Imagine driving to work along the same route you take each day.
想象一下，每天沿著同樣的路線開車去上班。
Your mind wanders from one thing to the next: the staff meeting in the afternoon, plans for the weekend, a gift you need to buy for a friend.
你的思緒從一件事轉到另一件事：下午的員工會議，週末的計劃，你需要給朋友買的禮物。
Suddenly, a car cuts you off, and these thoughts immediately vanish—all of your attention focuses on maneuvering the steering wheel to avoid a collision.
突然，一輛車擋住了你，這些想法立刻消失了-你所有的注意力都集中在操縱方向盤以避免碰撞。
Although momentarily flustered, you—and your thoughts—return to the same wandering pattern a minute or two later.
雖然短暫的慌亂，但一兩分鐘後，你和你的思想又回到了同樣的遊蕩模式。
As we go about our waking lives, our stream of consciousness typically cycles through many such alternations between introspection and outward attention throughout the day.
當我們開始我們清醒的生活時，我們的意識流通常在一天中在內省和外在注意之間循環許多這樣的交替。
It appears that the back-and-forth dance between these inward and outward mental states may be fundamental to brain function.
看來，這些內在和外在精神狀態之間的來回舞蹈可能是大腦功能的基礎。
A new study, led by neuroscientist Zirui Huang of the Center for Consciousness Science at the University of Michigan, suggests that the shifting balance between a network responsible for awareness of the environment and another responsible for awareness of self may be a defining feature of consciousness.
密歇根大學(University Of Michigan)意識科學中心的神經學家黃子瑞(Zirui Huang)領導的一項新研究表明，負責環境意識的網絡和另一個負責自我意識的網絡之間的平衡轉移，可能是意識的一個決定性特徵。
The evidence comes from the absence of this pattern of brain activity in people rendered unresponsive, whether by anesthesia or a neuropathologic condition.
證據來自於沒有這種大腦活動模式的人，無論是由於麻醉還是神經病理狀態而導致的反應遲鈍。
As well as advancing our understanding of consciousness, the work could lead to the development of techniques to monitor it, either prior to surgery or during the treatment of people with disorders of consciousness, such as vegetative or “locked-in” patients.
除了提高我們對意識的理解，這項工作還可能導致在手術前或在治療意識障礙患者(如植物人或“禁閉”患者)之前，監測意識的技術的發展。
Over the past two decades, neuroscientists have identified a network of brain regions responsible for various kinds of introspection, from mind wandering to recollection and planning.
在過去的二十年中，神經科學家已經確定了一個大腦區域網絡，負責各種類型的內省，從走神到回憶和規劃。
The concept of “background” brain activity began drawing attention when neurologist Marcus Raichle and his colleagues at Washington University in St.
“背景”腦活動的概念開始引起人們的注意，當時華盛頓大學的神經學家Marcus Raichle和他的同事在聖彼得堡。
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