What hallucination reveals about our minds | Oliver Sacks

Translator: Carme Rossell Reviewer: Rafel Marco i Molina

We see with the eyes,

Hi veiem amb els ulls

but we see with the brain as well.

però també hi veiem amb el cervell.

And seeing with the brain is often called imagination.

Veure-hi amb el cervell se sol anomenar imaginació.

Estem familiaritzats amb els paisatges de la nostra imaginació,

And we are familiar with the landscapes of our own imagination,

our inscapes.

els paisatges interiors. Hi hem conviscut tota la vida.

We've lived with them all our lives.

But there are also hallucinations as well.

Però també existeixen les al·lucinacions.

And hallucinations are completely different.

I les al·lucinacions són una altra cosa.

They don't seem to be of our creation.

No semblen creacions nostres.

They don't seem to be under control.

No sembla que les puguem controlar.

They seem to come from the outside and to mimic perception.

Sembla que vinguin de fora,

i que imitin la percepció.

So I am going to be talking about hallucinations

Ara us parlaré sobre al·lucinacions.

and a particular sort of visual hallucination,

I una mena d'al·lucinacions visuals

which I see among my patients.

que veig en els meus pacients.

A few months ago, I got a phone call from a nursing home where I work.

Fa uns mesos, em van trucar

d'una residència on treballo.

They told me that one of their residents, an old lady in her 90s,

Em van dir que una senyora de més de 90 anys

was seeing things,

veia coses.

and they wondered if she'd gone bonkers

I es preguntaven si s'havia grillat

or, because she was an old lady,

o, com que era una senyora gran,

whether she'd had a stroke, or whether she had Alzheimer's.

si havia tingut un ictus, o si tenia Alzheimer.

And so they asked me if I would come and see Rosalie,

Em van demanar que visités la Rosalie,

the old lady.

la senyora gran.

I went in to see her.

Vaig anar-la a veure.

It was evident straightaway that she was perfectly sane

De seguida va ser evident

que estava bé de seny,

and lucid and of good intelligence,

lúcida i intel·ligent.

but she'd been very startled and very bewildered,

Però estava espantada, i molt estranyada,

because she'd been seeing things.

perquè veia coses.

And she told me -- the nurses hadn't mentioned this --

I em va dir --

les infermeres no ho havien esmentat--

that she was blind,

que era cega,

that she had been completely blind from macular degeneration for five years.

que s'havia quedat cega del tot, per degeneració macular, feia 5 anys.

But now, for the last few days, she'd been seeing things.

Però que ara, els dies passats, veia coses.

So I said, "What sort of things?"

Li vaig dir: "Com ara què?"

And she said, "People in Eastern dress,

I em va respondre: "Gent amb roba oriental,

in drapes, walking up and down stairs.

amb cortines, que pugen i baixen escales.

A man who turns towards me and smiles,

Un home que es gira cap a mi i em somriu.

but he has huge teeth on one side of his mouth.

Amb unes dents molt grosses en un costat de la boca.

Animals too.

I també animals.

I see a white building. It's snowing, a soft snow.

Veig un edifici blanc. Neva, una neu tova.

I see this horse with a harness, dragging the snow away.

Veig un cavall, amb arnès, que retira la neu.

Then, one night, the scene changes.

Llavors, una nit, l'escena canvia.

I see cats and dogs walking towards me.

Veig gats i gossos que vénen cap a mi.

They come to a certain point and then stop.

Fins que arriben en un punt i s'aturen.

Then it changes again.

Llavors torna a canviar.

I see a lot of children. They're walking up and down stairs.

Veig tot de criatures. Pugen i baixen escales.

They wear bright colors, rose and blue,

Van vestits de colors vius, rosa i blau,

like Eastern dress."

com les robes orientals."

Sometimes, she said, before the people come on,

De vegades, deia, abans de veure gent

she may hallucinate pink and blue squares on the floor,

al·lucinava quadres roses i blaus a terra,

which seem to go up to the ceiling.

com si pugessin fins al sostre.

I said, "Is this like a dream?"

Li dic: "Com si fos un somni?"

And she said, "No, it's not like a dream. It's like a movie."

