Many of us have reached in our pockets, feeling a vibration, wrongly believing our mobile phones have just rung.
許多人都曾有過這樣的錯覺：覺得手機(jī)在振動，于是去口袋拿手機(jī)，結(jié)果手機(jī)根本沒響。

The phenomenon even has a name: "phantom vibration syndrome" – and found it is surprisingly common.
這一現(xiàn)象甚至有自己的名稱，叫“振動幻聽綜合癥”。研究顯示這種癥狀極為常見，很多人都有。

Now scientists believe that we are so alert for phone calls and messages we are misinterpreting slight muscle spasms as proof of a call.
目前科學(xué)家認(rèn)為，這是因?yàn)槿藗儗﹄娫捄投绦盘^敏感，從而把輕微的肌肉痙攣誤當(dāng)做是來電的信號。

Robert Rosenberger, an assistant professor at the Georgia Tech Institute of Technology has studied the delusional calls.
喬治亞理工學(xué)院的助理教授羅伯特·羅森伯格對手機(jī)幻聽現(xiàn)象進(jìn)行了研究。

He said sufferers describe a vague tingling feeling which they think is their mobile phone indicating it has received a text message or call while on "silent".
羅森伯格稱，手機(jī)幻聽人士會有一種隱約的麻刺感，他們以為是靜音狀態(tài)下手機(jī)的來電或短信提醒。

But when the device is retrieved, there was no one on the other end.
但把手機(jī)拿過來才發(fā)現(xiàn)它根本沒響。

Dr Rosenberger said "I find so many people say, 'This happens to me, but I thought I was the only one, I thought I was weird.'"
羅森伯格博士表示，他發(fā)現(xiàn)很多患者會說“我有手機(jī)幻聽，但以為只有我自己這樣，還一度覺得自己不太正常?！?/p>

It seems that the syndrome particularly affects people at the beck and call of mobile phones or pagers.
人們在等待電話或?qū)ず魴C(jī)呼叫時，這種癥狀似乎尤其容易出現(xiàn)。

A 2010 study by Michael Rothberg and colleagues found that nearly 70 per cent of doctors at a hospital in Massachusetts suffered phantom vibrations.
2010年，邁克爾·羅斯博格和同事對馬薩諸塞州的一所醫(yī)院進(jìn)行了調(diào)研，發(fā)現(xiàn)近70%醫(yī)生的手機(jī)有過“幽靈震動”。

A more recent study of US college students found the figure was as high as 90 per cent.
而在最近針對美國大學(xué)生的一項研究中，有震動幻聽的人數(shù)高達(dá)90%。

While the odd feeling is widespread, it does not seem to be considered a grave problem.
盡管越來越多的人受到手機(jī)幻聽的干擾，但人們似乎并沒把它當(dāng)做一個嚴(yán)重的問題。

Dr Rosenberger said: "It’s not actually a syndrome in a technical sense. That’s just the name that’s got stuck to it."
羅森伯格博士說：“嚴(yán)格來說，手機(jī)幻聽其實(shí)不是一種病。我們只是給它起了一個這樣的名字而已?！?/p>

He added: "Only 2 per cent of people consider it a problem."
他補(bǔ)充道：“只有2%的人重視這個問題?！?/p>

While widespread, the scientific community has not yet invested much effort in getting to the bottom of why we suffer phantom calls.
盡管“幽靈來電”越來越普遍，但科學(xué)界并未投入太多精力來深究其產(chǎn)生的根本原因。

Dr Rosenberger said: "People are guessing it has something to do with nervous energy."
羅森伯格博士說：“人們猜測幻聽的產(chǎn)生可能與緊張情緒有關(guān)?！?/p>

"The cognitive scientists are talking about brain chemistry, cognitive pathways changing. But it’s not like they have brain scans to go on."
“認(rèn)知學(xué)家認(rèn)為這是一種腦化學(xué)反應(yīng)，導(dǎo)致認(rèn)知路徑發(fā)生了改變。但他們并未通過腦部掃描來進(jìn)一步證明這一點(diǎn)?！?/p>

He said: "We have a phone call in our pocket all the time and it becomes sort of an extension of ourselves."
他說：“我們兜里的手機(jī)經(jīng)常會響，這種情況已經(jīng)成為我們本身的一部分了?！?/p>

"We have this sort of readiness to experience a call. We feel something and we think, OK, that could be a call."
“我們隨時準(zhǔn)備著接電話。有了類似手機(jī)振動的感覺，我們會想，嗯，應(yīng)該是來電話了?！?/p>

Vocabulary
phantom：幽靈的；幻覺的
vague：模糊的；含糊的；不明確的

英文來源：每日郵報
譯者：zjm2582185
審校&編輯：杜娟