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What All the Screaming Is about
尖叫意味着什么
Got your attention? Thought so. But what is it about a piercing shriek that really turns our heads? It’s what it does to our brains. The acoustical properties of the human scream poke at the neural circuits that control fear. That’s according to a study in the journal Current Biology. [Luc H. Arnal et al, Human Screams Occupy a Privileged Niche in the Communication Soundscape]
尖叫声起。引起你的注意了没有？ 早就想到了。但是一声刺耳的尖叫是否真的会影响我们的大脑呢？它还确实会。人类尖叫声的声学特性会刺激到控制恐惧的神经回路。这是根据《当代生物学》杂志上的一项研究得出的结论。
Our every waking moment is filled with noise, from planes flying overhead to various creatures scrambling underfoot. But a heartfelt cry can cut through all that. So what’s so special about the sound of a screech?
我们只要醒着，大脑就充斥着各种噪音。从头顶上飞过的灰机到地上混杂的生物。但是一声钻心的大喊大叫能穿透任何其它声波干扰。那么，尖叫到底有神马特别之处呢？
To find out, researchers prepared a sampler of screams from YouTube videos, popular films and excited volunteers. [Wilhelm Scream sound] If that screech sounded familiar, that’s because it’s the famous Wilhelm Scream, a stock sound effect heard in everything from Bugs Bunny to Star Wars.
为了找到答案，研究人员们从YouTube的视频，流行电影和兴奋的志愿者上面采集了许多尖叫。如果你觉得这声尖叫很耳熟，恭喜你，因为这确实是著名的Wilhelm Scream尖叫声，一种从兔八哥到星战等各类节目中都曾被用到的常见声效。
The scientists analyzed the acoustical characteristics of the various screams. And they found these alarming sounds are not only loud, they’re particularly rough. That is, they rapidly change in frequency. Normal speech is relatively smooth, with frequencies ranging only between four and five Hertz, or cycles per second. But a shriek can swiftly fluctuate between 30 and 150 Hertz—a range that can make your hair stand on end.
科学家们分析了这些多种尖叫声的升学特征参数。然后他们发现，这些令人恐慌的声音不仅仅是声音大，它们还特别的不精细。也就是说它们的频率会快速的变化。一般说话的声音相对较柔和，声音频率范围只有4到5赫兹之间大小，或者每秒几个周期而已。但是一个尖叫可以快速变换频率从30到160赫兹——一种能使你寒毛都竖起来的声音范围。
When the researchers asked people to rate how frightening screams were, they found that more roughness meant more terrifying. And increasing roughness of the sound corresponded to greater activation of the fear center of the brain.
当研究人员们要求人们评价一下这些尖叫的恐怖程度时，他们发现，声音特征越不精细意味着越恐怖哦。并且声音里这种不精细度越高，大脑中的恐怖中枢相关联的对恐惧的反应越强烈。
Only one other noise scored as high as screams in terms of roughness [car alarm sound]. Which, ironically, is enough to make you [scream sound].
只有一种噪音 被评为可与粗燥的尖叫声媲美，出乎意料的是，它也足以引起你尖叫。
—Karen Hopkin
