Miguel Nicolelis: A monkey that controls a robot with its thoughts. No, really.

Translator: Timothy Covell Reviewer: Morton Bast

Prevoditelj: Senzos Osijek Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

The kind of neuroscience that I do and my colleagues do

Vrsta neuroznanosti koju moji kolege i ja proučavamo

is almost like the weatherman.

je gotovo poput meteorologije.

We are always chasing storms.

Uvijek „hvatamo“ oluje.

We want to see and measure storms -- brainstorms, that is.

Želimo vidjeti i izmjeriti oluje –oluje ideja.

And we all talk about brainstorms in our daily lives,

Svi pričamo o olujama ideja u dnevnim životima

but we rarely see or listen to one.

Ali rijetko ih vidimo ili čujemo.

So I always like to start these talks

Zato volim započeti ovakve razgovore

by actually introducing you to one of them.

predstavljajući vam jedan od njih.

Actually, the first time we recorded more than one neuron --

Zapravo, prvi put kada smo snimili više od jednog neurona -

a hundred brain cells simultaneously --

sto moždanih stanica simultano

we could measure the electrical sparks

mogli smo izmjeriti električne iskre

of a hundred cells in the same animal,

stotinu stanica iste životinje,

this is the first image we got,

ovo je prva slika koju imamo,

the first 10 seconds of this recording.

prvih 10 sekundi ovog snimka.

So we got a little snippet of a thought,

Uzeli smo mali odsječak misli

and we could see it in front of us.

i mogli ga prikazati ispred nas.

I always tell the students

Uvijek kažem studentima

that we could also call neuroscientists some sort of astronomer,

da bi neuroznanstvenike također mogli zvati vrstom astronoma

because we are dealing with a system

budući da imamo posla sa susutavom

that is only comparable in terms of number of cells

koji je, sa svojim brojem stanica, usporediv samo

to the number of galaxies that we have in the universe.

s brojem galaksija koje postoje u svemiru.

And here we are, out of billions of neurons,

I evo nas ovdje, od milijardu neurona,

just recording, 10 years ago, a hundred.

snimajući prije 10 godina svega stotinu.

We are doing a thousand now.

snimamo tisuću danas.

And we hope to understand something fundamental about our human nature.

I nadamo se otkriti nešto osnovno o našoj ljudskoj prirodi.

Because, if you don't know yet,

Zato što, ako već ne znate,

everything that we use to define what human nature is comes from these storms,

sve što koristimo kako bi definirali ljudsku prirodu dolazi iz ovih oluja,

comes from these storms that roll over the hills and valleys of our brains

dolazi iz ovih impulsa koje prolaze brežuljcima i dolinama našega mozga

and define our memories, our beliefs,

te definiraju naša sjećanja, naša vjerovanja,

our feelings, our plans for the future.

naše osjećaje, naše planove za budućnost.

Everything that we ever do,

Sve što smo ikada uradili,

everything that every human has ever done, do or will do,

sve što je ijedan čovjek ikada uradio, radi, ili će uraditi

requires the toil of populations of neurons producing these kinds of storms.

Zahtijeva rad populacije neurona što proizvode ove vrste oluja.

And the sound of a brainstorm, if you've never heard one,

Zvuk oluje ideja, ako ga niste nikada čuli,

is somewhat like this.

Je otprilike ovakav.

You can put it louder if you can.

Možete poglasniti ako želite.

My son calls this "making popcorn while listening to a badly-tuned A.M. station."

Moj sin to zove „pravljenje kokica tijekom slušanja loše podešene radijske stanice.“

This is a brain.

Ovo je mozak.

This is what happens when you route these electrical storms to a loudspeaker

Ovo se događa kada spojite ove električne oluje na zvučnik

and you listen to a hundred brain cells firing,

i slušate sto moždanih stanica kako okidaju,

your brain will sound like this -- my brain, any brain.

vaš mozak će zvučati ovako – moj mozak, bilo čiji mozak.

And what we want to do as neuroscientists in this time

i što mi neuroznanstvenici želimo učiniti

is to actually listen to these symphonies, these brain symphonies,

je zapravo slušati ove simfonije, ove moždane simfonije,

and try to extract from them the messages they carry.

te pokušati izvuči iz njih poruku koju nose.

In particular, about 12 years ago

Primjerice, prije 12 godina

we created a preparation that we named brain-machine interfaces.

napravili smo pripravak koji smo nazvali sučelje mozak-računalo.

