美國人爲了更快地學外語，居然要改造大腦？
It's not easy being a soldier or a spy: you have to immerse yourself in dangerous situations, assess intelligence in the field, speak foreign languages, and handle all kinds of technical equipment and weaponry.
當個士兵或者間諜可並不容易：你得把自己置身於危險的環境中、在前線收集情報、講外語，還得操弄各種技術裝備和武器。
Learning how to do all of that takes a lot of training, which is why the research wing of the US Department of Defence wants to figure out ways to make its workers learn these vital skills quicker – even if they have to zap them to do it.
要學會這些，你得接受大量的訓練；而因爲這個原因，美國國防部的研究團隊打算找出一個方法，好讓他們的僱員能夠更快地學會這些至關重要的技能——就算得把他們折騰死也在所不惜。
To explore these possibilities, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has just awarded more than an estimated US$50 million in funding to eight teams looking into how electrical stimulation of the nervous system can help facilitate learning.
爲了探索這些可能性，國防高級研究設計局剛剛給8個團隊提供了預估相當於50,000美金的資金，這8個團隊正在研究如何通過對神經系統進行電刺激來提高學習能力。
The four-year program, called Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (TNT), aims to identify safe and optimal neurostimulation methods that can activate what's called synaptic plasticity – the ability of synapses to strengthen or weaken, and by doing so, learn how to do new things and make memories.
這個爲期4年的項目叫做“神經可塑性靶向訓練”，它旨在找出一種安全且最優的神經刺激方式來激發所謂的“突觸可塑性”；“突觸可塑性”指的是突觸可以強化或者弱化，我們可以通過這個現象來學習新東西並製造記憶。
"The Defence Department operates in a complex, interconnected world in which human skills such as communication and analysis are vital, and the Department has long pushed the frontiers of training to maximise those skills," says bioengineer Doug Weber, who manages the TNT program.“
國防部的運作環境是複雜的，而且是高度連接的；在這樣的環境中，人的交流能力和分析能力至關重要；國防部長久以來一直在拓展訓練的極限，以此使這些技能達到最優化。”作爲TNT項目負責人的生物工程師道格·韋伯如是說。