I diu: "No, un somni no. És com una pel·lícula."

Diu: "Té colors. Té moviment.

She said, "It's got color. It's got motion.

But it's completely silent, like a silent movie."

Però completament en silenci, com una pel·lícula muda."

And she said it's a rather boring movie.

Va dir que era una pel·lícula una mica avorrida.

(Laughter)

Diu: "Tot de gent amb vestits orientals,

She said, "All these people with Eastern dress,

walking up and down, very repetitive, very limited."

que pugen i baixen, molt repetitiu, molt limitat."

(Laughter)

(Rialles)

And she had a sense of humor.

I tenia sentit de l'humor.

She knew it was a hallucination, but she was frightened.

Sabia que era una al·lucinació.

Però estava espantada. Tenia 95 anys

She had lived 95 years,

and she'd never had a hallucination before.

i no havia tingut mai cap al·lucinació.

She said that the hallucinations were unrelated to anything she was thinking

Em deia que les al·lucinacions no tenien relació

amb res del que pensava, sentia ni feia.

or feeling or doing,

Que semblava que li venien soles, i marxaven soles.

that they seemed to come on by themselves, or disappear.

She had no control over them.

No les podia controlar.

Em va dir que no reconeixia

She said she didn't recognize any of the people or places

ni la gent ni els llocs

in the hallucinations,

de les al·lucinacions.

and none of the people or the animals --

I que ni la gent ni els animals

well, they all seemed oblivious of her.

li feien gens de cas.

And she didn't know what was going on.

I que no sabia què passava.

She wondered if she was going mad or losing her mind.

Es preguntava si s'estava tornant boja,

o si perdia el cap.

Well, I examined her carefully.

Doncs la vaig examinar atentament.

She was a bright old lady,

Era una senyora molt eixerida.

Amb el cap molt clar. No tenia problemes mèdics.

perfectly sane.

She had no medical problems.

She wasn't on any medications which could produce hallucinations.

No prenia cap medicament que li pogués produir al·lucinacions.

But she was blind.

Però era cega.

And I then said to her, "I think I know what you have."

Llavors li vaig dir:

"Crec que ja sé què li passa."

I said, "There is a special form of visual hallucination

"Hi ha un tipus concret d'al·lucinacions visuals

which may go with deteriorating vision or blindness.

que es dóna quan hi ha visió deteriorada o ceguesa."

This was originally described," I said,

"Ho va descriure per primera vegada", li vaig dir

"right back in the 18th century,

"en el segle XVIII,

by a man called Charles Bonnet.

un home que es deia Charles Bonnet.

And you have Charles Bonnet syndrome.

I vostè té la síndrome de Charles Bonnet.

There's nothing wrong with your brain. There's nothing wrong with your mind.

No té cap problema al cervell. No ha perdut el seny.

Té la síndrome de Charles Bonnet."

You have Charles Bonnet syndrome."

And she was very relieved at this,

Es va quedar molt descansada

that there was nothing seriously the matter,

de saber que no tenia res de greu,

and also rather curious.

i també encuriosida.

She said, "Who is this Charles Bonnet?"

Em va preguntar: "Qui és aquest Charles Bonnet?

She said, "Did he have them himself?"

També tenia el mateix?"

And she said, "Tell all the nurses that I have Charles Bonnet syndrome."

I em deia: "Digui a totes les infermeres

que tinc la síndrome de Charles Bonnet".

(Laughter)

(Rialles)

"I'm not crazy. I'm not demented. I have Charles Bonnet syndrome."

"No estic boja. No repapiejo. Tinc la síndrome de Charles Bonnet".

Well, so, I did tell the nurses.

Així ho vaig dir a les infermeres.

Now this, for me, is a common situation.

Aquesta situació, la veig força sovint.

I work in old-age homes, largely.

Sobretot a les residències de gent gran.

I see a lot of elderly people

Veig molta gent gran

amb deficiències d'oïda o de vista.

who are hearing-impaired or visually impaired.

About 10 percent of the hearing-impaired people

I un 10% de la gent amb sordesa parcial

get musical hallucinations.

tenen al·lucinacions musicals.

