The neurons that shaped civilization | VS Ramachandran

310,811 views

2010-01-04 ・ TED


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The neurons that shaped civilization | VS Ramachandran

310,811 views ・ 2010-01-04

TED


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

Translator: Andrés Suárez Reviewer: Andrés Suárez
00:15
I'd like to talk to you today about the human brain,
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Güei quedría falaros del celebru humanu,
00:18
which is what we do research on at the University of California.
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que ye lo que investigamos na Universidá de California.
00:20
Just think about this problem for a second.
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Pensái n'esti problema un segundu.
00:22
Here is a lump of flesh, about three pounds,
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Equí hai un bultu de carne, de kilu y mediu,
00:25
which you can hold in the palm of your hand.
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que pués sostener na palma de la mano.
00:27
But it can contemplate the vastness of interstellar space.
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Pero pué contemplar la inmensidá del espaciu interestelar.
00:31
It can contemplate the meaning of infinity,
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Pué contemplar el significáu d' infinitú.
00:33
ask questions about the meaning of its own existence,
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entrugar preguntes sobre'l significáu de la so propia esistencia,
00:36
about the nature of God.
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de la naturaleza de Dios.
00:38
And this is truly the most amazing thing in the world.
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Y esto ye verdaderamente la cosa más apasionante nel mundu.
00:40
It's the greatest mystery confronting human beings:
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Ye'l mayor misteriu de los seres humanos.
00:43
How does this all come about?
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D'ú vien tó esto?
00:45
Well, the brain, as you know, is made up of neurons.
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Bono, el celebru, como sabe, ta fechu de neurones.
00:47
We're looking at neurons here.
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Equí tamos viendo neurones.
00:49
There are 100 billion neurons in the adult human brain.
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Hai 100 billones de neurones nel celebru d'un home adultu.
00:52
And each neuron makes something like 1,000 to 10,000 contacts
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Y cada neurona fái ente 1000 y 10000 contautos
00:55
with other neurons in the brain.
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con otres neurones del celebru.
00:57
And based on this, people have calculated
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Y basáu n'esto, xente calculara
00:59
that the number of permutations and combinations of brain activity
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qu'el númberu de permutaciones y combinaciones de l'actividá celebral
01:02
exceeds the number of elementary particles in the universe.
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supera'l númberu de partícules elementales nel universu.
01:05
So, how do you go about studying the brain?
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Asina que, ¿cómo estudies el celebru?
01:07
One approach is to look at patients who had lesions
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Una posibilidá ye mirar a pacientes que tuvieran lesiones
01:09
in different part of the brain, and study changes in their behavior.
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en diferentes partes del celebru, y estudiar cambios na so conducta.
01:12
This is what I spoke about in the last TED.
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D'eso falé na última TED.
01:14
Today I'll talk about a different approach,
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Güei voy falar d'un otru abordaxe
01:16
which is to put electrodes in different parts of the brain,
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que ye poner electrodos en diferentes partes del celebru,
01:18
and actually record the activity of individual nerve cells in the brain.
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y grabar l'actividá real de céllules individuales nel celebru.
01:22
Sort of eavesdrop on the activity of nerve cells in the brain.
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Ye como espiar l'actividá des célules nervioses.
01:26
Now, one recent discovery that has been made
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Y un descubrimientu reciente fechu
01:29
by researchers in Italy, in Parma,
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por investigaores n'Italia, en Parma,
01:31
by Giacomo Rizzolatti and his colleagues,
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por Giacomo Rizzolatti y los sos collacios,
01:34
is a group of neurons called mirror neurons,
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ye un grupu de neurones llamáu neurones espexu,
01:36
which are on the front of the brain in the frontal lobes.
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que tan alantre nel celebru, nos llóbulos frontales.
01:39
Now, it turns out there are neurons
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Y xurde qu'hai neurones
01:41
which are called ordinary motor command neurons in the front of the brain,
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que se llamen neurones d'órdenes motores ordinarias na parte anterior del celebru,
01:44
which have been known for over 50 years.
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que se conocieran dende más de 50 años.
01:46
These neurons will fire when a person performs a specific action.
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Estes neurones dispáranse cuando una persona fái una acción específica.
01:49
For example, if I do that, and reach and grab an apple,
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Por exemplu, si yo faigo esto, y alcanzo y coyo una manzana,
01:52
a motor command neuron in the front of my brain will fire.
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una orden motora na parte anterior del mio celebru se disparará.
01:56
If I reach out and pull an object, another neuron will fire,
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Si alcanzo y emburrio un oxetu, otra neurona se disparará,
01:59
commanding me to pull that object.
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ordenándome emburriálu.
02:01
These are called motor command neurons that have been known for a long time.
