成年人一只手有多重？

近日，伦敦大学伯贝克学院的一项新研究表明，人们往往低估自己手的重量，误差大约达到50%。你觉得自己的手有多重呢？

🤔️小作业：

A. Participants had to perform hand exercises.

B. Participants judged the heaviness of weights suspended from a wristband.

C. Participants were asked about their perception of their hand weight.

D. Participants were tested under the condition of fatigue.

A. By making actions seem effortless or effortful.

B. By sending sensory signals to the central nervous system.

C. By using Isaac Newton's laws to calculate weight.

D. By underestimating the weight of body parts by 50%.

A. The weightlessness experienced in outer space.

B. The underestimation of hand weight by an average of 49.4%.

C. The re-emergence of body weight when astronauts return to Earth.

D. The increase in perceived hand weight caused by hand exercise.

无注释原文：

Humans underestimate the weight of their hands by nearly 50%

From: Birkbeck, University of London

People perceive their hands to weigh much less than they actually do, underestimating their weight by nearly 50%, according to new research from Birkbeck.  

Led by academics Dr Elisa Raffaella Ferre, Reader in Cognitive Neuroscience, and Professor Matthew Longo, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, the research team developed a new research method to measure perceived hand weight. 

Participants in the study judged whether weights suspended from a wristband were heavier or lighter than perceived hand weight. Hand weight was underestimated on average by 49.4%, an effect the team has called “terrestrial weightlessness”. Moreover, inducing fatigue by hand exercise caused an increase in perceived hand weight. 

An object's weight is usually calculated according to Isaac Newton's laws and is equal to its mass multiplied by gravitational acceleration, but a person's perception of their own body weight is constructed by their brain because their central nervous system is not informed by a sensory signal. 

Dr Ferre comments: “The sensation of our body's weight caused by gravity presents an intriguing contrast to the weightlessness experienced in outer space. 

“Astronauts are often astonished when the experience of body weight re-emerges on returning to Earth. 

“Our findings demonstrate that our everyday experience of body weight – weightedness - can be accurately quantified and it is strongly underestimated.” 

Denise Cadete, Birkbeck PhD student and co-author, explains: “We believe this perceptual bias helps to make body movements seem effortless. 

“A person's brain could either encourage or discourage physical exertion by making their body seem light and actions therefore effortless, or heavy and actions thus effortful. 

“Phrases such as “my eyelids are getting heavy” which is used to mean that the speaker is sleepy, allude to a commonly experienced relation between their perceived body weight and motivation for action. 

“We believe that perceived body weight could be an important component of a system that adapts with evolution to control our levels of behaviour. 

“Existing research on body weight has largely focused on the social or medical aspects of how people feel about the overall weight of their body. Surprisingly, no research has investigated the more basic issue of how the brain constructs representations of the weight of individual body parts.”   

Professor Longo says: “We investigated, for the first time, how the brain perceives the weight of body parts as spatially extended objects. Our work may have implications for the understanding of disorders of body weight, including anorexia nervosa and obesity.” 

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注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为机器翻译并非一一对应，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Humans underestimate the weight of their hands by nearly 50%

From: Birkbeck, University of London

People perceive their hands to weigh much less than they actually do, underestimating their weight by nearly 50%, according to new research from Birkbeck.

根据伦敦大学伯贝克学院的一项新研究，人们往往低估自己手的重量，误差大约达到50%。

1）表示“感知，察觉，注意到，意识到”，英文解释为“to see something or someone, or to notice something that is obvious”举个🌰：He perceived a tiny figure in the distance. 他注意到远处有个很小的身影。

2）表示“认为；看待；视为”，英文解释为“to come to an opinion about something, or have a belief about something”举个🌰：How do the French perceive the British? 法国人是如何看待英国人的？

📍《经济学人》（The Economist）一篇讲述比特币的文章中提到：Scarcity is a trait of many things that are perceived to have value. 稀缺性正是许多被视为有价值的事物共有的特征。

表示“低估；（对…）估计不足”，英文解释为“to fail to guess or understand the real cost, size, difficulty, etc. of something”举个🌰：Don't underestimate the difficulties of getting both parties to the conference table. 要让双方坐下来谈判，难度不可小觑。

Led by academics Dr Elisa Raffaella Ferre, Reader in Cognitive Neuroscience, and Professor Matthew Longo, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, the research team developed a new research method to measure perceived hand weight.

