Fear may be felt in the heart as well as in the head, according to a study that has found a link between the cycles of a beating heart and the chance of someone feeling fear.
Tests on healthy volunteers found that they were more likely to feel a sense of fear at the moment when their hearts are contracting(收缩) and pumping blood around their bodies, pared with the point when the heartbeat is relaxed. Scientists say the results suggest that the heart is able to influence how the brain responds to a fearful event, depending on which point it is at in its regular cycle of contraction and relaxation.
Sarah Garfinkel at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School said: Our study shows for the first time that the way in which we deal with fear is different depending on when we see fearful pictures in relation to our heart.
The study tested 20 healthy volunteers on their reactions to fear as they were shown pictures of fearful faces. Dr Garfinkel said, The study showed that fearful faces are better noticed when the heart is pumping than when it is relaxed. Thus our hearts can also affect what we see and what we don't see - and guide whether we see fear.
To further understand this relationship, the scientists also used a brain scanner(扫描仪) to show how the brain influences the way the heart changes a person's feeling of fear. “We have found an important mechanism by which the heart and brain ‘speak’to each other to change our feelings and reduce fear, Dr Garfinkel said.
We hope that by increasing our understanding about how fear is dealt with and ways that it could be reduced, we may be able to develop more successful treatments for anxiety disorders, and also for those for those who may be suffering from serious stress disorder.
【小题1】What is the finding of the study?A．One's heart affects how he feels fear.B．fear is a result of one's relaxed heartbeat.C．fear has something to do with one's health.D．Ones fast heartbeats are likely to cause fear.【小题2】The study was carried out by analyzing .A．volunteers' heartbeats when they saw terrible picturesB．the time volunteers saw fearful pictures and their health conditionsC．volunteers' reactions to horrible pictures and data from their brain scansD．different pictures shown to volunteers and their heart-brain munication【小题3】Which of the following is closest in meaning to mechanism in Paragraph 6?A．Order.B．system.C．machine.D．treatment.【小题4】This study may contribute to .A．treating anxiety and stress betterB．explaining the cycle of fear and anxietyC．finding the sky to the heart-brain municationD．understanding different fears in our hearts and headsA
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(答案→)A
解析：
【文章大意】：本文属于科普文，介绍了心脏与恐惧的关系。通过两次试验，研究者发现这两者之间的关系，同时借助这一发现，研究者希望能够减轻或者治疗恐惧和压力所带来的诸多问题。
【小题1】根据文章第一段第一句Fear may be felt in the heart as well as in the head, according to a study that has found a link between the cycles of a beating heart and the chance of someone feeling fear.可以得出本题答案A。C选项表述与本文无关，D选项表述不正确。
【小题2】根据文章第四段第一句The study tested 20 healthy volunteers on their reactions to fear as they were shown pictures of fearful faces.以及第五段第一句To further understand this relationship, the scientists also used a brain scanner(扫描仪) to show how the brain influences the way the heart changes a person's feeling of fear.可以得出本题答案C。
【小题3】mechanism 机制，技能。
【小题4】根据文章最后一段We hope that by increasing our understanding about how fear is dealt with and ways that it could be reduced, we may be able to develop more successful treatments for anxiety disorders, and also for those for those who may be suffering from serious stress disorder.可以得出本题答案。