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Estes llámanse neurones d'ordenes motores, y conócense dende fái tiempu.
02:03
But what Rizzolatti found was
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Pero lo que Rizzolatti atopó foi
02:05
a subset of these neurons,
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un grupu d'estes neurones,
02:07
maybe about 20 percent of them, will also fire
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como'l 20 por cientu d'elles, que también se disparará
02:09
when I'm looking at somebody else performing the same action.
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cuando veo a daquién facer la mesma acción.
02:12
So, here is a neuron that fires when I reach and grab something,
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Asina, equí tá una neurona que se dispara cuando alcanzo y coyo daqué,
02:15
but it also fires when I watch Joe reaching and grabbing something.
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pero que también se dispara cuando veo a Joe alcanzar y coyelo.
02:18
And this is truly astonishing.
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Y ye braeramente esmechante.
02:20
Because it's as though this neuron is adopting
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Porque ye como si esta neurona adoptara
02:22
the other person's point of view.
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el puntu de vista del otru.
02:24
It's almost as though it's performing a virtual reality simulation
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Ye casi como si tuviera n'una simulación de realidá virtual
02:28
of the other person's action.
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de l'aición de la otra persona.
02:30
Now, what is the significance of these mirror neurons?
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Pero, cuál ye'l significáu d'estes neurones espexu?
02:33
For one thing they must be involved in things like imitation and emulation.
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Por un lláu, tienen que tar involucraes en procesos como la imitación ya emulación.
02:36
Because to imitate a complex act
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Porque imitar un actu complexu
02:39
requires my brain to adopt the other person's point of view.
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requiér qu'el mio celebru adopte'l puntu de vista de la otra persona.
02:42
So, this is important for imitation and emulation.
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Asín, esto ye lo importante d'imitar y emular.
02:44
Well, why is that important?
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¿Y por qué ye importante?
02:46
Well, let's take a look at the next slide.
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Bono, miremos a esta diapositiva.
02:49
So, how do you do imitation? Why is imitation important?
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¿Cómo faes pa imitar? ¿Por qué ye importante?
02:52
Mirror neurons and imitation, emulation.
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Neurones espexu ya imitación, emulación.
02:54
Now, let's look at culture, the phenomenon of human culture.
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Miremos agora a la cultura, al fenómenu de la cultura humana.
02:58
If you go back in time about [75,000] to 100,000 years ago,
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Si vas p'atrás nel tiempu, entre 75 y 100 mil años,
03:02
let's look at human evolution, it turns out
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miremos a la evolución humana, xurde
03:04
that something very important happened around 75,000 years ago.
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qu'algo perimportante pasó fái 75.000 años.
03:07
And that is, there is a sudden emergence and rapid spread
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Ye un xurdimientu súbitu y una diseminación rápida
03:09
of a number of skills that are unique to human beings
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d'una serie d'habilidaes úniques pa'l ser humanu
03:12
like tool use,
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como usar les ferramientes,
03:14
the use of fire, the use of shelters, and, of course, language,
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el usu'l fueu, d'abellugos, y, per supuestu, llenguaxe,
03:17
and the ability to read somebody else's mind
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y l'habilidá de lleer la mente d'otru
03:19
and interpret that person's behavior.
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y d'interpretar la so conducta.
03:21
All of that happened relatively quickly.
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Y too eso pasó relativamente rápido.
03:23
Even though the human brain had achieved its present size
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Incluso aunque'l celebru humanu había alcanzáu el so tamañu
03:26
almost three or four hundred thousand years ago,
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facía tres o cuatrocientos mil años entá,
03:28
100,000 years ago all of this happened very, very quickly.
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fái cien mil años too esto pasó perrápido.
03:30
And I claim that what happened was
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Y pueo dicir que lo que paso foi
03:33
the sudden emergence of a sophisticated mirror neuron system,
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el xurdimientu súbitu d'un sofisticáu sistema de neurones espexu,
03:36
which allowed you to emulate and imitate other people's actions.
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que te permitía emular ya imitar les aiciones d'otres persones.
03:38
So that when there was a sudden accidental discovery
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Asina que cuando hubiera un descubrimientu accidental súbitu
03:42
by one member of the group, say the use of fire,
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por un miembru'l grupu, por exemplu, l'usu'l fueu,
03:45
or a particular type of tool, instead of dying out,
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o d'un tipu particular de ferramienta, en vez de morrer,
03:47
this spread rapidly, horizontally across the population,
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esto se extendería rápido, horizontalmente per la población,
03:50
or was transmitted vertically, down the generations.
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o verticalmente, tres les xeneraciones.
03:53
So, this made evolution suddenly Lamarckian,
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Asina, esto fizo que la evolución fora lamarckiana,
03:55
instead of Darwinian.
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non darwiniana.
03:57