And about 10 percent of the visually impaired people

I un 10% de la gent amb ceguesa parcial

get visual hallucinations.

tenen al·lucinacions visuals.

You don't have to be completely blind,

No cal ser cec del tot,

only sufficiently impaired.

només tenir una deficiència parcial.

Now, with the original description in the 18th century,

A la descripció original del segle XVIII,

Charles Bonnet did not have them.

en Charles Bonnet no ho patia.

His grandfather had these hallucinations.

Era el seu avi que tenia aquestes al·lucinacions.

His grandfather was a magistrate, an elderly man.

El seu avi era jutge, un senyor gran.

He'd had cataract surgery.

S'havia operat de cataractes.

His vision was pretty poor.

Tenia molt poca vista.

And in 1759, he described to his grandson

I el 1759 li va explicar al seu nét

various things he was seeing.

algunes coses que veia.

The first thing he said was he saw a handkerchief in midair.

El primer que va dir que veia

era un mocador que volava.

It was a large blue handkerchief with four orange circles.

Era un mocador gros i blau

amb quatre cercles de color carbassa

And he knew it was a hallucination.

Ell sabia que era una al·lucinació.

You don't have handkerchiefs in midair.

Els mocadors no volen.

And then he saw a big wheel in midair.

També veia una roda grossa volant.

But sometimes he wasn't sure whether he was hallucinating or not,

Però de vegades no estava segur si eren al·lucinacions o no

because the hallucinations would fit in the context of the visions.

perquè les al·lucinacions encaixaven

en el context de la visió.

So on one occasion, when his granddaughters were visiting them,

Una vegada, que les seves nétes l'havien anat a veure,

els digué: "Qui són aquests nois tan ben plantats?"

he said, "And who are these handsome young men with you?"

(Laughter)

And they said, "Alas, Grandpapa, there are no handsome young men."

I elles van respondre: "Ai, avi, aquí no hi ha cap noi ben plantat."

And then the handsome young men disappeared.

I llavors els nois van desaparèixer.

It's typical of these hallucinations

És típic que aquestes al·lucinacions

that they may come in a flash and disappear in a flash.

vagin i vinguin de cop i volta.

They don't usually fade in and out.

No solen desaparèixer a poc a poc.

They are rather sudden, and they change suddenly.

Són força sobtades. I canvien de sobte.

Charles Lullin, l'avi,

Charles Lullin, the grandfather,

saw hundreds of different figures,

veia centenars de figures diferents,

different landscapes of all sorts.

paisatges de tota mena.

On one occasion, he saw a man in a bathrobe smoking a pipe,

Un cop va veure un home en barnús, fumant amb pipa,

and realized it was himself.

i es va adonar que era ell mateix.

That was the only figure he recognized.

Era l'única figura que reconeixia.

On one occasion, when he was walking in the streets of Paris,

Una vegada, pels carrers de París,

he saw -- this was real -- a scaffolding.

va veure -- això de debò -- una bastida.

But when he got back home, he saw a miniature of the scaffolding,

Però en tornar a casa, veia una bastida en miniatura

six inches high,

de 15 cm d'alçada, al seu escriptori.

on his study table.

This repetition of perception is sometimes called "palinopsia."

Aquesta repetició de les percepcions

de vegades s'anomena palinòpsia.

L'avi, com la Rosalie,

With him and with Rosalie,

what seems to be going on --

el que sembla que tenen --

and Rosalie said, "What's going on?" --

com deia la Rosalie, "Què tinc?" --

and I said that as you lose vision,

és que, en perdre vista,

as the visual parts of the brain are no longer getting any input,

com que les parts visuals del cervell no reben cap input,

they become hyperactive and excitable,

es tornen hiperactives i excitables.

and they start to fire spontaneously.

I comencen a saltar espontàniament.

I llavors comences a veure coses.

And you start to see things.

The things you see can be very complicated indeed.

Les visions poden arribar a ser prou complicades.

Una altra pacient meva,

With another patient of mine who also had some vision,

que encara tenia una mica de vista,

de vegades tenia visions pertorbadores.

the visions she had could be disturbing.

On one occasion, she said she saw a man in a striped shirt in a restaurant.

