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(bào)道：大連理工大學(xué)的唐易元最新實(shí)驗(yàn)發(fā)現(xiàn)，以漢語(yǔ)為母語(yǔ)和以英語(yǔ)為母語(yǔ)的人們?cè)谶M(jìn)行簡(jiǎn)單的加法運(yùn)算時(shí)，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(guó)科學(xué)院院報(bào)》（PNAS）上,。
研究人員采用大腦成像技術(shù)研究不同母語(yǔ)的人在進(jìn)行諸如“3＋4＝7”一類的簡(jiǎn)單加法運(yùn)算時(shí)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?dāng)?shù)字進(jìn)行運(yùn)算。研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，計(jì)算時(shí)，以漢語(yǔ)為母語(yǔ)和以英語(yǔ)為母語(yǔ)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(fù)責(zé)對(duì)數(shù)字的表達(dá)和讀取。但講英語(yǔ)的人在大腦的語(yǔ)言處理區(qū)也表現(xiàn)為活躍,，而講漢語(yǔ)的人卻是處理視覺(jué)信息的大腦區(qū)域活躍,。
該項(xiàng)研究的負(fù)責(zé)人、大連理工大學(xué)的唐易元教授介紹說(shuō),，這可能意味著講漢語(yǔ)的人和講英語(yǔ)的人在處理問(wèn)題的方式上有所不同,。可能是由于語(yǔ)言的差異造成了這種計(jì)算方式的不同,，也可能是由于學(xué)習(xí)處理數(shù)字的方式不同增強(qiáng)了這種差異,。他表示，科研人員相信語(yǔ)言在計(jì)算中會(huì)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(xué)的學(xué)習(xí)策略和學(xué)校教育。使用數(shù)字的文化差異可能幫助科學(xué)家開(kāi)發(fā)更好的計(jì)算策略,。盡管使用的語(yǔ)言不同,，而運(yùn)用某種策略可能是最佳的。
理查德·內(nèi)斯波特是美國(guó)密歇根大學(xué)“文化與認(rèn)知項(xiàng)目”的負(fù)責(zé)人,，他表示,，這項(xiàng)工作非常重要，因?yàn)樗嬖V我們?cè)斐蓙喼奕撕臀鞣饺怂季S方式差別的大腦層次的原因,。最后,，這項(xiàng)工作將會(huì)告訴我們什么時(shí)候這種路徑開(kāi)始分化,，也可能告訴西方人與亞洲人如何吸取對(duì)方思維方式的優(yōu)點(diǎn)。
內(nèi)斯波特教授去年曾經(jīng)發(fā)表文章報(bào)道亞洲人和北美人欣賞圖片時(shí)的不同方式,。通過(guò)研究人眼睛的運(yùn)動(dòng)方式結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn),，當(dāng)面對(duì)一張照片時(shí),，有歐洲背景的北美學(xué)生更加注意場(chǎng)面的前景,，而中國(guó)來(lái)的學(xué)生更注重背景和整體效果。他認(rèn)為,，這就能顯示出他們會(huì)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(shí)存在很大的差異。
該研究項(xiàng)目受到中國(guó)國(guó)家自然基金委員會(huì)和麥克耐特基金會(huì)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."
