导读：如今，不少人都喜欢拿出手机刷刷短视频，在社交媒体平台上也诞生了无数爆款视频。那么，这些看似毫无关联的爆款视频是否可以被预测呢？斯坦福大学科研团队有了一项有趣的发现……

Whether its Chinese social media like Sina Weibo， or Western media like Instagram and Facebook， videos can go viral in mere hours. The wide range of viral videos suggests that popular concepts are largely random.

According to scientists from Stanford University， US， the virality of a video can be predicted by looking at how certain areas of a persons brain are activated within the first few seconds of a video. This method has been called neuroforecasting.

The team made the finding by recruiting 36 volunteers to watch a range of videos while being scanned with an fMRI—a machine that can detect the changes in blood oxygen and flow.

Participants were shown 32 different videos and were monitored according to their brain responses in four different areas. The results showed that specific brain activity during the first four seconds of a video could effectively predict a persons thoughts on a video and whether they would keep watching.

Using the fMRI results， the Stanford team consistently saw increased activity in the nucleus accumbens and decreased activity in the anterior insula parts of the brain while the participants were watching the most popular of the 32-video selection.

According to the study， these two brain regions are related to the feeling of anticipation we get when were not certain of somethings outcome.

Stanford neuroscientist， and the studys author， Brian Knutson， said， “If we examine our subjects choices to watch the video or even their reported responses to the videos， they dont tell us about the general response online… Only brain activity seems to forecast a videos popularity on the Internet.”

He added， “Future research might also systematically deconstruct video content so content creators can use these findings to make their videos more popular.”

Word Study

go viral 像病毒一樣传播开来

In the new world of social media， board actions instantly go viral.

activate /'?kt?ve?t/ v. 使活动;激活

The burglar alarm is activated by movement.

recruit /r?'kru?t/ v. 吸收;征募

They recruited several new members to the club.

detect /d?'tekt/ v. 发现;查明

The tests are designed to detect the disease early.

selection /s?'lek?n/ n. 被挑选的人（或物）;挑选

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