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寒冷也会传染
Just watching another person shiver can cause our own temperature to drop, scientists have found.
科学家发现，看着别人发抖，我们自己的体温也会下降。
Volunteers who viewed videos of actors plunging1 their hands into ice-cold water, experienced a simultaneous drop in the temperature of their own hands.
Neuroscientist Neil Harrison, from the University of Sussex said: 'We believe that this mimicry3of people's bodily response helps us understand how they are feeling.
'Humans are profoundly social creatures and much of humans' success results from our ability to work together in complex communities -- this would be hard to do if we were not able to rapidly empathise with each other and predict one another's thoughts, feelings and motivations.'
It's believed that 'mirror neurons' in the brain are behind the phenomenon.
Dr Harrison explained: 'Mirror neurons found in very specific parts of the brain are known to fire when we perform an action or observe a similar action in others – it has been proposed that more general mirror properties may also exist across many other brain areas.'
And the more naturally empathetic the person, the more likely they are to mimic2 another person's responses, he added.
【词汇详解】
1 plunging
adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降
参考例句：
War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发，生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 mimic
v.模仿，戏弄;n.模仿他人言行的人
参考例句：
A parrot can mimic a person's voice.鹦鹉能学人的声音。
He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another.他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。
3 mimicry
n.(生物)拟态，模仿
参考例句：
One of his few strengths was his skill at mimicry.他为数不多的强项之一就是善于模仿。
Language learning usually necessitates conscious mimicry.一般地说，学习语言就要进行有意识的摹仿。