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Public speaking is terrifying for a lot of people,
公眾演講對(duì)很多人來說很可怕，
and it was especially stressful for people like Isaac Newton and England's King George VI,
而且它對(duì)艾薩克·牛頓和英國國王喬治六世這樣的人造成的壓力尤其得大，
because at some point, they each had a stutter.
因?yàn)樵谀承r(shí)候，他們都會(huì)犯口吃。
The exact symptoms vary, but someone who stutters has trouble speaking in fluid, connected sentences.
雖然確切的癥狀各不相同，但口吃的人難以說流暢、連貫的句子。
Which is not fun to deal with, if say, you are a king who is expected to give speeches all the time.
假如你是國王，一直被期待著進(jìn)行演講，那么它一點(diǎn)兒也不好對(duì)付。
Like many things in psychology, we're still trying to figure out exactly what causes stuttering in the first place.
與心理學(xué)中的很多問題一樣，我們首先試著弄清楚口吃的確切原因。
But, despite what a lot of people think, stuttering probably doesn't come from anxiety.
盡管很多人認(rèn)為口吃是因?yàn)榻箲]，但事實(shí)可能不是這樣。
Stuttering usually starts in kids between two and five years old.
口吃通常發(fā)生在兩到五歲的孩子身上。
It's possible to develop a stutter as an adult,
成年人也有可能口吃，
but that's usually because of an injury or other condition,
但那通常是因?yàn)槭軅蚱渌闆r，
it doesn't normally show up by itself like it does in kids.
它通常不會(huì)像在孩子身上那樣自己出現(xiàn)。
The main symptom is the repetition of sounds and syllables,
口吃的主要癥狀是重復(fù)聲音和音節(jié)，
usually just one syllable, and that's often the first syllable of a longer word.
通常只重復(fù)一個(gè)音節(jié)，而且通常是一個(gè)較長單詞的第一個(gè)音節(jié)。
There are also other symptoms that can be harder to identify,
口吃還有其他難以識(shí)別的癥狀，
like the lengthening of sounds, verbal or facial tics, or pauses in speech.
比如聲音拖長、言語或面部抽搐、或講話中的停頓
One thing that can make stuttering hard to diagnose is that
讓口吃難以確診的一件事是
little kids often show these same speech patterns when they're learning to talk.
小孩兒在學(xué)習(xí)說話的時(shí)候經(jīng)常會(huì)表現(xiàn)出同樣的說話模式。
It's normal for a kid to trip over words or get stuck on certain sounds,
對(duì)孩子來說，在某些詞上絆住或被特定的音困住是很正常的，
especially if their mouth can't keep up with what they're trying to say,
特別是他們的嘴跟不上他們想說的話時(shí)更是如此，
and up to 20% of kids will show symptoms that look like stuttering.
多達(dá)20%的孩子會(huì)表現(xiàn)出類似口吃的癥狀。
But by the time they're four or five, 75% of them will have outgrown it.
但是當(dāng)他們四五歲的時(shí)候，75%的人已經(jīng)沒有口吃癥狀了。
If someone is still stuttering by then, and if it's enough to disrupt their life or make them anxious,
如果有人那時(shí)還口吃，并且它足以擾亂他們的生活或者讓他們焦慮，
they'll likely be diagnosed with Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder, the official name for stuttering.
他們很有可能被確診為兒童期發(fā)病的流暢性障礙——口吃的官方名稱。
We don't know why some people outgrow their symptoms,
雖然我們不知道人們擺脫口吃的原因，
but we do know that people don't start stuttering because they're shy or nervous.
但卻知道人們不會(huì)因?yàn)楹π呋蚓o張而口吃。
Being shy or nervous can make symptoms worse and can start a vicious cycle,
害羞或緊張會(huì)使癥狀惡化，并引發(fā)惡性循環(huán)，
because then you get more stressed and stutter more, and then you get even more stressed.
因?yàn)槟銜?huì)變得更有壓力，更結(jié)巴，然后你會(huì)壓力更大。
But people who manage their symptoms score about the same on anxiety tests as people who've never stuttered,
但那些在焦慮測(cè)試中表現(xiàn)出癥狀的人與那些從不口吃的人得分一樣，
so scientists are pretty sure that it's not the root cause.
所以科學(xué)家們很確定這不是根本原因。
It's more likely that genetics is involved in some way.
口吃更有可能是基因在某種程度上起得作用。
You're three times more likely to stutter if you have a family member who also stutters.
如果你的家人有口吃癥狀，那么你患口吃的可能性會(huì)增加三倍。
It's also more common in boys than in girls,
男孩的口吃癥狀比女孩更常見，
which is why some geneticists used to think it might be linked to sex-specific chromosomes.
這就是為什么一些遺傳學(xué)家曾經(jīng)認(rèn)為它可能與特定性別的染色體有關(guān)。
But we now know that that's probably not the case.
但我們現(xiàn)在知道，情況可能并非如此。
Newer research has found that mutations on other chromosomes, like chromosome 12, could be responsible.
