Functional magnetic resonance images show which areas of the brain are activated when native Chinese speakers (top row) and native English speakers (bottom row) take on tasks involving symbols (left column) and numbers (right column).
生物谷報道：大連理工大學的唐易元最新實驗發(fā)現(xiàn),，以漢語為母語和以英語為母語的人們在進行簡單的加法運算時,，大腦激活的區(qū)域并不相同,。該研究成果刊登于6月27日出版的《美國科學院院報》（PNAS）上,。
研究人員采用大腦成像技術研究不同母語的人在進行諸如“3＋4＝7”一類的簡單加法運算時的大腦激活區(qū)域。所有參加研究的人都用他們熟悉的阿拉伯數(shù)字進行運算,。研究發(fā)現(xiàn),，計算時，以漢語為母語和以英語為母語受試者的下頂骨皮層區(qū)都表現(xiàn)為活躍,，這一區(qū)域主要負責對數(shù)字的表達和讀取,。但講英語的人在大腦的語言處理區(qū)也表現(xiàn)為活躍，而講漢語的人卻是處理視覺信息的大腦區(qū)域活躍,。
該項研究的負責人,、大連理工大學的唐易元教授介紹說，這可能意味著講漢語的人和講英語的人在處理問題的方式上有所不同,?？赡苁怯捎谡Z言的差異造成了這種計算方式的不同,，也可能是由于學習處理數(shù)字的方式不同增強了這種差異。他表示,，科研人員相信語言在計算中會發(fā)揮一定的作用,，但文化因素也可能起到一定影響，諸如數(shù)學的學習策略和學校教育,。使用數(shù)字的文化差異可能幫助科學家開發(fā)更好的計算策略,。盡管使用的語言不同，而運用某種策略可能是最佳的,。
理查德·內斯波特是美國密歇根大學“文化與認知項目”的負責人,，他表示，這項工作非常重要,，因為它告訴我們造成亞洲人和西方人思維方式差別的大腦層次的原因,。最后,，這項工作將會告訴我們什么時候這種路徑開始分化,，也可能告訴西方人與亞洲人如何吸取對方思維方式的優(yōu)點。
內斯波特教授去年曾經發(fā)表文章報道亞洲人和北美人欣賞圖片時的不同方式,。通過研究人眼睛的運動方式結果發(fā)現(xiàn),，當面對一張照片時，有歐洲背景的北美學生更加注意場面的前景,，而中國來的學生更注重背景和整體效果,。他認為，這就能顯示出他們會以不同的方式觀察世界,，從而反映出亞洲人和西方人在推理方面確實存在很大的差異。
該研究項目受到中國國家自然基金委員會和麥克耐特基金會的資助,。
Simple arithmetic was easily done by both groups, but they used different parts of the brain, a new study shows.
Researchers used brain imaging to see which parts of the brain were active while people did simple addition problems, such as 3 plus 4 equals 7. All participants were working with Arabic numerals which are used in both cultures.
Both groups engaged a portion of the brain called the inferior parietal cortex, which is involved in quantity representation and reading.
But native English speakers also showed activity in a language processing area of the brain, while native Chinese speakers used a brain region involved in the processing of visual information, according to the report in Tuesday's issue of PNAS
The difference "may mean that Chinese speakers perform problems in a different manner than do English speakers," said lead author Yiyuan Tang of Dalian University of Technology in Dalian, China.
"In part that might represent the difference in language. It could be that the difference in language encourages different styles of computation and this may be enhanced by different methods of learning to deal with numbers," Tang said in an interview via e-mail.
"We believe language plays a role in the calculation," Tang said. But Tang added that cultural factors may also play a part, such as math learning strategies and school training.
These cultural differences using numbers may help scientists develop better strategies for doing calculations, Tang explained: "It could well turn out that certain strategies may be optimal, even when used with a different type of language."
Richard E. Nisbett, co-director of the Culture and Cognition Program at the University of Michigan, said "the work is important because it tells us something about the particular pathways in the brain that underlie some of the differences between Asians and Westerners in thought patterns."
"Ultimately this kind of work will show us when these pathways begin to diverge and how it may be possible to teach Westerners some of the advantages of Asian thought and Asians some of the advantages of Western thought," said Nisbett, who was not part of the research team.
Nisbett last year reported on differences in the way Asians and North Americans view pictures. He tracked eye movements and determined that, when shown a photograph, North American students of European background paid more attention to the object in the foreground of a scene, while students from China spent more time studying the background and taking in the whole scene.
"They literally are seeing the world differently," he said.
The new work extends his findings, Nisbett said, "in that it indicates that the reasoning differences that we find between Asians and Westerners are really quite deep."
