It’s not a particular brain region that makes someone smart or not smart. Nor is

It’s not a particular brainregion that makes someone smart or not smart. Nor is it the strength and speedof the connections throughout the brain or such features as total brain volume.Instead, new research shows, it’s the connections between very specific areasof the brain that determine intelligence.

“General intelligence actuallyrelies on a specific network inside the brain, and this is the connectionsbetween the gray matter, or cell bodies, and the white matter, or connectingfibers between neurons(神经元)，”said Jan Glascher, lead author of a paperappearing in this week’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy ofSciences.

The results weren’t entirelyunexpected, said Keith Young, vice chairman at Texas A﹠M Health Science CenterCollege of Medicine in Temple, but “it proves that good communication betweenvarious parts of brain are very important for this general intelligence.”

“People noticed a long time agothat, in general, people who are good test-takers did well in a lot ofdifferent subjects,”explained Young. “If you’re good in mathematics, you’realso usually good in English. Researchers came up with this idea that thisrepresented a kind of overall intelligence.”

Hoping to learn more, someexperts located 241 patients who had some sort of their lesions (损害). They then diagrammedthe location of their lesions and had them take IQ testes. “We took patientswho had parts of their brain damaged, tested them on intelligence to see wherethey were good and where they were bad, then we connected those scores acrossall the patients with the location of the brain lesions,”Glascher explained.“That way, you can know the areas that are associated with reduced performanceon these tests, which means these areas are really important for generalintelligence.”

“These studies suggest resultsbased on the absence of brain tissue (组织),”added Paul Sanberg, famous professor anddirector of the University of South Florida Center. “It allows them tosystemize and find areas important to intellingence.”

1.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

    A. General Intelligence Depend on BrainVolume

    B. Scientists Explain Mysteries ofIntelligence

    C. Science Research Done on Human Brain

    D. Brain Lesions Cause Patients Stupid

2.According to Keith Young, we can infer that       .

    A. the parts of brain are working smooth ontheir own

    B. a person good at maths has obstacleslearning languages

    C. overall intelligence will make a personsuccessful

    D. Jan Glascher’s article really shocks theworld

3.Why did experts locate 241 patients with some sort of brainlesions?

    A. To diagram the location of their lesions.

    B. To take IQ tests to the patients.

    C. To know more about the secrets ofintelligence.

    D. To take better care of the patients.

4.From the diagram, the experts concluded that       .

    A. the absence of brain tissue willinfluence intelligence

    B. the brain lesions can improve theperformance

    C. patients with brain lesions will get ahigh score

    D. Some areas totally determine the abilityof intelligence

试题答案

【答案】

1.B

2.C

3.C

4.A