特别广播英语第 224 课：Why Can't You Tickle Yourself 为什么自己哈痒不觉痒？-2

Some people laugh even before being tickled. 有些人甚至还没被哈到痒就先笑了。

A scientific study was recently done in England to determine whether or not people can tickle themselves. 英格兰近期做了一项关于人是否可以替自己哈痒的科学研究。

Volunteers were attached to a brain-scanning device and were tickled on their palms with a piece of soft foam. 自愿受测者接上脑部扫描仪，并用一块软泡沫绵给手掌哈痒。

The participants' brain scans were monitored while they were being tickled, and when they tickled themselves. 参与者在被哈痒和自行哈痒时，脑部扫描状况都受到监视。

It was found that during self-tickling, the cerebellum alerted another area of the brain about what to expect, so the ticklish feeling was diminished. 结果发现，在自行哈痒的过程中，小脑会向脑部的另一部位发出警告，使其预先防范，所以痒的感觉就消失了。

Researchers did find a way, however, for people to tickle themselves. 然而，研究人员也发现了可以替自己哈痒的方法。

When volunteers activated a robot by remote control to tickle them after a short delay, the volunteers felt as if someone else were tickling them. 自愿者用遥控器操纵机器人，延迟片刻之后再让机器人为自己哈痒，自愿者就会觉得好像是别人在给他们哈痒。

It seems that the cerebellum sends a signal to disregard the forthcoming movement, then moves on to other things. 看来小脑在发出信号忽视即将到来的动作，然后将注意力转移到其他事物上。

Your brain "forgets" that you are tickling yourself—even with a delay as short as a fifth of a second. 尽管只有零点二秒的时间差，脑部就会“忘记”你在替自己哈痒。

So it is possible to tickle yourself—but only by remote control. What will science discover next? 所以自己给自己哈痒仍有可能，只不过需要依靠遥控器。谁知道接下来科学还会有什么新发现呢？