Aditi Shankardass: A second opinion on learning disorders

Translator: Martina Corral Aller Reviewer: Eulalia Baroja

When I was 10 years old,

Cando eu tiña 10 anos

a cousin of mine took me on a tour of his medical school.

un primo meu levoume a visita-la súa escola de medicina

And as a special treat,

E especialmente

he took me to the pathology lab

levoume ao laboratorio de patoloxía.

and took a real human brain

Colleu un cerebro humano real,

out of the jar

sacouno do frasco

and placed it in my hands.

e púxoo nas miñas mans.

And there it was,

E alí estaba,

the seat of human consciousness,

o asento da conciencia humana,

the powerhouse of the human body,

o centro do poder do corpo humano,

sitting in my hands.

colocado nas miñas mans.

And that day I knew that when I grew up,

E ese día souben que cando medrara,

I was going to become a brain doctor,

ía convertirme nunha doutora do cerebro,

scientist, something or the other.

ou científica, una cousa ou a outra.

Years later, when I finally grew up,

Anos máis tarde, cando finalmente medrei,

my dream came true.

o meu soño fíxose realidade.

And it was while I was doing my Ph.D.

E foi mentres facía o meu doutorado

on the neurological causes

sobre as causas neurolóxicas

of dyslexia in children

da dislexia nos nenos,

that I encountered a startling fact

cando atopei un feito sorprendente

that I'd like to share with you all today.

que me gustaría compartir hoxe con todos vós.

It is estimated that one in six children,

Estímase que un de cada seis nenos,

that's one in six children,

sí, un de cada seis nenos,

suffer from some developmental disorder.

padece algún trastorno de desenvolvemento.

This is a disorder that

Este é un trastorno que

retards mental development in the child

retrasa o desenvolvemento mental do neno

and causes permanent mental impairments.

e causa discapacidades mentais permanentes.

Which means that each and every one of you here today

O que significa que todos e cada un de vós que estades hoxe aquí

knows at least one child that is suffering

coñecedes alomenos un neno que sofre

from a developmental disorder.

un trastorno de desenvolvemento.

But here's what really perplexed me.

Pero aquí ven o que realmente me deixou perplexa:

Despite the fact that each

a pesar do feito de que todos

and every one of these disorders

e cada un destes trastornos

originates in the brain,

teñen orixe no cerebro,

most of these disorders

a maioría deles

are diagnosed solely on the basis

soamente se diagnostican basándose

of observable behavior.

no comportamento observable.

But diagnosing a brain disorder

Pero diagnosticar un trastorno cerebral

without actually looking at the brain

sen realmente ver o cerebro

is analogous to treating a patient with a heart problem

é o mesmo que tratar un paciente cun problema de corazón

based on their physical symptoms,

baseándose nos seus síntomas físicos,

without even doing an ECG or a chest X-ray

sen tan sequera facerlle un ECG ou unha radiografía de tórax

to look at the heart.

para ve-lo corazón.

It seemed so intuitive to me.

Era algo tan intuitivo para min.

To diagnose and treat a brain disorder accurately,

Para diagnosticar e tratar un tarstorno cerebral con precisión,

it would be necessary to look at the brain directly.

cumpriría observar directamente o cerebro.

Looking at behavior alone

Se nos fixamos soamente no comportamento

can miss a vital piece of the puzzle

perdemos a peza clave do puzzle

and provide an incomplete, or even a misleading,

e teremos un diagnóstico incompleto,

picture of the child's problems.

ou mesmo un erróneo, do problema do neno.

Yet, despite all the advances in medical technology,

Nembargantes, a pesar de tódolos avances en tecnoloxía médica,

the diagnosis of brain disorders

a diagnose de trastornos cerebrais

in one in six children

nun de cada seis nenos

still remained so limited.

aínda parecía moi limitada.

And then I came across a team at Harvard University

E entón atopei un equipo da Universidade de Harvard

that had taken one such advanced medical technology

que atopara tecnoloxía médica avanzada

and finally applied it,

e finalmente a aplicara,

instead of in brain research,

en lugar de en investigacións cerebrais,

towards diagnosing brain disorders in children.

na diagnose de trastornos cerebrais en nenos.

Their groundbreaking technology

A súa tecnoloxía innovadora

records the EEG, or the electrical activity

rexistrou a EEG ou actividade eléctrica

of the brain, in real time,

do cerebro en tempo real,

allowing us to watch the brain

permitíndonos observa-lo cerebro

as it performs various functions

mentras realiza varias funcións

and then detect even the slightest abnormality

para entón detecta-la máis sutil anomalía

in any of these functions:

en calquera destas funcións:

vision, attention, language, audition.

vision, atención, linguaxe e audición.

A program called Brain Electrical

Un programa chamado Cartografía da Actividade

Activity Mapping

Eléctrica do Cerebro

then triangulates the source

triangula a fonte

of that abnormality in the brain.

desta anomalía no cerebro.

And another program called

E outro programa chamado

Statistical Probability Mapping

Cartografía das Probabilidades Estatísticas

then performs mathematical calculations

realiza despois cálculos matemáticos

to determine whether any of these abnormalities

para determinar se algunha destas anomalías

are clinically significant,

son clínicamente significativas,

allowing us to provide a much more accurate

permitíndonos a nós proporcionar unha diagnose neurolóxica

neurological diagnosis

moito máis precisa

of the child's symptoms.

dos síntomas do neno.

And so I became the head of neurophysiology

E entón convertinme na xefa de neurofisioloxía

for the clinical arm of this team,

na rama clínica deste equipo.

and we're finally able to use this technology

Agora somos capaces de usar esta tecnoloxía

towards actually helping

axudando de verdade

children with brain disorders.

a nenos con trastornos cerebrais.