在伦敦大学伯贝克学院认知神经科学高级讲师埃莉萨·拉法埃拉·费雷（Elisa Raffaella Ferre）博士和马修·朗戈（Matthew Longo）教授的带领下，研究团队开发了一种衡量主观感知手重的新研究方法。

一般用Reader，R大写，表示“（英国大学仅次于教授的）准教授；高级讲师”，英文解释为“a teacher, at British universities, just under the rank of professor”举个🌰：He is a Reader in History at Dublin University. 他是都柏林大学的历史学准教授。

表示“认知的；感知的；认识的”，英文解释为“Cognitive means relating to the mental process involved in knowing, learning, and understanding things.”举个🌰：As children grow older, their cognitive processes become sharper. 随着孩子们长大，他们的认知过程也变得越来越敏锐了。

neuroscience /ˈnjʊərəʊˌsaɪəns/ 表示“神经系统科学（对神经系统的解剖学、生理学、生物化学和药理学的研究）”，英文解释为“the study of the anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology of the nervous system”。

Participants in the study judged whether weights suspended from a wristband were heavier or lighter than perceived hand weight. Hand weight was underestimated on average by 49.4%, an effect the team has called “terrestrial weightlessness”. Moreover, inducing fatigue by hand exercise caused an increase in perceived hand weight.

这项研究的参与者需判断悬挂在腕带上的重物是否比感知到的手重要轻还是重。实验结果表明，手的重量平均被低估了49.4%。研究团队称这种现象为“地面失重”。此外，手部运动引起的疲劳会导致感知到的手重增加。

1）表示“（因犯错而）暂令停职；暂令停学；暂令停止参加活动”，英文解释为“If someone is suspended from work, school, etc., they are temporarily not allowed to work, go to school, or take part in an activity because of having done something wrong.”举个🌰：He was suspended for four games after arguing with the referee. 跟裁判发生争执之后，他被停赛4场。

2）表示“暂停”，英文解释为“If you suspend something, you delay it or stop it from happening for a while or until a decision is made about it”举个🌰：The union suspended the action this week. 工会本周暂停了这一行动。

📍《经济学人》（The Economist）一篇讲述英国房价上涨的文章中提到：Britain has temporarily suspended stamp duty, a tax on buying houses. 英国已经暂停征收购房印花税。

3）表示“悬挂”，英文解释为“to hang”举个🌰：The builders worked on wooden platforms, suspended by ropes from the roof of the building. 建筑工人站在用绳子从房顶上吊下来的木制平台上作业。

wristband /ˈrɪst.bænd/ 表示“手腕带（绕在手腕上的带子，如手表带）”，英文解释为“a piece of material that goes around the wrist, for example to hold a watch”

terrestrial /təˈres.tri.əl/ 1）表示“地球的；与地球有关的”，英文解释为“relating to the earth”

2）表示“（动物）陆生的，陆栖的”，英文解释为“(of animals) living on the land rather than in the water or air”

3）表示“（电视频道）陆地上的，地面上的（与卫星相对而言）”，英文解释为“Terrestrial television channels are broadcast from stations on the ground and do not use satellites.”

作动词，1）表示“诱发（某种身体反应）；引起，导致”，英文解释为“to cause a particular physical condition”，如：a drug-induced coma 药物引起的昏迷，举个🌰：Patients with eating disorders may use drugs to induce vomiting. 患有进食障碍的人可使用药物催吐。

2）表示“催生；引产”，英文解释为“to use a drug to make a pregnant woman start giving birth”举个🌰：In this hospital, twins are often induced. 在这家医院生育双胞胎常常要引产的。

fatigue /fəˈtiːɡ/ 表示“疲劳；劳累”，英文解释为“a feeling of being extremely tired, usually because of hard work or exercise”，如：physical and mental fatigue 身体和精神的疲劳。

An object's weight is usually calculated according to Isaac Newton's laws and is equal to its mass multiplied by gravitational acceleration, but a person's perception of their own body weight is constructed by their brain because their central nervous system is not informed by a sensory signal.

物体的重量通常是根据艾萨克·牛顿定律计算出来的，重量等于其质量乘以重力加速度。然而，人对自己身体重量的感知是由大脑构建的，因为中央神经系统并未接收到感官信号。

除了表示“法律”，还可以指“规律，定律，法则”，英文解释为“a general rule that states what always happens when the same conditions exist”如：Newton's laws of motion 牛顿运动定律。

mass /mæs/ 作形容词，表示“大量的；大规模的；大批的”，英文解释为“having an effect on or involving a large number of people or forming a large amount”如：weapons of mass destruction 大规模杀伤性武器。

作名词，表示“大量;大批;众多”，英文解释为“a large amount of something that has no particular shape or arrangement”，如：a mass of rubble 一堆瓦砾；也可以指物理上的“质量”，英文解释为“In physics, the mass of an object is the amount of physical matter that it has.”

multiply /ˈmʌl.tɪ.plaɪ/ 表示“大幅增加；乘，使相乘”，英文解释为“to increase very much in number, or (in mathematics) to add a number to itself a particular number of times”举个🌰：In warm weather these germs multiply rapidly. 在温暖的天气里这些细菌会迅速繁殖。

gravitation /ˌɡræv.ɪˈteɪ.ʃən/ 表示“（尤指地球的）重力的，引力的，地心引力的”，英文解释为“relating to gravity or gravitation”如：gravitational forces 引力。