Darwinian evolution is slow; it takes hundreds of thousands of years.
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L'evolución darwiniana ye llenta, echa cientos de miles d'años.
04:00
A polar bear, to evolve a coat,
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Un osu polar, pa desarrollar pelaxe,
04:02
will take thousands of generations, maybe 100,000 years.
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echará cientos de xeneraciones, quizá cien mil años.
04:05
A human being, a child, can just watch its parent
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Un ser humanu, un guah.e, pué simplemente ver al so pá
04:08
kill another polar bear,
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matar a otru osu polar,
04:11
and skin it and put the skin on its body, fur on the body,
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despeyeyalu y ponése la piel nel so cuerpu
04:14
and learn it in one step. What the polar bear
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y aprendelo n'un pasu. Lo que al osu polar
04:16
took 100,000 years to learn,
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llevó-y cien mil años aprender,
04:18
it can learn in five minutes, maybe 10 minutes.
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pué ser aprendío en cinco, igual diez minutos.
04:21
And then once it's learned this it spreads
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Y una vez que foi aprendío, s'extiende
04:23
in geometric proportion across a population.
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en proporción xeometrica por toa la población.
04:26
This is the basis. The imitation of complex skills
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Esta ye la base. Imitar habilidaes complexes
04:29
is what we call culture and is the basis of civilization.
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ye lo que llamamos cultura y ye la base de la civilización.
04:32
Now there is another kind of mirror neuron,
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Pero hay otru tipu de neurones espexu,
04:34
which is involved in something quite different.
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que se dedica a daqué diferente.
04:36
And that is, there are mirror neurons,
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Y ye qu'hai neurones espexu,
04:38
just as there are mirror neurons for action, there are mirror neurons for touch.
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igual qu'hai neurones espexu pa les acciones, les hay pa'l tautu.
04:41
In other words, if somebody touches me,
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N'otres pallabres, si daquién me toca,
04:43
my hand, neuron in the somatosensory cortex
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la mio mano, una neurona n'el córtex sensorial
04:45
in the sensory region of the brain fires.
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na rexón sensorial del cerebru dispara.
04:47
But the same neuron, in some cases, will fire
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Pero la mesma neurona, n'algunos casos disparará
04:50
when I simply watch another person being touched.
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cuando veo a otra persona ser tocada.
04:52
So, it's empathizing the other person being touched.
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Asina, tá empatizando a la otra persona siendo tocada.
04:55
So, most of them will fire when I'm touched
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Y asína, munches d'elles s'activarán cuando me toquen
04:57
in different locations. Different neurons for different locations.
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en diferentes sitios. Diferentes neurones pa diferentes sitios.
05:00
But a subset of them will fire even when I watch somebody else
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Pero un subgrupu d'elles s'activará incluso cuando veo a daquién
05:02
being touched in the same location.
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ser tocáu n'esi sitiu.
05:04
So, here again you have neurons
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Otra vez tenemos neurones
05:06
which are enrolled in empathy.
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dedicaes a l'empatía.
05:08
Now, the question then arises: If I simply watch another person being touched,
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Y la pregunta xurde: si yo simplemente veo a otra persona ser tocada,
05:11
why do I not get confused and literally feel that touch sensation
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¿por qué nun me confundo y lliteramlente siento esa sensación
05:15
merely by watching somebody being touched?
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simplemente viendo a esa persona siendo tocada?
05:17
I mean, I empathize with that person but I don't literally feel the touch.
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Quiero dicir, empatizo con esa persona pero nun siento el toque.
05:21
Well, that's because you've got receptors in your skin,
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Bueno, eso ye porque tienes receptores na to piel,
05:23
touch and pain receptors, going back into your brain
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receptores del tautu y del dolor, que conectan col celebru
05:25
and saying "Don't worry, you're not being touched.
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y y-dicen "Tranquilu, nun te tan tocando.
05:28
So, empathize, by all means, with the other person,
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Asina qu'empatiza, por toos los medios, con la otra persona,
05:31
but do not actually experience the touch,
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pero nun sientas el toque
05:33
otherwise you'll get confused and muddled."
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porque si non confundiráste."
05:35
Okay, so there is a feedback signal
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Vale, entós hay una señal de retroalimentación
05:37
that vetoes the signal of the mirror neuron
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que veta la señal de la neurona espexu
05:39
preventing you from consciously experiencing that touch.
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pa que nun pueas sentir conscientemente esi toque.
05:42
But if you remove the arm, you simply anesthetize my arm,
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Pero si quites el brazu, simplemente lu anestesies,
05:45
so you put an injection into my arm,
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ye decir, pónesme una inyeición,
05:47
anesthetize the brachial plexus, so the arm is numb,
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anestesies el plexu braquial, así qu'el brazu ta insensible,