Una vegada em deia que havia vist

un home amb camisa de ratlles en un restaurant.

And he turned round,

Que l'home es va girar, i llavors

and then he divided into six figures in striped shirts,

es va dividir en sis figures idèntiques amb camisa de ratlles,

who started walking towards her.

que caminaven cap a ella.

And then the six figures came together, like a concertina.

I llavors les sis figures es van tornar a ajuntar, com un acordió.

Once, when she was driving,

Un cop, mentre conduïa,

or rather, her husband was driving,

o, més ben dit, conduïa el seu marit,

the road divided into four

la carretera es va dividir en quatre.

and she felt herself going simultaneously up four roads.

I va sentir com si anés alhora per quatre carreteres.

També tenia al·lucinacions molt mòbils.

She had very mobile hallucinations as well.

A lot of them had to do with a car.

Moltes tenien a veure amb el cotxe.

Sometimes she would see a teenage boy sitting on the hood of the car.

De vegades veia un noiet adolescent

assegut al capó del cotxe.

He was very tenacious,

Era molt ferm i es movia amb força agilitat

and he moved rather gracefully when the car turned.

quan el cotxe girava.

And then when they came to a stop,

I quan el cotxe s'aturava,

the boy would do a sudden vertical takeoff, 100 foot in the air,

el noi de sobte sortia disparat, a 30 metres del terra,

and then disappear.

i desapareixia.

Another patient of mine had a different sort of hallucination.

Una altra pacient tenia al·lucinacions diferents.

This was a woman who didn't have trouble with her eyes

Era una dona que no tenia cap lesió als ulls,

but the visual parts of her brain,

sinó a les parts visuals del cervell.

a little tumor in the occipital cortex.

Un petit tumor al còrtex occipital.

And, above all, she would see cartoons.

I sobretot veia dibuixos animats.

And these cartoons would be transparent,

Eren dibuixos transparents

and would cover half the visual field, like a screen.

que li cobrien mig camp visual, com una pantalla.

And especially, she saw cartoons of Kermit the Frog.

Especialment veia la granota Gustau.

(Laughter)

(Rialles)

Now, I don't watch Sesame Street,

Jo no veig Barri Sèsam,

però ella insistia molt,

but she made a point of saying,

"Why Kermit?" she said, "Kermit the Frog means nothing to me."

"Per què la granota Gustau, que no significa res per a mi?

You know, I was wondering about Freudian determinants: Why Kermit?

Pensava en els determinants freudians.

Per què en Gustau?

"Kermit the Frog means nothing to me."

La granota Gustau no significa res per a mi."

She didn't mind the cartoons too much.

No li importava veure dibuixos,

But what did disturb her

el que l'amoïnava era veure

was she got very persistent images or hallucinations of faces,

imatges persistents o al·lucinacions de cares

and as with Rosalie, the faces were often deformed,

i, com la Rosalie, sovint eren cares deformades,

with very large teeth or very large eyes.

amb les dents o els ulls molt grossos.

And these frightened her.

Això li feia por.

Well, what is going on with these people?

Bé, doncs què els passa a aquestes persones?

As a physician, I have to try and define what's going on

Com a metge, he d'intentar definir el que passa,

and to reassure people,

i tranquil·litzar la gent.

especially to reassure them that they're not going insane.

Sobretot explicar-los que no s'estan tornant bojos.

Aproximadament un 10%, com us deia,

Something like 10 percent, as I said,

of visually impaired people get these.

de les persones amb ceguesa parcial tenen aquestes al·lucinacions.

But no more than one percent of the people acknowledge them,

Però menys d'un 1% ho reconeixen.

because they are afraid they will be seen as insane or something.

Perquè tenen por de ser considerats bojos, i tal.

And if they do mention them to their own doctors,

I si ho expliquen al seu metge

els pot diagnosticar malament.

they may be misdiagnosed.

In particular, the notion is that if you see things or hear things,

Concretament, la idea és que si veus

coses o sents coses, t'estàs tornant boig.

you're going mad.

But the psychotic hallucinations are quite different.

Però les al·lucinacions psicòtiques són força diferents.

