Imagine driving to work along the same route you take each day.
想象一下，每天沿着同样的路线开车去上班。
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.
你的思绪从一件事转到另一件事：下午的员工会议，周末的计划，你需要给朋友买的礼物。
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，一辆车挡住了你，这些想法立刻消失了-你所有的注意力都集中在操纵方向盘以避免碰撞。
Although momentarily flustered, you—and your thoughts—return to the same wandering pattern a minute or two later.
虽然短暂的慌乱，但一两分钟后，你和你的思想又回到了同样的游荡模式。
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.
当我们开始我们清醒的生活时，我们的意识流通常在一天中在内省和外在注意之间循环许多这样的交替。
It appears that the back-and-forth dance between these inward and outward mental states may be fundamental to brain function.
看来，这些内在和外在精神状态之间的来回舞蹈可能是大脑功能的基础。
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.
密歇根大学(University Of Michigan)意识科学中心的神经学家黄子瑞(Zirui Huang)领导的一项新研究表明，负责环境意识的网络和另一个负责自我意识的网络之间的平衡转移，可能是意识的一个决定性特征。
The evidence comes from the absence of this pattern of brain activity in people rendered unresponsive, whether by anesthesia or a neuropathologic condition.
证据来自于没有这种大脑活动模式的人，无论是由于麻醉还是神经病理状态而导致的反应迟钝。
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.
除了提高我们对意识的理解，这项工作还可能导致在手术前或在治疗意识障碍患者(如植物人或“禁闭”患者)之前，监测意识的技术的发展。
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.
在过去的二十年中，神经科学家已经确定了一个大脑区域网络，负责各种类型的内省，从走神到回忆和规划。
The concept of “background” brain activity began drawing attention when neurologist Marcus Raichle and his colleagues at Washington University in St.
“背景”脑活动的概念开始引起人们的注意，当时华盛顿大学的神经学家Marcus Raichle和他的同事在圣彼得堡。
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