05:49
and there is no sensations coming in,
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y nun capta sensaciones,
05:51
if I now watch you being touched,
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si agora te veo siendo tocáu,
05:53
I literally feel it in my hand.
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siéntolo literalmente na mio mano.
05:55
In other words, you have dissolved the barrier
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N'otres pallabres, acabes de tirar el muru
05:57
between you and other human beings.
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entre ti y otros seres humanos.
05:59
So, I call them Gandhi neurons, or empathy neurons.
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Asina que les llamo neurones Gandhi, o neurones empátiques.
06:02
(Laughter)
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(Rises)
06:03
And this is not in some abstract metaphorical sense.
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Y esto nun ye n'un sentíu metafóricu y abstractu,
06:06
All that's separating you from him,
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too lo que te separa d'el
06:08
from the other person, is your skin.
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de l'otra persona, ye la to piel.
06:10
Remove the skin, you experience that person's touch in your mind.
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Quita la piel, y esperimentarás el toque a la otra persona na to mente.
06:14
You've dissolved the barrier between you and other human beings.
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Acabes de tirar el muru entre ti y otros seres humanos.
06:17
And this, of course, is the basis of much of Eastern philosophy,
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Y esto ye, por supuestu, la base de muncha de la filosofía oriental,
06:19
and that is there is no real independent self,
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y de que nun hay un yo independiente,
06:22
aloof from other human beings, inspecting the world,
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aislláu d'otros seres humanos, inspeccionando'l mundiu,
06:24
inspecting other people.
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inspeccionando a otres persones.
06:26
You are, in fact, connected not just via Facebook and Internet,
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Tú tas conectáu, non solamente por el Facebook ya Internet,
06:29
you're actually quite literally connected by your neurons.
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tas lliteralmente conectáu por les tos neurones.
06:32
And there is whole chains of neurons around this room, talking to each other.
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Y hái cadenes enteres de neurones en esti cuartu, falando con otres.
06:35
And there is no real distinctiveness
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Y nun hái distinción
06:37
of your consciousness from somebody else's consciousness.
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entre la to conciencia y la d'otra persona.
06:39
And this is not mumbo-jumbo philosophy.
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Y esto nun ye ningún cuentu filosóficu.
06:41
It emerges from our understanding of basic neuroscience.
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Xurde del nuestru conocimientu de la neurociencia.
06:44
So, you have a patient with a phantom limb. If the arm has been removed
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Y si tienes un paciente con miembru fantasma. Si-y quitaron el brazu
06:47
and you have a phantom, and you watch somebody else
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y tienes un "fantasma", y ves a daquién
06:49
being touched, you feel it in your phantom.
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ser tocáu, percíbeslo nel to "fantasma".
06:51
Now the astonishing thing is,
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Y lo impresionante ye,
06:53
if you have pain in your phantom limb, you squeeze the other person's hand,
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que si tienes dolor nel to miembru fantasma ya aprietes la mano'l otru,
06:56
massage the other person's hand,
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masaxes la so manu,
06:58
that relieves the pain in your phantom hand,
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quítate'l dolor nel to miembru fantasma,
07:00
almost as though the neuron
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casi como si la neurona
07:02
were obtaining relief from merely
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tuviera calmando'l dolor simplemente
07:04
watching somebody else being massaged.
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viendo a daquién más ser masaxeáu.
07:06
So, here you have my last slide.
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Y equí ta la mio última diapositiva.
07:09
For the longest time people have regarded science
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Durante munchu tiempu la xente ha visto la ciencia
07:11
and humanities as being distinct.
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y les humanidaes como coses diferentes.
07:13
C.P. Snow spoke of the two cultures:
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C.P. Snow faló de dos cultures:
07:16
science on the one hand, humanities on the other;
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ciencia n'un lau, humanidaes nel otru;
07:18
never the twain shall meet.
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nunca se deberán alcontrar.
07:20
So, I'm saying the mirror neuron system underlies the interface
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Y toi diciendo qu'el sistema de neurones espexu tá baxo l'interfaz,
07:22
allowing you to rethink about issues like consciousness,
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dexándote repensar coses como la conciencia,
07:25
representation of self,
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la representación del yo,
07:27
what separates you from other human beings,
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lo que te separa d'otros seres humanos,
07:29
what allows you to empathize with other human beings,
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lo que te dexa empatizar con otros seres humanos,
07:31
and also even things like the emergence of culture and civilization,
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incluso coses como'l xurdimientu de la cultura y la civilización,
07:34
which is unique to human beings. Thank you.
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úniques pa los seres humanos. Gracies.
07:36
(Applause)
177
456260
2000
(Aplausos)
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