Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul G. Allen is donating $300 million to launch an effort to map the brain's basic circuitry of perception.
微软公司(Microsoft Corp.)联合创始人艾伦(Paul G. Allen)刚刚捐资三亿美元用于启动一项映射大脑基本感知回路的研究。
Doubling its staff of scientists and technicians to more than 350 people, the Seattle-based Allen Institute for Brain Science announced Wednesday that it would use the money to build over the coming decade a series of 'brain observatories,' computational tools to map neural behavior. The aim is to systematically explore the roots of vision and decision-making by analyzing the billions of cells and synapses in the brain's cerebral cortex, which plays a critical role in vision, memory and awareness.
位于西雅图的艾伦脑科学研究所(Allen Institute for Brain Science)周三宣布，该机构将用这笔资金在未来10年构建一系列"大脑观察台"，即用于映射神经行为的计算工具。这项研究的目的是通过分析大脑皮层数十亿个细胞和突触来系统探索视觉和决策的根源。大脑皮层在人类视觉、记忆和意识上发挥重要作用。艾伦脑科学研究所的科学家和技术人员的数量增加了一倍，达到350多人。
'They want to really characterize the parts list of the brain and map all its circuits to see how they connect and communicate,' said neurobiologist Ed Boyden at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 'It is impossible for an ordinary lab group to bring all these pieces together.'
麻省理工学院(Massachusetts Institute of Technology)神经生物学家博伊登(Ed Boyden)说，艾伦脑科学研究所的研究人员想要真正开列出大脑的"零部件清单"，并映射所有的大脑回路，以观察这些回路是如何联结以及沟通的；一个普通的实验室团队想把所有这些"碎片"拼凑起来是不可能的。
The nonprofit Allen Institute operates more like a product-driven start-up than an academic lab. Since Mr. Allen founded it with a $100 million grant in 2003, it has made a name for itself by developing new technology for basic brain research, then making it available to scientists around the world.
非营利性的艾伦研究所与其说是一个学术实验室，不如说更像一个"以产品为导向"的初创企业。自艾伦2003年用1亿美元的捐款创建这家研究所以来，该机构就因开发出基本脑研究所用的新技术并提供给世界各地的科学家而闻名。
'They are trying to bring something new and a little different to the understanding of how the brain works,' said neuroscientist Stephen Smith at Stanford University Medical School.
斯坦福大学医学院(Stanford University Medical School)神经学家史密斯(Stephen Smith)说，在"大脑如何工作"这一问题的理解上，艾伦研究所试图带来一些新的、不同的观点。
Mr. Allen's grant is the latest example of how private philanthropists in the U.S. and U.K. have embraced neuroscience, donating about $1 billion to fund basic brain research in recent years, at a time when such funding has been reduced in many fields.
艾伦的这笔捐款再一次说明了英美两国的私人慈善家是如何支持神经科学研究的。近年来基本大脑研究接受的私人捐款大约有10亿美元，而同期很多学科领域接受的资助都在减少。
Mr. Allen has given $500 million to the institute, including Wednesday's donation. His new grant will fund the first four years of the 10-year research project; then the institute will have to find new funding.
包括周三的捐款在内，艾伦已经向这家研究所捐赠了5亿美元。这笔最新的捐款将为一个为期10年的研究项目提供最初四年的资金支持，此后该研究所必须寻找新的资金来源。
Robert Lee Hotz
- institute [´institju:t]
n.学院 vt.建立；设置 (初中英语单词) - wednesday [´wenzdi] n.星期三 (初中英语单词)
- series [´siəri:z] n.连续；系列；丛书 (初中英语单词)
- vision [´viʒən] n.视觉；想象力；幻影 (初中英语单词)
- research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中英语单词)
- available [ə´veiləbəl] a.可用的；有效的 (初中英语单词)
- medical [´medikəl] a.医学的；医疗的 (初中英语单词)
- project [prə´dʒekt, ´prɔdʒekt] v.设计；投掷 n.计划 (初中英语单词)
- launch [lɔ:ntʃ] vt.发动 n.发射；汽艇 (高中英语单词)
- decade [´dekeid] n.十年(间) (高中英语单词)
- behavior [bi´heiviə] n.举止，行为 (高中英语单词)
- explore [ik´splɔ:] v.勘探；探索；探查 (高中英语单词)
- critical [´kritikəl] a.批评的；关键性的 (高中英语单词)
- billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
- characterize [´kæriktəraiz] v.描绘；具有...特征 (英语四级单词)
- academic [,ækə´demik] a.学术的 n.大学学生 (英语四级单词)
- trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)
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