Babies are constantly surrounded by human language, always listening and processing.
婴儿经常被人类的语言包围，且一直在听和处理语言。
Eventually, they put sounds together to produce a "Daddy" or a "Mama."
最后，他们把声音组合在一起， 叫出“爸爸”或“妈妈”。
But what is still elusive to neuroscientists is exactly how the brain works to put it all together.
但是，对于神经科学家，大脑究竟如何将声音组合在一起仍是个难题。
Tо begin to figure it out, а team of researchers turned to a frequent stand- -in for human infants when it comes to language learning:the song-learning zebra finch.
为了弄清楚这一点，一组研究人员研究了一种常见的婴儿语言学习的替身:会唱歌的斑纹鸣雀。
"Well, we've known for about 70 years or so that songbirds learn their song by first forming a memory of their father's song or another adult's song.
“70年前我们就知道，鸣禽学习鸣叫首先是通过记忆它们父亲或另一个成年鸣雀的叫声。
And then they use that memory in order to guide their song learning."
然后，它们利用这些记忆来指导自己学习唱歌。”
Neuroscientist Todd Roberts from the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Texas.
托德.罗伯茨
"It's been a long-term goal of the field to try to figure out how or where in the brain this memory is.
“这是该领域的长期目标，试图弄清楚这种记忆在大脑中的位置和工作原理。
This form of learning, this type of imitative learning that birds do, is very similar to the type of learning that we engage in on а regular basis particularly when we' re young,we use this type of learning to guide our speech learning."
这种形式的学习，即鸣禽的模仿学习，与人类进行的定期学习非常相似，人类年轻时尤其如此，我们用这种学习方式来指导自己的语言学习。”
Roberts and his team had a hunch that the interface between sensory areas and motor areas in the brain was critical for this process and they zeroed in on a group of brain cells called the NIF.
域的接口对这一过程至关重要， 他们关注着一组名为NIF的脑细胞。
"In order to really prove that we were on the right track and that we could identify these circuits, we thought that maybe we could go in and see if we could implant a false memory."
“为了证明我们的研究方向是对的，我们可以识别这些回路，我们认为，也许可以深入研究,看是否可以植入个错误的记忆。”
To do it, the researchers used a technique called optogenetics.
为此，研究人员使用了一种名为光遗传学的技术。
First, they used а virus to cause the neurons in the birds' NIF to become sensitive to light.
首先，他们利用一种病毒鸣禽中NI中F的神经元对光敏感。
Then, using a tiny electrode as a flashlight,they activated the neurons.
然后，他们将一个小电极作为手电筒，激活该神经元。
The length of each pulse of light corresponded with the amount of time the neurons would fire.
每个脉冲光的长度与神经元被激活的时间相对应。
And the birds' brains interpreted that time period as the length of each note.
鸣禽的大脑将这个时间段理解为每个音符的长度。
Soon enough, the birds began to practice the notes they had learned, even though they never really heard the sounds in the first place.
很快，这些鸣禽开始练习学过的音符，尽管它们一开始从未真正听过这些声音。
The songs that these birds began to sing wouldn't win them any prizes.
这些鸣禽开始唱的歌不会赢得任何奖励。
But amazingly, the birds produced them in the correct social situations.
但令人惊讶的是，这些鸣禽是在正确的社交环境下唱出了歌。
The researchers say this is the first time anybody has pinpointed а part of the brain necessary for generating the sorts of memories needed to mimic sounds.
研究人员表示，这是第一次有 人确切指出大脑中的某个部位，即产生模仿声音所需的各种记忆的部位。
The study was in the journal Science.
这项研究发表于杂志《科学》。
"This line of research is going to help us start to identify where in the brain we encode memories of pertinent social experiences that we use to guide learning.
“这项研究将帮助我们开始识别大脑的具体部位，在这些部位相关指导学习的社会经验的记忆被进行编码。
And we know that there are several neurodevelopmental disorders in people that have really profound effects on this type of learning."
我们知道，人类的几种神经发育障碍对这种学习方式有着深远影响。”
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