科学美国人60秒：看不见，真的能听更清！

This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Sophie Bushwick. Got a minute?

这里是《科学美国人》的60秒科学，我是苏菲·布什维克。准备好了吗?

The three blind mice should have heard the farmer's wife coming. Because a new study shows that when mice can’t see, their hearing improves.

三只瞎老鼠应该听到了农夫的妻子来了。因为一项新的研究表明，当老鼠看不见时，它们的听力会得到改善。

Researchers kept healthy adult mice in total darkness for a week. When the mice got the lights back on, their vision quickly returned to normal—but their hearing was better.

研究人员将健康的成年小鼠置于完全黑暗的环境中一周。当灯光重新打开后，老鼠的视力很快恢复正常，但它们的听力更好了。

The researchers also scanned the part of the mouse brains that processes auditory signals while they played a set of tones. In the temporarily blind mice, neurons reacted to the notes more quickly. The nerves also picked up softer sounds and were better at distinguishing between different tones.

研究人员还扫描了老鼠在播放一组音调时处理听觉信号的大脑部分。在暂时失明的老鼠中，神经元对音符的反应更快。这些神经还能接收更柔和的声音，并且更善于区分不同的音调。

The improved hearing wore off after a few weeks, but researchers are investigating ways to make it permanent. The study is published in the journal Neuron.

听力的改善在几周后逐渐消失，但研究人员正在研究使其永久化的方法。这项研究发表在《神经元》杂志上。

Previously, the neurons in this part of the brain were considered incapable of changing after childhood. But the findings show the brain is more flexible than we thought. And they also suggest that if you can't hear me clearly, try turning out the lights.

在此之前，人们认为大脑这部分的神经元在童年后不会发生变化。但研究结果表明，大脑比我们想象的更灵活。他们还建议，如果你听不清我说的话，关灯试试。

Thanks for the minute for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Sophie Bushwick.

感谢收听《科学美国人》的60秒科学。苏菲·布什维克报道。