最新的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，其他染色體的突變，比如12號(hào)染色體的突變，可能是罪魁禍?zhǔn)住?/div>
When researchers studied a group of families in Pakistan with a high concentration of people who stuttered,
當(dāng)研究人員對(duì)巴基斯坦的一組口吃家庭進(jìn)行研究時(shí)，
they found that 10% of those who did had mutations on chromosome 12.
發(fā)現(xiàn)他們中10%的人12號(hào)染色體有突變。
That might not sound like much, but there were almost no mutations on chromosome 12 among those who didn't stutter.
這聽起來可能不太多，但那些沒有口吃的人12號(hào)染色體幾乎沒有突變。
So, it's not a definite answer, but it's a useful clue for further research.
所以，它雖不是肯定的答案，但對(duì)進(jìn)一步的研究是個(gè)有用線索。
Scientists have also found some neurological differences between people who stutter and those who don't.
科學(xué)家們還發(fā)現(xiàn)，口吃的人與沒有口吃的人的某些神經(jīng)存在差異。
For example, they've noticed in different brain scans
比如，他們注意到在不同的腦部掃描中，
that there are areas on the left side of the brain, which are usually really active when you're talking,
大腦左側(cè)有一些區(qū)域在你講話時(shí)通常非常活躍，
that aren't as active in people who stutter.
而口吃者的這部分區(qū)域并不活躍。
There are also regions on the right side of the brain that you usually don't use to talk,
右腦也有一些區(qū)域，你說話時(shí)通常用不到，
but that are overly active in people who stutter.
但口吃者的這片區(qū)域過于活躍。
This could mean that when you stutter,
這可能意味著你在結(jié)巴時(shí)，
the right side of your brain is interfering with normal speech production on the left side.
你的右腦正在干擾左腦正常的語音生成。
That idea also supported by the fact
這個(gè)觀點(diǎn)也得到了一個(gè)事實(shí)的支持，
that the corpus callosum, the bundle of neurons that connects the two sides of your brain, is a bit bigger in some people who stutter.
即口吃者的胼胝體（連接大腦兩側(cè)的神經(jīng)元束）比較大。
When signals travel between the two halves of your brain,
當(dāng)信號(hào)在左右腦之間傳遞時(shí)，
they pass through the corpus callosum, so having a larger one could help transmit the interference.
它們會(huì)通過胼胝體，所以較大的胼胝體可能有助于傳遞干擾。
But that's still just a guess, we don't know for sure why there's a size difference.
但這只是猜測(cè)，我們不知道它們?yōu)槭裁磿?huì)有大小差異。
And, since kids' brains are developing at the same time as they're beginning to stutter,
由于孩子開始口吃的同時(shí)大腦也正在發(fā)育，
we don't know if those brain differences cause stuttering,
所以我們不知道是這些大腦差異導(dǎo)致得口吃，
or if growing up with a stutter is what makes the brain change.
還是成長中的口吃導(dǎo)致得大腦變化。
So, we still have a lot to learn about stuttering, and there is no cure for it yet.
所以，我們對(duì)口吃仍有很多要了解的地方，目前還沒有治愈方法。
But plenty of people manage their symptoms with treatment.
但是很多人通過治療來控制自己的癥狀。
One thing that helps is to make kids less anxious
有一件事很有幫助，那就是讓孩子們少些焦慮，
by teaching them that they haven't failed and that there's nothing to be ashamed of.
方法是教導(dǎo)他們自己還沒有失敗，沒有什么值得羞愧的。
Using direct instruction, like teaching them how some phrases sound, can also help,
使用直接的指導(dǎo)，比如教他們一些短語的發(fā)音，也可能有幫助，
but another useful tool is to slow down the conversation,
另一個(gè)有用的工具是放慢談話的節(jié)奏，
that way, the kid can get comfortable with simpler or slower sentences,
這樣，孩子們就能熟悉簡單或較慢的句子，
and then work their way up to more complicated ones.
然后他們?cè)僖徊讲綄W(xué)習(xí)更復(fù)雜的句子。
The best treatment depends on the person,
最好的治療取決于個(gè)人，
but there are a ton of ways to make stuttering less stressful and more manageable.
但是很多方法可以減少口吃帶來的壓力，使之更易于控制。
It's too late to help Newton, but as psychologists and neurologists do more research,
我們來不及幫助牛頓了，但隨著心理學(xué)家與神經(jīng)學(xué)家做更多的研究，
we're starting to be able to help more of today's stutterers.
現(xiàn)在，我們開始能夠幫助更多的口吃者了。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych,
感謝您收看本期的心理科學(xué)秀，
which was brought to you by all of our patrons on Patreon.
它是由Patreon的所有贊助人制作播出的。
If you would like to support the show and keep exploring all kinds of things about our brains,
如果你想支持我們的節(jié)目，繼續(xù)探索我們大腦的各種事情，
you can go to patreon.com/scishow.
可以登錄patreon.com/scishow。
And for new videos every week, you can visit youtube.com/scishowpsych and subscribe.
你要想看每周的新視頻，可以訪問youtube.com/scishowpsych并點(diǎn)擊訂閱。