And you have a scheme here that describes how it works.

Ovdje imate shemu koja opisuje kako radi.

The idea is, let's have some sensors that listen to these storms, this electrical firing,

Ideja je postaviti neke senzore koji slušaju ove oluje, ovo električno okidanje,

and see if you can, in the same time that it takes

i vidjeti ako možemo, u istom vremenu koje je potrebno

for this storm to leave the brain and reach the legs or the arms of an animal --

da ove oluje napuste mozak i dođu do nogu ili ruku životinje –

about half a second --

otprilike pola sekunde -

let's see if we can read these signals,

vidjeti možemo li očitati ove signale,

extract the motor messages that are embedded in it,

izvući motoričke poruke koje su sadržane u njima,

translate it into digital commands

prevesti ih u digitalne zapovijedi

and send it to an artificial device

i poslati ih u umjetni uređaj

that will reproduce the voluntary motor wheel of that brain in real time.

koji će reproducirati voljni motorički kotač mozga u realnom vremenu

And see if we can measure how well we can translate that message

da vidimo možemo li izmjeriti koliko dobro bismo preveli tu poruku

when we compare to the way the body does that.

kada usporedimo sa načinom na koji to tijelo radi.

And if we can actually provide feedback,

I ako zaista možemo pružiti povratnu informaciju,

sensory signals that go back from this robotic, mechanical, computational actuator

osjetni signali koji odlaze iz ovog robotskog, mehaničkog, računskog uređaja

that is now under the control of the brain,

koji je sada pod kontrolom mozga,

back to the brain,

nazad u mozak,

how the brain deals with that,

kako se mozak nosi s time,

of receiving messages from an artificial piece of machinery.

primajući poruke od strane umjetnog uređaja.

And that's exactly what we did 10 years ago.

Upravo smo to učinili prije 10 godina.

We started with a superstar monkey called Aurora

Započeli smo sa majmunom zvanim Aurora,

that became one of the superstars of this field.

koji je uskoro postao jedna od superzvijezda na ovom polju.

And Aurora liked to play video games.

I Aurora je voljela igrati videoigrice.

As you can see here,

Kao što možete vidjete,

she likes to use a joystick, like any one of us, any of our kids, to play this game.

voli koristiti joystick, kao bilo tko od nas, kao i naša djeca, kako bi igrala ovu igru.

And as a good primate, she even tries to cheat before she gets the right answer.

Kao dobar primat, ona čak pokušava varati prije nego dobije pravi odgovor.

So even before a target appears that she's supposed to cross

Čak i prije nego se pojavi meta koju treba prekrižiti

with the cursor that she's controlling with this joystick,

s kursorom koji kontrolira putem joysticka,

Aurora is trying to find the target, no matter where it is.

Aurora pokušava pronaći metu, bez obzira gdje se nalazi.

And if she's doing that,

I ako to radi,

because every time she crosses that target with the little cursor,

zato što svaki put kada pogodi metu s tim malim kursorom,

she gets a drop of Brazilian orange juice.

dobije kap brazilskog soka od naranče.

And I can tell you, any monkey will do anything for you

A mogu vam reći, bilo koji majmun će učiniti sve za vas

if you get a little drop of Brazilian orange juice.

ako imate malo brazilskog soka od naranče.

Actually any primate will do that.

Zapravo, bilo koji primat bi to učinio.

Think about that.

Razmislite o tome.

Well, while Aurora was playing this game, as you saw,

Dok je Aurora igrala ovu igru, kao što ste vidjeli,

and doing a thousand trials a day

i radila tisuću testova dnevno

and getting 97 percent correct and 350 milliliters of orange juice,

i dobivala 97% točno i 350 mililitara soka od naranče,

we are recording the brainstorms that are produced in her head

mi smo snimali oluje ideja koje su proizvedeni u njenoj glavi

and sending them to a robotic arm

i slali ih u robotsku ruku

that was learning to reproduce the movements that Aurora was making.

koja je učila reproducirati pokrete koje je Aurora pravila.

Because the idea was to actually turn on this brain-machine interface

zato što je ideja zapravo bila pokrenuti ovo sučelje mozak-računalo

and have Aurora play the game just by thinking,

i učiniti da Aurora igra igricu samo mislima,

without interference of her body.

bez korištenja njenog tijela.

Her brainstorms would control an arm

Njene oluje idejai bi kontrolirale ruku

that would move the cursor and cross the target.

koja bi micala kursor i prekrižila metu.