📍gravity 作名词 1）常见含义表示“重力；地球引力”，英文解释为“the force that attracts objects in space towards each other, and that on the earth pulls them towards the centre of the planet, so that things fall to the ground when they are dropped”如：the laws of gravity 万有引力定律，物理课上学的g=9.8还是g=10你还记得吗？

🎬电影《星际迷航》（Star Trek）中的台词提到：Captain, we're caught in the gravity well. It's got us. 舰长 我们被引力井吸住了，它吸住我们了。

2）表示“严重性”，英文解释为“extreme importance and a cause for worry”，可以替换seriousness，举个🌰：Punishment varies according to the gravity of the offence. 处罚根据罪行的严重程度而有所不同。

3）表示“严肃；庄严”，英文解释为“serious behaviour, speech or appearance”举个🌰：They were asked to behave with the gravity that was appropriate in a court of law. 他们被要求在法庭上表现出应有的严肃态度。

acceleration /əkˌsel.əˈreɪ.ʃən/ 表示“增速，加快；加速性能”，英文解释为“the increase in something's speed, or its ability to go faster”或者物理上的“加速度”，英文解释为“the rate at which the velocity (= speed in a particular direction) of an object changes”

sensory /ˈsen.sər.i/ 表示“感觉的；感官的”，英文解释为“connected with the physical senses of touch, smell, taste, hearing, and sight”

Dr Ferre comments: “The sensation of our body's weight caused by gravity presents an intriguing contrast to the weightlessness experienced in outer space.

费雷博士评论称：“引起我们身体重量感知的重力与在太空中体验到的失重形成了有趣的对比。”

1）表示“轰动；哗然；引起轰动的人（或事物）”，英文解释为“very great surprise, excitement, or interest among a lot of people; the person or the thing that causes this surprise”举个🌰：The band became a sensation overnight. 一夜之间，这支乐队名声大振。

📍此前，戳爷Troye Sivan被传已分手数月？文中出现过，pop sensation可以理解为“流行巨星”，“流行天王”。还有，63岁中国爷爷成油管网红文中标题就是Master carpenter's ancient Chinese skills are a YouTube sensation.

2）作可数名词，还可以表示“感觉；知觉”，英文解释为“a feeling that you get when sth affects your body”如：a tingling/burning sensation 刺痛/烧灼的感觉。

3）作不可数名词，可以表示“感觉能力；知觉能力”，英文解释为“the ability to feel through your sense of touch”举个🌰：She seemed to have lost all sensation in her arms. 她的两条胳膊好像完全失去知觉了。

🎬电影《困在爱中》（Stuck in Love）中的台词提到：I was overcome by the oddest sensation. 我像是被一种怪异的冲动（感觉）驱使着。

intriguing /ɪnˈtriː.ɡɪŋ/ 表示“非常有趣的；引人入胜的；神秘的”，英文解释为“very interesting because of being unusual or mysterious”如：an intriguing possibility/question 极具吸引力的可能性/问题。

“Astronauts are often astonished when the experience of body weight re-emerges on returning to Earth.

“当返回地球再次感受到身体重量时，航天员会感到很惊奇。”

“Our findings demonstrate that our everyday experience of body weight – weightedness - can be accurately quantified and it is strongly underestimated.”

“我们的研究结果表明，我们对身体重量的日常感受——体重——是可以精确量化的，但它被严重低估了。”

表示“显示；表明”，英文解释为“to show or make make something clear”举个🌰：These numbers clearly demonstrate the size of the economic problem facing the country. 这些数字清楚表明了该国经济问题的严重程度。

quantify /ˈkwɒn.tɪ.faɪ/ 表示“以数量表述；量化”，英文解释为“to describe or express sth as an amount or a number”举个🌰：It's difficult to quantify how many people will be affected by the change. 很难确定将有多少人受到该变化的影响。

Denise Cadete, Birkbeck PhD student and co-author, explains: “We believe this perceptual bias helps to make body movements seem effortless.

该研究作者之一、伦敦大学伯贝克学院博士生丹尼斯·卡德特（Denise Cadete）解释道：“我们认为，这种感知偏差有助于使肢体运动看起来毫不费力。”

perceptual /pəˈsep.tʃu.əl/表示“感知的；知觉的”，英文解释为“relating to the ability to notice something or come to an opinion about something using your senses”举个🌰：Perceptual skills are particularly important in sports. 在体育运动中，感知能力尤为重要。

表示“偏见；偏心；偏向”，英文解释为“a strong feeling in favour of or against one group of people, or one side in an argument, often not based on fair judgement”举个🌰：Employers must consider all candidates impartially and without bias. 雇主必须公平而毫无成见地考虑所有求职者。

“A person's brain could either encourage or discourage physical exertion by making their body seem light and actions therefore effortless, or heavy and actions thus effortful.