Psychotic hallucinations, whether they are visual or vocal,

Les al·lucinacions psicòtiques, ja siguin visions o sons,

they address you.

se t'adrecen. T'acusen.

They accuse you, they seduce you, they humiliate you, they jeer at you.

Et sedueixen. T'humilien.

Se'n riuen de tu.

You interact with them.

Hi interactues.

There is none of this quality of being addressed

Aquesta mena d'interpel·lacions no es donen

with these Charles Bonnet hallucinations.

en les al·lucinacions de Charles Bonnet

There is a film. You're seeing a film which has nothing to do with you --

És una pel·lícula. Veus una pel·lícula que no té res a veure amb tu.

or that's how people think about it.

Almenys així és com ho veu la gent.

There is also a rare thing called temporal lobe epilepsy,

També hi ha una raresa que es diu epilèpsia del lòbul temporal.

and sometimes, if one has this,

De vegades, si la pateixes,

one may feel oneself transported back to a time and place in the past.

et sents com si et portessin enrere

cap a un temps i un lloc del passat.

You're at a particular road junction.

Estàs en una cruïlla de camins.

You smell chestnuts roasting.

Sents olor de nous torrades.

You hear the traffic. All the senses are involved.

Sents el trànsit. Tots els sentits hi participen.

Estàs esperant la teva xicota.

And you're waiting for your girl.

And it's that Tuesday evening back in 1982.

I és aquell dimarts al vespre de 1982.

The temporal lobe hallucinations are all sense hallucinations,

Les al·lucinacions de lòbul temporal

són al·lucinacions multisensorials,

full of feeling, full of familiarity,

plenes de sensacions, de familiaritat,

located in space and time,

situades en l'espai i el temps,

coherent, dramatic.

coherents, dramàtiques.

The Charles Bonnet ones are quite different.

Les de Charles Bonnet són bastant diferents.

In the Charles Bonnet hallucinations, you have all sorts of levels,

Amb les al·lucinacions de Charles Bonnet,

hi ha tota mena de nivells,

from the geometrical hallucinations --

des d'al·lucinacions geomètriques,

the pink and blue squares the woman had --

com els quadres roses i blaus de la senyora,

up to quite elaborate hallucinations

fins a al·lucinacions força elaborades

with figures and especially faces.

amb figures i sobretot cares.

Faces, and sometimes deformed faces,

Cares, de vegades cares deformades,

are the single commonest thing in these hallucinations.

són el comú denominador més habitual

d'aquestes al·lucinacions.

And one of the second commonest is cartoons.

I una altra cosa habitual són els dibuixos.

So, what is going on?

Així doncs, què passa?

Fascinatingly, in the last few years,

És fascinant com, en els darrers anys,

it's been possible to do functional brain imagery,

s'han pogut fer escàners cerebrals funcionals,

to do fMRI on people as they are hallucinating,

fer una ressonància magnètica funcional quan la persona està al·lucinant.

I realment veure quines parts

and, in fact, to find that different parts of the visual brain are activated

del cervell visual s'activen

as they are hallucinating.

durant l'al·lucinació.

When people have these simple, geometrical hallucinations,

Quan la gent té al·lucinacions geomètriques simples,

the primary visual cortex is activated.

s'activa el còrtex visual primari.

This is the part of the brain which perceives edges and patterns.

És la part del cervell que percep siluetes i formes.

You don't form images with your primary visual cortex.

No es formen imatges amb el còrtex visual primari

When images are formed,

Quan les imatges es formen,

a higher part of the visual cortex is involved, in the temporal lobe.

una part superior del còrtex visual

intervé en el lòbul temporal.

Concretament, una zona del lòbul temporal

And in particular, one area of the temporal lobe

is called the fusiform gyrus.

que es diu gir fusiforme.

And it's known that if people have damage in the fusiform gyrus,

Se sap que les persones amb lesions al gir fusiforme

they may lose the ability to recognize faces.

poden perdre la capacitat de reconèixer cares.

But if there's an abnormal activity in the fusiform gyrus,

Però si hi ha activitat anormal al gir fusiforme,

they may hallucinate faces,

pot ser que al·lucinin cares.

and this is exactly what you find in some of these people.