And to our shock, that's exactly what Aurora did.

Šokirali smo se, to je upravo ono što je Aurora učinila.

She played the game without moving her body.

Igrala je igricu bez korištenja svoga tijela.

So every trajectory that you see of the cursor now,

Pa svaka putanja kursora koju sada vidite,

this is the exact first moment she got that.

ovo je točan prvi trenutak kada je uspjela.

That's the exact first moment

Ovo je prvi trenutak kada je

a brain intention was liberated from the physical domains of a body of a primate

namjera mozga oslobođena fizičke domene tijela primata

and could act outside, in that outside world,

i mogla djelovati vani, u vanjskom svijetu

just by controlling an artificial device.

jednostavno kontrolirajući umjetni uređaj.

And Aurora kept playing the game, kept finding the little target

i Aurora je nastavila igrati igricu, pronalazeći malenu metu

and getting the orange juice that she wanted to get, that she craved for.

i dobivala sok od naranče koji je željela, za kojim je čeznula.

Well, she did that because she, at that time, had acquired a new arm.

Doduše, radila je sve to zato što je, tada, dobila novu ruku.

The robotic arm that you see moving here 30 days later,

Robotska ruka koju vidite kako se pokreće ovdje 30 dana nakon,

after the first video that I showed to you,

nakon prvog videa koji sam vam pokazao,

is under the control of Aurora's brain

je pod kontrolom Aurorina mozga

and is moving the cursor to get to the target.

i pomiče kursor do mete.

And Aurora now knows that she can play the game with this robotic arm,

I Aurora sada zna da može igrati igricu s ovom robotskom rukom,

but she has not lost the ability to use her biological arms to do what she pleases.

Ali nije izgubila sposobnost da koristi svoje biološke ruke da radi što poželi.

She can scratch her back, she can scratch one of us, she can play another game.

Može se počešati po leđima, može počešati nekoga od nas, može igrati drugu igricu.

By all purposes and means,

Na svaki mogući način,

Aurora's brain has incorporated that artificial device

Aurorin mozak je prihvatio taj umjetni uređaj

as an extension of her body.

kao produžetak svog tijela.

The model of the self that Aurora had in her mind

Model sebe koji je Aurora imala na svom umu

has been expanded to get one more arm.

je bio proširen kako bi dobio još jednu ruku.

Well, we did that 10 years ago.

Dakle, učinili smo to prije 10 godina.

Just fast forward 10 years.

Premotajte 10 godina unaprijed.

Just last year we realized that you don't even need to have a robotic device.

Tek prošle godine shvatili smo da čak ne trebate ni imati robotski uređaj.

You can just build a computational body, an avatar, a monkey avatar.

Možete samo napraviti računsko tijelo, avatar, avatar majmuna.

And you can actually use it for our monkeys to either interact with them,

I možete ga koristiti za naše majmune da vrše interakciju s njima,

or you can train them to assume in a virtual world

Ili ih možete naučiti da u virtualnom svijetu zauzmu

the first-person perspective of that avatar

perspektivu u prvom licu tog avatara

and use her brain activity to control the movements of the avatar's arms or legs.

i koriste njenu moždanu aktivnost da bi kontrolirali pokrete ruku i nogu avatara.

And what we did basically was to train the animals

Mi smo zapravo istrenirali ove životinje

to learn how to control these avatars

da nauče kako kontrolirati ove avatare

and explore objects that appear in the virtual world.

i otkriju objekte koji se nalazae u virtualnom svijetu.

And these objects are visually identical,

A ovi objekti su vizualno identični,

but when the avatar crosses the surface of these objects,

ali kada avatar prelazi preko površina ovih objekata

they send an electrical message that is proportional to the microtactile texture of the object

oni šalje električnu poruku koja je proporcionalnaj teksturi objekta

that goes back directly to the monkey's brain,

koja odlazi nazad direktno u majmunov mozak

informing the brain what it is the avatar is touching.

informirajući mozak što avatar dodiruje.

And in just four weeks, the brain learns to process this new sensation

I u samo četiri tjedna, mozak nauči kako obraditi ovaj novi osjećaj

and acquires a new sensory pathway -- like a new sense.

i dobiva novi senzorički put – kao novi osjećaj.

And you truly liberate the brain now

Sada zaista oslobađate mozak

because you are allowing the brain to send motor commands to move this avatar.

zato što dopuštate mozgu da šalje motoričke zapovijedi da bi pokrenuo avatar.

