ou know how eye contact is a pretty important component¹ of interacting with people, right?

我们都知道在与人交流时目光交流很重要。

So scientists recently tested this by measuring people's brain activity as they responded to pictures of angry people and pictures of people who look afraid.

因此，科学家最近做了这样一个实验：给被实验者看一些发怒的人和看起来让人害怕的人的照片，测量当时他们的大脑活动。

It turns out that eye contact plays an important role when people are evaluating potential threats.

结果发现，人们在评估潜在威胁时，目光接触起着重要的作用。

If we measured your brain activity, we'd see that the part of their brain that regulates emotions and detects potential threats is hard at work.

如果测量大脑活动，我们会看到大脑的一部分控制着情绪，并会察觉出潜在威胁。

On the other hand, if I've been scowling² at something else, like this microphone, this wouldn't have bothered you nearly as much. And the exact opposite is true for fear.

另一方面，如果我是盯着其他东西，像话筒，就不会使你感到不安。

If I was staring at something and looking really frightened, your brain would work harder to figure out if whatever is scaring me may also pose a danger to you.

如果我盯着一样东西看并受到惊吓，你的大脑就会努力找出，使我害怕的东西是否会对你造成危险。

Eye contact means different things in different situations.

在不同情况下，目光交流的意义也不同。

If you're mad and looking at me, you might be a threat.

如果你很生气地看着我，你可能会成为一种威胁。

But if you're scared and looking at me, it's unlikely that you're going to attack.

但是如果你是受到惊吓然后看着某个人，就不大可能表现出攻击性。

Right, so what the study suggests is that when you're studying emotions, you have to take eye contact into consideration.

所以，研究表明，当你在观察别人情绪时，必须考虑目光交流。

It also suggests that in ambiguous situations, your brain has to do more work to process other people's facial expressions in order to be able to evaluate the situation and respond appropriately.

研究还表明，在模凌两可的情况下，为了正确评估形势和做出适当的反应，大脑需要做个更多的工作来处理其他人的面部表情。