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But even though the insect brain is organized very differently from ours, there are some striking similarities.
雖然昆蟲與人類大腦的組成大相徑庭，但是仍有很多驚人的相似之處。
For example, most insects have smell detectors on their antennae, similar to those found in human noses.
比如說，大部分昆蟲的觸須都有氣味感受器，與人類的鼻子功能相似。
And our primary olfactory brain regions look and function rather similarly, with clusters of neurons activated and deactivated in precise timing to code for specific scents.
并且嗅覺對應的腦區形態和功能也十分相似，通過精確地在特定時間激活和鈍化神經元群來為氣味命名。
Scientists have been astonished by these similarities because insects and humans are not very closely related.
由于昆蟲和人類并非近親，二者的相似之處讓科學家十分驚奇。
In fact, our last common ancestor was a simple worm-like creature that lived more than 500 million years ago.
事實上，二者最近的共同祖先已是距今約為五億年前的一種類似蠕蟲的生物。
So how did we end up with such similar brain structures when our evolution took almost entirely different paths?
二者的進化歷程自此便分道揚鑣，那為什么我們還有如此相似的大腦結構呢？
Scientists call this phenomenon convergent evolution.
科學家稱這種現象“趨同進化”。
It's the same principle behind birds, bats, and bees separately evolving wings.
同理，鳥類、蝙蝠和蜜蜂各自進化出了翅膀。
Similar selective pressures can cause natural selection to favor the same evolutionary strategy in species with vastly different evolutionary pasts.
相似的生存壓力能引起自然選擇，使進化歷程迥然不同的物種采用同樣的進化策略。
By studying the comparison between insect and human brains, scientists can thus understand which of our brain functions are unique, and which are general solutions to evolutionary problems.
通過比較昆蟲和人類的大腦，科學家能發現哪些功能是我們的大腦獨有的，哪些是生存壓力的通解。
But this is not the only reason scientists are fascinated by insect brains.
但這不是科學家著迷于昆蟲大腦的唯一原因。
Their small size and simplicity makes it easier to understand exactly how neurons work together in the brain.
它們小而簡單，所以理解神經元的如何工作就比較容易了。
This is also valuable for engineers, who study the insect brain to help design control systems for everything from self-flying airplanes to tiny search-and-rescue roach bots.
這對工程師來說也很可貴，因為他們能根據昆蟲大腦設計控制系統，包括無人飛機和微型搜救機器人。
So, size and complexity are not always the most impressive things.
所以，大小和復雜性不是唯一讓人印象深刻的東西。
The next time you try to swat a fly, take a moment to marvel at the efficiency of its tiny nervous system as it outsmarts your fancy brain.
以后你再打蒼蠅，先花三秒鐘瞻仰一下它的神經系統，因為它比你的還好。