And the feedback that comes from the avatar is being processed directly by the brain

A povratnu vezu koja dolazi iz avatara mozak direktno obrađuje

without the interference of the skin.

bez uplitanja kože.

So what you see here is this is the design of the task.

Dakle, ono što vidite ovdje je dizajn ovog zadatka.

You're going to see an animal basically touching these three targets.

Vidjet ćete životinju koja u osnovi dodiruje ove tri mete.

And he has to select one because only one carries the reward,

I ona mora odabrati jedan jer samo jedan donosi nagradu,

the orange juice that they want to get.

sok od naranče koji žele dobiti,

And he has to select it by touch using a virtual arm, an arm that doesn't exist.

i mora ga odabrati dodirom koristeći virtualnu ruku, ruku koja ne postoji.

And that's exactly what they do.

I to je upravo ono što oni učine.

This is a complete liberation of the brain

Ovo je potpuno oslobođenje mozga

from the physical constraints of the body and the motor in a perceptual task.

od fizičkih ograničenja tijela i motorike u perceptivnom zadatku.

The animal is controlling the avatar to touch the targets.

Životinja kontrolira avatar kako bi dodirnula mete.

And he's sensing the texture by receiving an electrical message directly in the brain.

I osjeća teksturu primajući električni podražaj direktno u mozak.

And the brain is deciding what is the texture associated with the reward.

I mozak odlučuje je li tekstura povezana s nagradom.

The legends that you see in the movie don't appear for the monkey.

Legende koje vidite na snimci se ne prikazuju majmunu.

And by the way, they don't read English anyway,

I, usput, svakako ne razumiju Engleski,

so they are here just for you to know that the correct target is shifting position.

ovdje su samo za vas kako bi znali da točan odgovor mijenja mjesta.

And yet, they can find them by tactile discrimination,

Ipak, mogu ih pronaći putem dodirne diskriminacije,

and they can press it and select it.

i mogu ga pritisnuti i odabrati ga.

So when we look at the brains of these animals,

I kada pogledamo mozgove ovih životinja,

on the top panel you see the alignment of 125 cells

na gornjoj ploči vidite poravnanje 125 stanica,

showing what happens with the brain activity, the electrical storms,

pokazujući što se događa sa moždanom aktivnošću, električnim olujom

of this sample of neurons in the brain

ovog uzorka neurona u mozgu

when the animal is using a joystick.

kada životinja koristi joystick.

And that's a picture that every neurophysiologist knows.

I ovo je slika koju svaki neurofiziolog zna.

The basic alignment shows that these cells are coding for all possible directions.

Osnovno poravnanje pokazuje da ove su ove stanice kodirane za sve moguće smjerove.

The bottom picture is what happens when the body stops moving

Donja slika pokazuje što se dogodi kada se tijelo prestane kretati

and the animal starts controlling either a robotic device or a computational avatar.

a životinja počne kontrolirati robotsku napravu ili kompjuterski avatar.

As fast as we can reset our computers,

Brzo koliko možemo resetirati naša računala

the brain activity shifts to start representing this new tool,

moždana aktivnost se prebacuje kako bi počela reprezentirati ovo novo oruđe,

as if this too was a part of that primate's body.

kao da je i ono dio tijela tog primata.

The brain is assimilating that too, as fast as we can measure.

Mozak se također prilagođava, brzo koliko možemo izmjeriti.

So that suggests to us that our sense of self

To nam govori da naš osjećaj svijesti

does not end at the last layer of the epithelium of our bodies,

ne završava u zadnjem sloju epitela naših tijela,

but it ends at the last layer of electrons of the tools that we're commanding with our brains.

nego na zadnjem sloju elektrona oruđa kojim zapovijedamo našim mozgom.

Our violins, our cars, our bicycles, our soccer balls, our clothing --

Naše violine, naši auti, naši bicikli, naše nogometne lopte, naša odjeća -

they all become assimilated by this voracious, amazing, dynamic system called the brain.

svi se prilagođavaju prožrdljivim, čudesnim, dinamičkim sustavom nazvanim mozak.

How far can we take it?

Koliko daleko možemo ići?

Well, in an experiment that we ran a few years ago, we took this to the limit.

U eksperimentu koji smo napravili prije par godina, doveli smo ga do limita.