I això és exactament el que els passa a aquestes persones.

There is an area in the anterior part of this gyrus

Hi ha una zona a la part anterior del gir

where teeth and eyes are represented,

on es representen les dents i els ulls.

and that part of the gyrus is activated

I aquesta part del gir s'activa

when people get the deformed hallucinations.

quan els pacients tenen les al·lucinacions deformes.

There is another part of the brain which is especially activated

Hi ha una altra part del cervell

que està especialment activada

when one sees cartoons.

quan veiem dibuixos animats.

It's activated when one recognizes cartoons,

S'activa quan reconeixem els dibuixos,

when one draws cartoons and when one hallucinates them.

quan dibuixem, i quan els al·lucinem.

It's very interesting that that should be specific.

Es molt interessant que tot sigui tan específic.

There are other parts of the brain which are specifically involved

Hi ha altres parts del cervell que estan implicades específicament

with the recognition and hallucination of buildings and landscapes.

en el reconeixement i l'al·lucinació

d'edificis i paisatges.

Around 1970, it was found that there were not only parts of the brain,

Cap al 1970 es va descobrir que no només són parts concretes del cervell,

but particular cells.

sinó cèl·lules concretes.

"Face cells" were discovered around 1970.

Les "cèl·lules facials" es van descobrir cap al 1970.

And now we know that there are hundreds of other sorts of cells,

Ara sabem que hi ha centenars d'altres

tipus de cèl·lules.

which can be very, very specific.

que poden arribar a ser molt i molt específiques.

So you may not only have "car" cells, you may have "Aston Martin" cells.

Pot ser que tinguem no tan sols

cèl·lules "de cotxes",

sinó cèl·lules "d'Aston Martin".

(Laughter)

(Rialles)

I saw an Aston Martin this morning. I had to bring it in.

He vist un Aston Martin aquest matí.

N'havia de parlar.

(Laughter)

I ara el tinc per aquí dins.

And now it's in there, somewhere.

So --

(Rialles)

(Laughter)

now, at this level, in what's called the inferotemporal cortex,

Ara, en aquest nivell, en l'anomenat còrtex temporal inferior,

només hi ha imatges visuals

there are only visual images,

or figments or fragments.

o imaginacions o fragments.

It's only at higher levels that the other senses join in

És només en els nivells superiors

que entren en joc els altres sentits

and there are connections with memory and emotion.

i hi ha connexions amb la memòria i les emocions.

En la síndrome de Charles Bonnet

And in the Charles Bonnet syndrome,

you don't go to those higher levels.

no s'entra en els nivells superiors.

You're in these levels of inferior visual cortex,

Estàs en aquests nivells del còrtex visual inferior

where you have thousands and tens of thousands

on hi ha milers i desenes de milers

and millions of images,

i milions d'imatges,

or figments or fragmentary figments,

o d'imaginacions, o fragments d'imaginacions,

all neurally encoded in particular cells or small clusters of cells.

totes codificades neurològicament,

en cèl·lules concretes o agrupacions de cèl·lules.

Normally, these are all part of the integrated stream of perception,

Normalment són totes part

del flux integrat de percepció, o imaginació.

or imagination,

and one is not conscious of them.

I no en som conscients.

It is only if one is visually impaired or blind

Només si un té disminunció visual, o ceguesa,

that the process is interrupted.

s'interromp el procés.

And instead of getting normal perception,

I en lloc de tenir percepció normal,

you're getting an anarchic,

tenim estímuls anàrquics,

convulsive stimulation, or release,

convulsius, o emissions,

of all of these visual cells in the inferotemporal cortex.

de totes aquestes cèl·lules visuals

del còrtex temporal inferior.

So, suddenly, you see a face. Suddenly, you see a car.

I de sobte, veus una cara. De sobte veus un cotxe.

Suddenly this and suddenly that.

De sobte això, i de sobte allò altre.

The mind does its best to organize

La ment fa el que pot per ordenar

and to give some sort of coherence to this,

i donar alguna coherència a tot plegat.

but not terribly successfully.

Però no se'n surt gaire.

When these were first described,

Quan es va descriure per primer cop,

it was thought that they could be interpreted like dreams.

es creia que es podien interpretar com a somnis.