人的大脑可以通过让身体感觉轻盈，使行动变得毫不费力，或者让身体感觉沉重，使行动变得费力，从而来促进或抑制体力消耗。

exertion /ɪɡˈzɜː.ʃən/ 1）表示“尽力；努力；费力”，英文解释为“the use of a lot of mental or physical effort”举个🌰：I get out of breath with any kind of physical exertion. 我一干点体力活就上气不接下气。

2）表示“运用；行使（权威、权力等）；施加（影响等）”，英文解释为“the use of something such as authority, power, influence, etc. in order to make something happen”如：the exertion of influence over who was appointed to the job 对于被授予该职位的人施以影响。

“Phrases such as “my eyelids are getting heavy” which is used to mean that the speaker is sleepy, allude to a commonly experienced relation between their perceived body weight and motivation for action.

像“我的眼皮越来越沉重”这样的表达，通常用于表示说话者感到困倦，暗指人们在感知身体重量与行动动力之间普遍存在的关系。

1）表示“短语”，英文解释为“a group of words that is part of, rather than the whole of, a sentence”。

2）表示“说法；用语；警句”，英文解释为“a short group of words that are often used together and have a particular meaning”

allude to sb/sth 表示“间接提到；暗指；影射”，英文解释为“to mention sth in an indirect way”举个🌰：She sometimes alluded to a feeling that she herself was to blame for her son's predicament. 她有时暗示她感到儿子的困境要怪她自己。

“We believe that perceived body weight could be an important component of a system that adapts with evolution to control our levels of behaviour.

我们相信，感知身体重量可能是一个适应进化以控制我们行为水平的系统的重要组成部分。

1）表示“改编；改写”，英文解释为“to change a book or play so that it can be made into a play, film/movie, television programme, etc.”举个🌰：Three of her novels have been adapted for television. 她的长篇小说中有三部已改编成电视节目。

2）表示“使适应，使适合（新用途、新情况）”，英文解释为“to change sth in order to make it suitable for a new use or situation”举个🌰：Most of these tools have been specially adapted for use by disabled people. 这些工具多数已经过特别改装，供残疾人使用。

“Existing research on body weight has largely focused on the social or medical aspects of how people feel about the overall weight of their body. Surprisingly, no research has investigated the more basic issue of how the brain constructs representations of the weight of individual body parts.”

“现有的体重研究主要集中在社会学或医学方面，即人们如何看待自己的整体体重。令人惊讶的是，没有研究探讨过更基本的问题，即大脑如何构建个体身体部位重量的表征。”

1）表示“表现；展现；描绘；描述”，英文解释为“the way that someone or something is shown or described”举个🌰：He gave a talk on the representation of women in 19th-century art. 他作了一个演讲，是关于19世纪艺术中女性形象塑造的。

2）表示“陈述；述说；抗议”，英文解释为“formal statements made to sb in authority, especially in order to make your opinions known or to protest”，一般用复数，举个🌰：We made representations to the boss about the long working hours. 我们就工作时间过长一事向老板提出抗议。

Professor Longo says: “We investigated, for the first time, how the brain perceives the weight of body parts as spatially extended objects. Our work may have implications for the understanding of disorders of body weight, including anorexia nervosa and obesity.”

朗戈教授表示：“我们首次研究了大脑如何感知身体部位作为空间延伸物体的重量。我们的研究可能对理解包括厌食症和肥胖症在内的体重失调疾病有所帮助。”

spatially /ˈspeɪ.ʃəl.i/ 表示“与空间相关的”，英文解释为“in a way that relates to the position, area, and size of things”如：spatially aware 对空间有感知的。

1）表示“可能的影响（或作用、结果）”，英文解释为“a possible effect or result of an action or a decision”举个🌰：The development of the site will have implications for the surrounding countryside. 这个地点的开发将会影响周围的乡村。

2）表示“含意；暗指，暗示”，英文解释为“an occasion when you seem to suggest something without saying it directly”举个🌰：From what she said, the implication was that they were splitting up. 她的话中暗示他们将要分手。

anorexia nervosa /æn.əˌrek.si.ə.nəˈvəʊ.sə/ 表示“（尤指由于害怕变胖而引起的）厌食（症）；食欲缺乏”，英文解释为“a serious mental illness in which a person does not eat, or eats too little, often resulting in dangerous weight loss”

obesity /oʊˈbiːsəti/ 表示“肥胖”，英文解释为“the fact of being extremely fat, in a way that is dangerous for health”。

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