And I'm happy to say that I'm now in the process

Podo dicir que agora estou en proceso

of setting up this technology here in India.

de sacar esta tecnoloxía aquí na India.

I'd like to tell you about one such child,

Gustaríame contarlles o caso dun destes nenos,

whose story was also covered by ABC News.

cuxa historia foi tamén cuberta polo noticiero ABC News.

Seven-year-old Justin Senigar

Con sete anos, Justin Senigar

came to our clinic with this diagnosis

chegou á nosa clínica cunha diagnose

of very severe autism.

de autismo moi severo.

Like many autistic children,

Como moitos nenos autistas

his mind was locked inside his body.

tiña a mente atrapada no seu corpo.

There were moments when he would

De feito, había momentos nos que

actually space out for seconds at a time.

a súa mente se ausentaba durante varios segundos.

And the doctors told his parents

E os doutores dixéronlle aos pais

he was never going to be able

que nunca chegaría a ser capaz

to communicate or interact socially,

de comunicarse ou interactuar socialmente,

and he would probably never have too much language.

e que probablemente nunca tería demasiada linguaxe.

When we used this groundbreaking EEG technology

Cando utilizamos esta innovadora tecnoloxía EEG

to actually look at Justin's brain,

para realmente mira-lo cerebro de Justin,

the results were startling.

os resultados foron asombrosos.

It turned out that Justin was almost

Resultou que Justin non era autista,

certainly not autistic.

autista, prácticamente seguro.

He was suffering from brain seizures

Padecía convulsións cerebrais

that were impossible to see with the naked eye,

que eran imposibles de ver cos ollos,

but that were actually causing symptoms

pero que de feito lle estaban provocando síntomas

that mimicked those of autism.

que imitaban aos do autismo.

After Justin was given anti-seizure medication,

Despois de darlle a Justin unha menciña anticonvulsiva,

the change in him was amazing.

o cambio nel foi impresionante.

Within a period of 60 days,

En menos de 60 días,

his vocabulary went from two to three words

o seu vocabulario pasou de dúas ou tres palabras

to 300 words.

a 300 palabras.

And his communication and social interaction

E a súa comunicación e interacción social

were improved so dramatically

mellorou dunha maneira tan drástica,

that he was enrolled into a regular school

que foi inscrito nunha escola normal

and even became a karate super champ.

e mesmo se converteu nun super campión de karate.

Research shows that 50 percent of children,

Os estudos mostran que o 50 por cento dos nenos,

almost 50 percent of children

case o 50 por cento dos nenos

diagnosed with autism

diagnosticados con autismo

are actually suffering from hidden brain seizures.

en realidade sufren convulsións cerebrais ocultas.

These are the faces of the children

Estas son as caras dos nenos

that I have tested

que examinei

with stories just like Justin.

con historias como a de Justin.

All these children

Todos estes nenos

came to our clinic with a diagnosis

chegaron á nosa clínica con diagnoses

of autism, attention deficit disorder,

de autismo, trastornos por déficit de atención,

mental retardation, language problems.

retraso mental, problemas de linguaxe...

Instead, our EEG scans revealed

Sen embargo, o noso escáner EEG revelou

very specific problems hidden within their brains

problemas moi específicos escondidos nos seus cerebros

that couldn't possibly have been detected

que posiblemente non poderían ser detectados

by their behavioral assessments.

mediante unha valoración baseada no comportamento.

So these EEG scans

Por tanto, estes escáners

enabled us to provide these children

permítennos darlle a estes nenos

with a much more accurate neurological diagnosis

unha diagnose neurolóxica moito máis precisa

and much more targeted treatment.

e un tratamento moito máis dirixido.

For too long now, children with developmental disorders

Durante moito tempo, os nenos con trastornos de desenvolvemento

have suffered from misdiagnosis

sufriron diagnóses quivocadas

while their real problems have gone undetected

mentres que os seus problemas reais non se detectaban

and left to worsen.

e seguían empeorando.

And for too long, these children and their parents

E durante moito tempo, estes nenos e os seus pais

have suffered undue frustration and desperation.

sufriron a frustación e a desesperación.

But we are now in a new era of neuroscience,

Pero agora estamos nunha nova era da neurociencia,

one in which we can finally look

unha na que por fin podemos observar

directly at brain function in real time

directamente un cerebro funcionando en tempo real,

with no risks and no side effects, non-invasively,

sen riscos e sen efectos colaterais, de maneira non invasiva,

and find the true source

e atopa-la verdadeira fonte

of so many disabilities in children.

de tantas incapacidades nos nenos.

So if I could inspire

Así que se eu puidera inspirar

even a fraction of you in the audience today

aínda que fose a una fracción de vós no público hoxe

to share this pioneering diagnostic approach

para promover este enfoque de diagnose pioneiro

with even one parent whose child

aínda que sexa cun pai cun fillo

is suffering from a developmental disorder,

que sufre un trastorno de desenvolvemento,

then perhaps one more puzzle

entón quizáis un puzzle máis

in one more brain will be solved.

nun cerebro máis se resolverá.

One more mind will be unlocked.

Unha mente máis será desbloqueada.

And one more child who has been misdiagnosed

E un neno máis que foi diagnosticado erroneamente,

or even undiagnosed by the system

ou mesmo non diagnosticado polo sistema,

will finally realize his or her true potential

poderá finalmente sacar o seu verdadeiro potencial

while there's still time

mentres todavía hai tempo

for his or her brain to recover.

para que o seu cerebro se recupere.

And all this by simply watching the child's brainwaves.

E todo isto pola simple observación das ondas cerebrais dos nenos.

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)