脑岛是我关心的一个脑区。这篇科普性较强的文章也还行（文章后没附参考文献，不得不说价值大打折扣啊），逐字读完了全文，顺便根据自己的理解做了翻译，和楼主对照一下。
这篇文章的价值主要是可以扩大视野，但是对这篇文章全文翻译，不值。不过既然楼主翻译，我也顺便搭车翻译了；写综述可以快速扫扫看这个文章。
中文第一行是楼主翻译，第二行是我的翻译，大家有什么精妙翻译或者发现问题，不妨继续跟帖。
Insula Is A Small Part of the Brain, But Has Profound Effects As Control-Center In Humans
脑岛——大脑的一小部分，却对人类的控制中心起重要作用
脑岛——人类大脑的一小部分，却作为控制中心发挥着重要作用
By Sanjay Sharma, Section News
Posted on Fri Feb 23, 2007 at 06:17:21 PM EST
The recent news about smoking was sensational: some people with damage to a prune-size slab of brain tissue called the insula were able to give up cigarettes instantly. Suppose scientists could figure out how to tweak the insula without damaging it. They might be able to create that famed and elusive free lunch ? an effortless way to kick the cigarette habit.
最近新闻说吸烟是耸人听闻的：一些脑岛受损的病人可以马上戒掉烟瘾。如果科学家能想出在不损伤脑岛的前提下扭曲它，那么可能可以使大部分人无需努力就戒掉烟瘾了。
最近有一条关于吸烟的新闻非常震撼：一些脑岛受损的病人可以马上戒掉烟瘾。如果科学家能想出在不损伤脑岛的前提下挤捏它，那么众多烟民可能就会享受到翘首已久的免费午餐，无需努力就戒掉烟瘾了。
That dream, which may not be too far off, puts the insula in the spotlight. What is the insula and how could it possibly exert such profound effects on human behavior?
这个看似不远的愿景，将脑岛变成了大众的焦点。脑岛是什么？如何对人类的行为产生深远的影响？
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• According to neuroscientists who study it, the insula is a long-neglected brain region that has emerged as crucial to understanding what it feels like to be human.
• 根据家的解释，脑岛是一个长期被忽视的，但对于理解人类行为十分重要的脑区
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• They say it is the wellspring of social emotions, things like lust and disgust, pride and humiliation, guilt and atonement. It helps give rise to moral intuition, empathy and the capacity to respond emotionally to music.
• 神经科学家们坦言，脑岛是性欲、恶心、骄傲、羞耻、内疚和补偿等社会的源泉。脑岛会引起道德感、以及对音乐的情绪反应。
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• Its anatomy and evolution shed light on the profound differences between humans and other animals.
• 脑岛的进化对人类与其他动物的差异产生了重要的作用。
研究脑岛的结构和进化为研究人和其他动物的巨大差异带来了启示。
The insula also reads body states like hunger and craving and helps push people into reaching for the next sandwich, cigarette or line of cocaine. So insula research offers new ways to think about treating drug addiction, alcoholism, anxiety and eating disorders.
脑岛会感知躯体状态，如饥饿、拿到三明治、香烟或者可卡因。因此，脑岛的研究为治疗药物依赖、酒精症、和进食障碍提供了新的途径。
脑岛会感知躯体状态，如饥饿和渴求，驱使人去拿取更多的三明治、香烟或者可卡因。因此，脑岛的研究为治疗药物依赖、酒精症、焦虑和进食障碍提供了新的思路。
Of course, so much about the brain remains to be discovered that the insula?s role may be a minor character in the play of the human mind. It is just now coming on stage.
当然，关于脑岛的研究还在继续。
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The activity of the insula in so many areas is something of a puzzle. ?People have had a hard time conceptualizing what the insula does,? said Dr. Martin Paulus, a psychiatrist at the University of California, San Diego.
If it does everything, what exactly is it that it does?
For example, the insula ?lights up? in brain scans when people crave drugs, feel pain, anticipate pain, empathize with others, listen to jokes, see disgust on someone?s face, are shunned in a social settings, listen to music, decide not to buy an item, see someone cheat and decide to punish them, and determine degrees of preference while eating chocolate.
