What if we could look inside human brains? - Moran Cerf

窥探人脑内部——莫兰·塞尔夫

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

翻译人员: Yinglei Li 校对人员: Ying Wang

The brain is the center of all of our thoughts,

大脑是我们所有思想，

dreams,

梦境

emotions,

情感

and memories.

记忆的中心。

It's what makes us who we are.

大脑决定了我们是谁。

But, there is still a lot that we don't know about the brain.

但关于大脑我们还知之甚少。

Scientists have worked for years

科学家们已经多年致力于人脑的研究

on trying to understand the human brain

意图全面了解大脑

using techniques like EEG and FMRI,

通过脑电图扫描器（EEG）和功能磁共振成像技术（FMRI）

where we scan the brain from the outside.

我们可以从外部扫描大脑。

But what if we could look inside the brains of humans

但是我们可以从内部窥探人脑

and watch them as they work?

的运作过程吗？

Well, now we can

现在，这点已经能够做到了。

by looking at the brains of people

实现这点的方法是研究一些病人的大脑，

who are already going through surgery for clinical reasons,

这些病人为了治疗癫痫或其他病症

like curing epilepsy.

都已接受过临床手术。

Epilepsy is a disease

癫痫的起因

in which a faulty part of the brain

是大脑的一部分出现故障

starts working spontaneously for no apparent reason.

没来由地自发运作起来。

It's like an earthquake

就好像在你大脑里

but inside your head.

发生了一场地震。

There's no way to know in advance

病情何时会发作

when a seizure will occur,

我们无法提前得知，

so the patients are always at risk

所以对病人而言

of unexpectedly losing control.

随时都有失控的危险。

There are drugs that treat epilepsy,

有药物可以治疗癫痫

but these don't always work.

但并不是对所有病人都有效

Some patients who don't respond well to the drugs

那些靠药物无法改善病情的病人

can undergo a different treatment

就要接受另一种治疗方式

where the faulty part in their brain,

他们大脑里引发癫痫

the part that starts the seizures,

出故障的部分

is surgically removed.

可以通过外科手术被摘除。

The challenge is knowing which part to take out.

问题在于要摘除的究竟是哪一部分

How do you figure out which bit of the brain is faulty?

怎样才能辨别出大脑的哪部分出了问题？

In order to find the exact location of the seizure onset,

为了找出大脑中触发癫痫的具体部位，

doctors embed electrodes directly into the patient's brain

医生在病人脑中可能的部位

around the suspected seizure center.

直接植入电极。

The patient then stays in the hospital for a few days,

病人需要住院几天

waiting to have a seizure

等待癫痫发作，

with the electrodes constantly recording

期间电极会持续不断地记录下

the activity inside his or her brain.

病人脑中的活动情况

Yes, now we want the patient to have a seizure

当癫痫发作时

so doctors can use the embedded electrodes

医生就可以通过植入的电极

to measure it and learn exactly where its origin was.

测量到发病根源的具体位置

After doctors are sure where the seizures

只要医生确定了癫痫病源

come from in the brain,

位于大脑的哪一部分，

they can take the electrodes out.

就可以取出电极了。

Now they know what part of the brain they can remove

只要摘除定位到的问题部分

in order to cure the patient.

即可医治病人

These brain electrodes can tell us

大脑电极能做的

more than just where the seizures happen.

还不单单是告诉我们癫痫的根源。

Based on where the doctors place the electrodes in the brain,

医生可以将电极植入大脑的任何位置，

we can ask questions about what the brain does.

这样就能观测到大脑每一部分的功能。

Sometimes we find one cell that starts bursting in activity

有几次我们发现，每当一位病人看到特定的图片时，

every time the patient sees a particular picture,

比如玛丽莲·梦露的照片，

for example, a picture of Marilyn Monroe.

大脑中的某个细胞就开始活跃起来。

See, every time the patient sees Marilyn Monroe,

也就是说每次病人看到玛丽莲·梦露，

some specific cells fire in the brain.

脑中的特定细胞就会变得兴奋。

You can now know when the patient is thinking of Marilyn Monroe

因此只要观察到这些细胞进入兴奋状态

just by listening to these cells fire.

就能知道病人在想玛丽莲·梦露了。

When we find one or a few of these cells with each patient,

现在只要我们定位了每位病人的这种细胞

we can then do all kinds of fancy things.

就可以观察到做很多神奇的事。

For example, we can connect the recording electrode

比如，我们将电极的另一端

to a cursor on a screen

连接到屏幕上的光标

and have the patient move the cursor left or right

病人只需进行一些思考

just by thinking of things.

光标就会跟着左右移动

This can help people

通过这一方式

who lost the ability to move their hands,

那些因脊髓损伤或在战争中受伤

like people with spinal cord injuries or wounded soldiers,

而失去双手功能的人

by having them control a prosthetic arm

可以直接运用大脑

directly with their brain.

来控制他们的假肢.

Our brain is a brilliant device

人脑是一台不可思议的机器，

which can make predictions about the future.

它能预测未来。

For example, we can all know

比如，你能猜到

which word will appear at the end of this...

我将用哪个词来结束这句……

sentence.

话

The brain can solve complicated problems,

大脑能解决复杂的问题

imagine the entire universe,

假想全宇宙的形态

and grasp concepts such as infinity

理解“无穷”一词的含义

or unicorns.

或者想象独角兽的形象。

The brain produces complex emotions like love or jealousy,

大脑使人产生爱或嫉妒这样复杂的情感

it's what makes us creative and curious,

因为有大脑，我们拥有创造力、怀有好奇心，

and it can even contemplate about itself.

大脑甚至还会对其自身进行反省。

And the brain is the organ we use to study the brain.

我们利用大脑这一器官来研究大脑

I think that the brain is the most beautiful organ in our body,

我觉得大脑是我们身上最美丽的器官。

but then I ask myself,

但我马上又问自己：

"Which organ is making me think that?"

“是哪个器官让我这样想的？”