Project to explore human perception

微软联合创始人捐资研究人脑感知

Wēiruǎn liánhē chuàngshǐrén juānzī yánjiū rénnǎo gǎnzhī

微软公司联合创始人Paul G. Allen捐资三亿美元用于启动一项映射大脑基本感知回路的研究.

Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul G. Allen is donating $300 million to launch an effort to map the brain's basic circuitry of perception.

自艾伦2003年用1亿美元的捐款创建艾伦研究所,这家非营利性的研究机构就因开发出基本脑研究所用的新技术并提供给世界各地的科学家而闻名.该所宣布,该机构将用这笔资金在未来10年构建一系列"大脑观察台",即用于映射神经行为的计算工具.

Since Mr. Allen founded it with a $100 million grant in 2003, it has made a name for itself by developing new technology for basic brain research, then making it available to scientists around the world. The institute announced that it would use the money to build over the coming decade a series of 'brain observatories', computational tools to map neural behavior.

这项研究的目的是通过分析大脑皮层数十亿个细胞和突触来系统探索视觉和决策的根源——大脑皮层在人类视觉、记忆和意识上发挥重要作用.

The aim is to systematically explore the roots of vision and decision-making by analyzing the billions of cells and synapses in the brain's cerebral cortex, which plays a critical role in vision, memory and awareness.

斯坦福大学医学院神经学家史密斯说,在"大脑如何工作"这一问题的理解上,艾伦研究所试图带来一些新的、不同的观点.

"They are trying to bring something new and a little different to the understanding of how the brain works," said neuroscientist Stephen Smith at Stanford University Medical School.

艾伦的这笔捐款再一次说明了英美两国的私人慈善家是如何支持神经科学研究的.近年来基本大脑研究接受的私人捐款大约有10亿美元,而同期很多学科领域接受的资助都在减少.包括周三的捐款在内,艾伦已经向这家研究所捐赠了5亿美元.这笔最新的捐款将为一个为期10年的研究项目提供最初四年的资金支持,此后该研究所必须寻找新的资金来源.

Mr. Allen's grant is the latest example of how private philanthropists in the U.S. and U.K. have embraced neuroscience, donating about $1 billion to fund basic brain research in recent years, at a time when such funding has been reduced in many fields. Mr. Allen has given $500 million to the institute, including the donation. His new grant will fund the first four years of the 10-year research project; then the institute will have to find new funding.

词语解释：

联合创始人 （liánhé chuàngshǐrén） co-founder

捐资 （juānzī） donate

映射 （yìngshè） to map

回路 （huílù） circuitry

突触 （tūchù） synapse

大脑皮层 （dànǎo pícéng） cerebral cortex

慈善家 (císhànjiā) philanthropist

(Source: myechinese.com)