当人们想吸毒时、有痛感时、预期到痛感时、对别人产生共情时、听笑话时、感觉恶心时，遭受社会拒绝时、听音乐时、买东西时、看别人欺骗时、决定惩罚别人时、决定吃巧克力的偏好时，脑岛都会发亮。
当人们想吸毒时、有痛感时、预期到痛感时、对别人产生共情时、听笑话时、看到别人露出恶心表情时，遭受社会性忽略被冷场时、听音乐时、决定不买某个东西时、看别人欺骗并决定惩罚别人时、评定巧克力偏好时，扫描他们的大脑会发现脑岛都会强烈激活。
Damage to the insula can lead to apathy, loss of libido and an inability to tell fresh food from rotten.
脑岛的损伤会引起淡漠、欲望减少、无法辨别新鲜与变质的食品。
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The bottom line, according to Dr. Paulus and others, is that mind and body are integrated in the insula. It provides unprecedented insight into the anatomy of human emotions.
Dr. Paulus等人总结说，心灵与躯体在脑岛整合，脑岛的研究对人类情绪的洞察是前所未有的。
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Of course, like every important brain structure, the insula ? there are actually two, one on each side of the brain ? does not act alone. It is part of multiple circuits.
和其他脑区一样，脑岛也是两个半球各有一个，是各种神经通路的一部分。
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The insula itself is a sort of receiving zone that reads the physiological state of the entire body and then generates subjective feelings that can bring about actions, like eating, that keep the body in a state of internal balance. Information from the insula is relayed to other brain structures that appear to be involved in decision making, especially the anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortices.
脑岛本身接受躯体生理状态的信息，然后产生主观体验，比如进食以保持体内的平衡。脑岛的信息再传导至其他决策相关的脑区，尤其是前扣带回和前额叶皮层。
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(Click on "Full Story" for more.)
The insula was long ignored for two reasons, researchers said. First, because it is folded and tucked deep within the brain, scientists could not probe it with shallow electrodes. It took the invention of brain imaging techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to watch it in action.
脑岛以前被忽略有两大原因：第一，脑岛深居在大脑内侧，科学家无法直接用电极探测，需要采用脑成像技术（如fMRI），观察它的反应。
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Second, the insula was ?assigned to the brain?s netherworld,? said John Allman, a neuroscientist at the California Institute of Technology. It was mistakenly defined as a primitive part of the brain involved only in functions like eating and sex. Ambitious scientists studied higher, more rational parts of the brain, he said.
第二，脑岛曾被误认为是大脑的原始部分，只负责食与性。科学家们以前研究更高级，更理性的脑区。
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The insula emerged from darkness a decade ago when Antonio Damasio, a neuroscientist now at the University of Southern California, developed the so-called somatic marker hypothesis, the idea that rational thinking cannot be separated from feelings and emotions. The insula, he said, plays a starring role.
Another neuroscientist, Arthur D. Craig at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, went on to describe exactly the circuitry that connects the body to the insula.
南加州大学的神经科学家Antonio Damasio提出一套所谓的somatic marker hypothesis，将脑岛从黑暗中拉出来的。SMH认为理性思考不能独立于体验与情绪，脑岛在其中起着重要的作用。另一位神经科学家Arthur D. Craig继续描述躯体与脑岛联系的神经通路。
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According to Dr. Craig, the insula receives information from receptors in the skin and internal organs. Such receptors are nerve cells that specialize in different senses. Thus there are receptors that detect heat, cold, itch, pain, taste, hunger, thirst, muscle ache, visceral sensations and so-called air hunger, the need to breathe. The sense of touch and the sense of the body?s position in space are routed to different brain regions, he said.
根据Craig博士的研究，脑岛接受来自内脏与皮肤感受器的信号。这些感受器特异于某一种感觉，包括冷热感、痒、痛、味觉、饥饿、口渴、肌肉疼痛、内脏感觉以及空气感觉。触觉和躯体对位置的感觉则在其他的脑区。
根据Craig博士（痛领域大牛，我一个师姐在其下做猴子的电生理研究）的研究，脑岛接受来自内脏与皮肤感受器的信号。这些感受器特异于某一种感觉，包括冷、热、痒、痛、味觉、饥饿、口渴、肌肉疼痛、内脏感觉以及气饥(air hunger)的感觉。触觉和躯体的空间位置感觉感受器则投射到其他的脑区。
