。
That includes the muscles involved in speech.
这包括与语言有关的肌肉。
Good doggie.
好狗狗。
That’s an example of the speech that comes from Guenther’s computational model when everything is working as it should.
这是一个冈瑟演讲时的例子，讲的是当一切运转正常时的计算模型。
But then Guenther fiddles with the equations in the initiation circuit reducing the connections here or boosting the stimulation there.
但是冈瑟修改了启动电路的方程式，减少了这里的连接或增加了那里的刺激。
Which produces what sounds like a typical stutter.
这听起来就像典型的结巴。
Guh-g-g-good doggie.
好-好-好-好棒的狗狗。
That says to Guenther…
这对冈瑟来说...
Stuttering is a problem with the on/off switch.
口吃是开启/关闭开关的问题。
The motors and gears work fine.
马达和齿轮运转良好。
But the switch doesn’t always turn on when it should or it doesn’t stay on as long as it should.
但这个开关并不总是在它应该打开的时候打开, 或者它没有在应有的时长内打开。
This results in delays in initiating a word or repetitions of the first part of the word.
这将导致启动词语延迟，或重复词语的第一部分。
Guh-guh-good doggie.
好-好-好棒的狗狗。
And these are the behaviors that we refer to as stuttering.
这些行为我们称之为口吃。
Having a computer model allows Guenther to test out different hypotheses for why the initiation circuit fails.
运用计算机模型，冈瑟就可以对启动电路失败的原因进行不同的假设。
Whether, for example, it’s an overabundance of activation or a degradation of neuronal signaling.
例如，是过度激活还是神经元信号的退化。
Guenther says he’d like to combine his model with imaging studies that show the basal ganglia in action to see whether his predicted mechanisms play a role in people who stutter.
冈瑟表示，他想把他的模型与显示基底神经节活动的成像研究结合起来，看看他所预测的机制是否对口吃者起作用。
The ultimate goal is to come up with precisely targeted treatments like drugs that tweak the activity of the basal ganglia without inducing serious side effects.
最终的目标是找到精确的靶向治疗方法，比如可以在不引发严重副作用的情况下调整基底神经节活动的药物。
Or possibly even implanted electrodes that modulate activity in particular parts of the basal ganglia circuit.
或者甚至植入电极来调节基底神经节回路特定部分的活动。
Which should make your basal ganglia as good as that...
这应该会让你的基底神经节像这样好…
Doggie...
狗狗...
For Scientific American’s 60-Second Science, I’m Karen Hopkin.
谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。
文章为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