But, in fact, people say,

Però de fet la gent diu:

"I don't recognize the people. I can't form any associations.

"No reconec les persones. No formo cap associació".

"La granota Gustau no significa res per a mi."

Kermit means nothing to me."

You don't get anywhere, thinking of them as dreams.

No anem enlloc si suposem que són com somnis.

Bé, he dit més o menys el que volia dir.

Well, I've more or less said what I wanted.

I think I just want to recapitulate and say this is common.

Només em falta recapitular

i dir que això és habitual.

Think of the number of blind people.

Penseu en el nombre de persones cegues.

There must be hundreds of thousands of blind people

Hi deu haver centenars de milers de persones cegues

who have these hallucinations

amb aquestes al·lucinacions,

but are too scared to mention them.

però tenen massa por per parlar-ne.

So this sort of thing needs to be brought into notice,

Són coses que s'han de fer saber

als pacients, als metges, al gran públic.

for patients, for doctors, for the public.

Finally, I think they are infinitely interesting and valuable,

Per acabar, crec que són

infinitament interessants, i valuoses,

for giving one some insight as to how the brain works.

perquè ens aporten detalls de com funciona el cervell.

Charles Bonnet said, 250 years ago --

Charles Bonnet va dir, fa 250 anys --

he wondered how, thinking of these hallucinations,

pensava en aquestes al·lucinacions i es preguntava

how, as he put it, the theater of the mind

com, segons ell, el teatre de la ment

could be generated by the machinery of the brain.

podia ser generat per la maquinària del cervell.

Now, 250 years later,

Ara, 250 anys més tard

I think we're beginning to glimpse how this is done.

crec que en comencem a albirar el funcionament.

Thanks very much.

Moltes gràcies.

(Applause)

(Aplaudiments)

Chris Anderson: That was superb. Thank you so much.

Chris Anderson: Ha estat magnífic. Moltes gràcies.

You speak about these things with so much insight

Ens parla d'aquestes coses amb tanta saviesa

and empathy for your patients.

i empatia pels seus pacients.

Have you yourself experienced any of the syndromes you write about?

Ha experimentat alguna de les síndromes de què escriu?

Oliver Sacks: I was afraid you would ask that.

Oliver Sacks: Em temia que m'ho preguntaries.

(Laughter)

(Rialles)

Well, yeah, a lot of them.

Bé, sí, molts.

And, actually, I'm a little visually impaired myself.

I de fet tinc una mica de disminució visual.

I'm blind in one eye and not terribly good in the other.

Sóc cec d'un ull, i no hi veig massa amb l'altre.

And I see the geometrical hallucinations.

I tinc les al·lucinacions geomètriques.

But they stop there.

Però això i prou.

CA: And they don't disturb you?

C.A.: I no l'inquieten?

Because you understand what's doing it, it doesn't make you worried?

Perquè entén d'on surten. No es preocupa?

O.S.: No em molesten pas més que els acúfens.

OS: Well, they don't disturb me any more than my tinnitus,

which I ignore.

No en faig cas.

They occasionally interest me,

De tant en tant m'interessen.

and I have many pictures of them in my notebooks.

En tinc ple de dibuixos als meus quaderns.

I've gone and had an fMRI myself,

He anat a fer-me una ressonància

to see how my visual cortex is ticking over.

per veure com el meu còrtex visual s'obre pas.

And when I see all these hexagons

I quan veig els hexàgons

and complex things, which I also have,

i coses complexes, que també tinc,

in visual migraine,

en migranyes oftàlmiques,

I wonder whether everyone sees things like this

em pregunto si tothom ho veu igual,

and whether things like cave art or ornamental art

i si certes coses com l'art rupestre, o l'art ornamental

may have been derived from them a bit.

poden haver derivat una mica d'aquí.

CA: That was an utterly, utterly fascinating talk.

C.A.: Ha estat una xerrada realment fascinant.

Thank you so much for sharing.

Moltes gràcies per compartir-ho amb nosaltres.

OS: Thank you. Thank you.

O.S.: Gràcies. Gràcies.

(Applause)

(Aplaudiments)