Many of us have reached in our pockets, feeling a vibration, wrongly believing our mobile phones have just rung.
许多人都曾有过这样的错觉：觉得手机在振动，于是去口袋拿手机，结果手机根本没响。
The phenomenon even has a name: "phantom vibration syndrome" – and found it is surprisingly common.
这一现象甚至有自己的名称，叫“振动幻听综合症”。研究显示这种症状极为常见，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.
目前科学家认为，这是因为人们对电话和短信太过敏感，从而把轻微的肌肉痉挛误当做是来电的信号。
Robert Rosenberger, an assistant professor at the Georgia Tech Institute of Technology has studied the delusional calls.
乔治亚理工学院的助理教授罗伯特·罗森伯格对手机幻听现象进行了研究。
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".
罗森伯格称，手机幻听人士会有一种隐约的麻刺感，他们以为是静音状态下手机的来电或短信提醒。
But when the device is retrieved, there was no one on the other end.
但把手机拿过来才发现它根本没响。
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.'"
罗森伯格博士表示，他发现很多患者会说“我有手机幻听，但以为只有我自己这样，还一度觉得自己不太正常。”
It seems that the syndrome particularly affects people at the beck and call of mobile phones or pagers.
人们在等待电话或寻呼机呼叫时，这种症状似乎尤其容易出现。
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，迈克尔·罗斯博格和同事对马萨诸塞州的一所医院进行了调研，发现近70%医生的手机有过“幽灵震动”。
A more recent study of US college students found the figure was as high as 90 per cent.
而在最近针对美国大学生的一项研究中，有震动幻听的人数高达90%。
While the odd feeling is widespread, it does not seem to be considered a grave problem.
尽管越来越多的人受到手机幻听的干扰，但人们似乎并没把它当做一个严重的问题。
Dr Rosenberger said: "It’s not actually a syndrome in a technical sense. That’s just the name that’s got stuck to it."
罗森伯格博士说：“严格来说，手机幻听其实不是一种病。我们只是给它起了一个这样的名字而已。”
He added: "only 2 per cent of people consider it a problem."
他补充道：“只有2%的人重视这个问题。”
While widespread, the scientific community has not yet invested much effort in getting to the bottom of why we suffer phantom calls.
尽管“幽灵来电”越来越普遍，但科学界并未投入太多精力来深究其产生的根本原因。
Dr Rosenberger said: "People are guessing it has something to do with nervous energy."
罗森伯格博士说：“人们猜测幻听的产生可能与紧张情绪有关。”
"The cognitive scientists are talking about brain chemistry, cognitive pathways changing. But it’s not like they have brain scans to go on."
“认知学家认为这是一种脑化学反应，导致认知路径发生了改变。但他们并未通过脑部扫描来进一步证明这一点。”
He said: "We have a phone call in our pocket all the time and it becomes sort of an extension of ourselves."
他说：“我们兜里的手机经常会响，这种情况已经成为我们本身的一部分了。”
"We have this sort of readiness to experience a call. We feel something and we think, OK, that could be a call."
“我们随时准备着接电话。有了类似手机振动的感觉，我们会想，嗯，应该是来电话了。”
Vocabulary
phantom：幽灵的；幻觉的
vague：模糊的；含糊的；不明确的