译者 猪的米
If truth be told, magnetic interference with the brain makes it impossible to lie. At least, that’s what a group of Estonian researchers are claiming.
如果这是真的话，磁铁对大脑的影响将使人无法说谎。或者至少一组爱沙尼亚研究人员是这么声称的。
They found that when magnets were applied to either the right or left side of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, found directly behind your forehead, it made you lie or tell the truth, depending on which side was stimulated.
他们发现当磁铁靠近位于前额正后方的背外侧前额叶皮层左右一侧时，它使你说谎或说实话，这取决于哪一侧受到了刺激。
When magnetic interference was directed at another part of the brain, the parietal lobe, the subjects’ decision-making remain unchanged.
当磁铁被移动到大脑的另一部位顶叶时，受试者的决策力未受影响。
‘Spontaneous choice to lie more or less can be influenced by brain stimulation,’ researchers Inga Karton and Talis Bachmann wrote in Behavioural Brain Research.
“人们自发地说谎或多或少受到大脑刺激的影响。”研究院Inga Karton和Talls Bachmann在《大脑行为研究》中如是写道。
The experiment involved giving 16 volunteers disks that varied in colour.
在实验中，16位志愿者得到颜色不同的碟子。
Half were then given magnetic stimulation on the right side of their prefrontal cortex, half on the left.
一半的志愿者的右侧前额叶皮层受到磁铁刺激，另一半左侧受到刺激。
在这里输入译文
They then had two options: to lie about what colour their disks were, or tell the truth.
接着他们有两种选择：说出碟子真实的颜色或者撒谎。
Remarkably, those stimulated on the left side fibbed a great deal more, those on the right showed much more honesty.
令人惊奇的是，那些左侧受到刺激的志愿者更多地选择撒谎，而右侧受到刺激的志愿者则要诚实的多。
Scientists last year found that magnets can also be used to disrupt the brain’s ‘moral compass’.
去年科学家们发现磁铁也能被用来左右大脑的“道德罗盘”。
Redundant: Magnetic interference would render lie detectors useless冗余：电磁干扰将使测谎仪失效。
The region, which lies just behind the right ear, becomes more active when we think about other people's misdemeanours or good works.
当我们想到别人的微小错误或好事时，位于右耳背后的部位变得更加活跃。
In an extraordinary experiment, researchers were able to use powerful magnets to disrupt this area of the brain and make people temporarily less moral.
在一次非同寻常的实验中，研究人员利用强大的磁铁成功干扰了这个部分，使人暂时变得不那么道德。
The study highlights how our sense of right and wrong isn't just based on upbringing, religion or philosophy - but by the biology of our brains.
研究表明我们对是非的判断力并非仅仅是基于教养、信仰和哲学——而是取决于我们大脑的生物学。
Dr Liane Young, who led the study, said: 'You think of morality as being a really high-level behaviour. To be able to apply a magnetic field to a specific brain region and change people's moral judgements is really astonishing.'
领导这个研究的杨立安博士说：“人们总是认为道德是一个高级的行为，因此当他们听到一块磁铁对特定脑部区域的刺激能改变人的道德抉择时都十分震惊。”
The moral compass lies in a part of the brain called the right temporo-parietal junction. It lies near the surface of the brain, just behind the right ear.
人的“道德罗盘”位于大脑中一个叫做前颞顶叶交界处的地方。它靠近大脑表层，就在右耳后面。
The researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology used a non-invasive technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation to disrupt the area of the brain.
MIT的研究人员使用一种叫做经颅磁刺激的非侵入性的手段来干扰大脑的这个部分。
The technique generates a magnetic field on a small part of the skull which creates weak electric currents in the brain. These currents interfere with nearby brain cells and prevent them from firing normally.
这种手段在一小块头骨上形成一个磁场，既而在大脑中产生微弱的感应电流。这股电流干扰附近的脑细胞，使它们不能正常工作。
In the first experiment, 12 volunteers were exposed to the magnetic field for 25 minutes before they were given a series of 'moral maze' style scenarios.
在第一组实验中，12名志愿者在磁场中暴露了25分钟，然后他们接受“道德迷宫”式的情景测试。
For each of the 192 scenarios, they were asked to make a judgement about the character's actions on a scale of 1 for 'absolutely forbidden' to 7 for 'absolutely permissible'.
在总共192个场景中，志愿者被要求在每一个场景中根据人物的行为做出一个判断，从代表“绝对禁止”的1到代表“绝对可以”7中选一个数字给分。
In the second experiment, the magnetic field was applied to their heads at the time they were asked to weigh up the behaviour of the characters in the scenario.
在第二组试验中，志愿者在暴露于磁场下的同时，要根据情景中的人物行为给他们评分。
In both experiments, the magnetic field made the volunteers less moral.
在两组实验中，磁场都使志愿者变得不那么道德。
One scenario described a man who let his girlfriend walk over a bridge he knew was unsafe. The girl survived unharmed.
在一个场景中，一名男子让他的女朋友走过一座桥，而他知道这座桥是座危桥。最终那名女子毫发无损。
Under normal conditions, most people rate the man's behaviour as unacceptable. But after getting the magnetic pulse, the volunteers tended to see nothing wrong with his actions - and judged his behaviour purely on whether his girlfriend survived.
在通常情况下，大多数人都认为这名男子的行为是不可接受的。但在经受磁场刺激后，志愿者并不认为这种做法有任何不妥之处——而仅仅是根据他的女朋友是否幸存来评分。
