Text
Today's psychiatry has science—and it is science—and increasingly, it is offering hope for patients with autism. As director of the National Institute of Mental Health, Insel now heads an agency that funds autism research all over the nation and also conducts projects of its own. Thanks to revolutions in neuroscience and genetics, scientists are starting to unravel the shroud of mystery that has hung over autism since it was first described in 1943. But with each new discovery, more questions arise.
That includes the most fundamental question of all: what is autism? Although the basic symptoms are well defined, researchers are now trying to categorize the secondary ones, a suite so varied that Insel's colleagues have started referring to the disease as "autisms". Some children with the disorder never speak. Others "are so fluent that you can't shut them up," says Sarah Spence, a pediatric neurologist at the NIMH. About 20 percent of kids with autism hit early developmental milestones but regress around 15 to 18 months; the rest don't make it that far. What binds them together is largely unclear.
But autism is known to be highly heritable, and last month, in what was viewed as a major breakthrough, Vanderbilt University's Pat Levitt identified the first common gene that plays a role. The MET gene helps build the brain in utero and in childhood. A faulty variant appears in 47 percent of the population, the vast majority of whom are healthy—but a child who carries that variant also carries more than double the risk of the disease. Another, rarer gene, also implicated in brain development, was identified in August, and mutations on almost every chromosome have been suggested as possible culprits, including some implicated in rare disorders related to autism, such as Rett's Disorder and Fragile X. "There are perhaps hundreds of different causes, and I think the field is finally coming to grips with that." says UCLA neurogeneticist Dan Geschwind.
The NIMH is also newly interested in environmental factors that might set off the disorder in patients who are already genetically prone to it. U.S. scientists recently teamed up with counterparts in Denmark and Norway to screen samples of blood and amniotic fluid for possible toxins. And research is underway to see if viruses might be involved.
Scientists have also recently found several regions of the brain that differ from the norm in patients with autism (graphic), but none of them appears to be the sole problem. The key to the disorder likely lies not in one region but in the way the brain is wired. Some researchers pin the problem on defects in the brain's decentralized "mirror neuron" network, which allows healthy people to feel empathy. Other work shows that distant parts of the autistic brain are connected by too few fibers, while areas close to each other are connected by too many, tangled in thickets of "white matte".
小試牛刀
1. By using "are so fluent that you can't shut them up" in paragraph 2, the author refers to .
A. children who say something clearly and quickly and can't stop
B. children who have a desire to say something but can't speak out
C. children who say something smoothly and loudly and can't stop
D. children who keep saying all the time and don't want to stop
2. According to paragraph 3, may instigate the autism.
A. the first common gene
B. MET gene
C. a common variant
D. mutations on chromosome
3. What can we learn from UCLA neurogeneticist Dan Geschwind?
A. They have known hundreds of different causes of the disorder.
B. The field has finally grasped its most fundamental question.
C. They should keep on studying the causes of the disorder.
D. To know how to control the disorder is the most important thing.
4. According to the discovery in the last paragraph, what caused the disorder?
A. The abnormal region.
B. The structure of brain organization.
C. "Mirror Neuron".
D. The defects of brain's network.
5. What can we learn from the passage?
A. Autism become more and more mysterious even though there're many discoveries about it.
B. About 20% autistic kids have their early development advanced by 15 or 18 months.
C. Environment is the most important factor to cause the disorder.
D. "White matter" tangled in distant areas of the autistic brain.
核心詞彙
amniotic [æmnɪ'ɒtɪk]
adj.［動］羊膜的，羊膜動物的
categorize ['kætəɡəraɪz]
vt. 加以類別，分類
arise [ə'raɪz]
vi．出現，發生，起因於
chromosome ['krəʊməsəʊm]
n．［生物］染色體
autism ['ɔːtɪz(ə)m]
n．［心］自我中心主義，孤獨症
conduct ['kɒndʌkt]
vt．引導，管理，為人，傳導
bind [baɪnd]
vt．綁，鑲邊，裝訂，凝固，約束
counterpart ['kaʊntəpɑːt]
n．副本，極相似的人或物，配對物
defect ['dɪfɛkt]
n．過失，缺點
neuron ['nʊrɑn]
n．［解］神經細胞，神經元
empathy ['empəθɪ]
n．移情作用，［心］神入
neuroscience ['njuːrəʊsaɪəns]
n．神經系統科學（指神經病學、神經化學等)
fluent ['fluːənt]
adj．流利的，流暢的
gene [dʒiːn]
n．「遺傳］因子，基因
psychiatry [saɪ'kaɪətrɪ]
n．精神病學，精神病治療法
genetics [dʒɪ'netɪks]
n．遺傳學
regress [rɪ'gres]
n．退回，回歸，歸復權
grip [grɪp]
vt．緊握，緊夾
n．掌握，控制
symptom ['sɪm(p)təm]
n．［醫］［植］症狀，徵兆
heritable ['herɪtəb(ə)l]
adj. 可遺傳的，可繼承的
tangle ['tæŋg(ə)l]
n．混亂狀態
vt．處於混亂狀態
mystery [ˈmɪst(ə)ri]
n．神秘，神秘的事物
thicket ['θɪkɪt]
n．灌木叢
neurologist [,njʊə'rɒlədʒɪst]
n．神經學者，神經科專門醫師
variant ['veərɪənt]
n．變量
長難句解析
1. Thanks to revolutions in neuroscience and genetics, scientists are starting to unravel the shroud of mystery that has hung over autism since it was first described in 1943.
結構分析： 本句是一個複合句。主句是 Thanks to revolutions... the shroud of mystery；that引導一個定語從句，來修飾 the shroud of mystery； since引導的是一個時間狀語從句。
參考譯文： 自閉症這一說法的最初出現是在1943年，由於神經科學和遺傳學的改革，科學家們揭開了自閉症的神秘面紗。
2. Although the basic symptoms are well defined, researchers are now trying to categorize the secondary ones, a suite so varied that Insel's colleagues have started referring to the disease as "autism".
結構分析： 本句是一個複合句。主句是 researchers are... secondary ones； Although引導一個讓步狀語從句，同時又是一個被動句； a suite是作 the secondary ones的同位語：後面出現了一個so... that引導的結果狀語從句。
參考譯文： 雖然自閉症的基本症狀已有了明確的定義，但研究人員還在試圖對一些次級概念進行分類研究。這些研究人員的看法各異，因塞爾的同事們開始提出「孤獨症」這種疾病。
3. But autism is known to be highly heritable, and last month, in what was viewed as a major breakthrough, Vanderbilt University's Pat Levitt identified the first common gene that plays a role.
結構分析： 本句是一個並列句。and連接前後兩個分句；前一個分句是一個被動句，由is known to可以看出；What引導一個賓語從句，來做介詞in的賓語，同時又是一個被動句；最後出現了一個that引導的定語從句，來修飾the first common gene。
參考譯文： 但是，據說自閉症的遺傳機率很高。上個月是一個有著重大突破的月份，因為範德比特大學的派特·李維特指出人體最初的總基因起到了重要的作用。
怎麼樣？你覺得今天的文章難嗎？
小貼士：
後臺回復「6.9題源報刊」獲取今日題目
解析&參考譯文。
長按二維碼關注 朱偉老師 公眾號
有趣、有料、有乾貨
已經報名19考研籤約全程班的同學無需購買，《新版題源報刊泛讀100篇》&《新版題源報刊精讀30篇》已包含在直通車裡。
「閱讀原文」，報名2019最新題源報刊課程