We had an animal running on a treadmill

Postavili smo životinju da trči na pokretnoj traci

at Duke University on the East Coast of the United States,

na sveučilištu Duke na istočnoj obali SAD-a,

producing the brainstorms necessary to move.

stvarajući oluje ideja potrebne za pokret.

And we had a robotic device, a humanoid robot,

I postavili smo robtosku napravu, humanoidnog robota

in Kyoto, Japan at ATR Laboratories

U Kyotu, u Japanu u ATR laboratorijima

that was dreaming its entire life to be controlled by a brain,

koji je cijeli život sanjao kako će ga mozak kontrolirati,

a human brain, or a primate brain.

ljudski mozak, ili mozak primata.

What happens here is that the brain activity that generated the movements in the monkey

Dogodilo se da je moždana aktivnost koja je izazvala pokrete u majmunu,

was transmitted to Japan and made this robot walk

bila odaslana u Japan i pokrenula ovog robota

while footage of this walking was sent back to Duke,

dok je snimka ovog kretanja bila poslana nazad na Duke,

so that the monkey could see the legs of this robot walking in front of her.

majmun mogao vidjeti noge ovog robota kako šeće ispred nje.

So she could be rewarded, not by what her body was doing

Bila je nagrađena, ne zbog onog što je njego tijelo radilo,

but for every correct step of the robot on the other side of the planet

već za svaki ispravni korak robota na drugoj strani planete

controlled by her brain activity.

kontroliran njenom moždanom aktivnošću.

Funny thing, that round trip around the globe took 20 milliseconds less

Smiješna stvar, taj put oko svijeta je trajao 20 milisekundi manje

than it takes for that brainstorm to leave its head, the head of the monkey,

nego što je potrebno moždanom impulsu da izađe iz svoje glave, glave majmuna

and reach its own muscle.

i dođe do svog mišića.

The monkey was moving a robot that was six times bigger, across the planet.

Majmun je pokretao robota koji je bio šest puta veći, preko planeta.

This is one of the experiments in which that robot was able to walk autonomously.

Ovo je jedan od eksperimenata u kojem je robot mogao hodati autonomno.

This is CB1 fulfilling its dream in Japan

Ovo je CB1 ispunjavajući svoj san u Japanu

under the control of the brain activity of a primate.

pod kontrolom moždane aktivnosti primata.

So where are we taking all this?

Dokle nas ovo vodi?

What are we going to do with all this research,

Što ćemo učiniti sa svim ovim istraživanjima,

besides studying the properties of this dynamic universe that we have between our ears?

osim proučavanja svojstava dinamičkog svemira kojeg imamo između ušiju?

Well the idea is to take all this knowledge and technology

Pa, ideja je uzeti svo znanje i tehnologiju

and try to restore one of the most severe neurological problems that we have in the world.

i pokušati obnoviti jedan od najtežih problema koje imamo u svijetu.

Millions of people have lost the ability to translate these brainstorms

Milijuni ljudi su izgubili sposobnost prevođenja ovih oluja informacija

into action, into movement.

u akciju, u pokret.

Although their brains continue to produce those storms and code for movements,

Iako njihovi mozgovi nastavljaju sa stvaranjem ovih impulsa i kodova za pokrete

they cannot cross a barrier that was created by a lesion on the spinal cord.

oni ne mogu proći barijeru koja je stvorena lezijom na kralježničnoj moždini.

So our idea is to create a bypass,

Dakle, naša ideja je stvoriti zaobilaznicu,

is to use these brain-machine interfaces to read these signals,

Iskoristiti ovo sučelje mozak-stroj kako bi pročitali ove signale,

larger-scale brainstorms that contain the desire to move again,

oluje ideja većeg razmjera s namjerom ponovnog kretanja,

bypass the lesion using computational microengineering

zaobišli leziju koristeći kompjuterski mikroinžinjering

and send it to a new body, a whole body called an exoskeleton,

i poslali ih u novo tijelo, potpuno novo tijelo zvano egzoskelet,

a whole robotic suit that will become the new body of these patients.

robotsko odijelo koje bi postalo novo tijelo ovih pacijenata.

And you can see an image produced by this consortium.

Možete vidjeti sliku stvorenu ovim projektom.

This is a nonprofit consortium called the Walk Again Project

Ovo je neprofitni projekt zvan Hodaj Ponovo Projekt

that is putting together scientists from Europe,

Koji povezuje znanstvenike iz Europe

from here in the United States, and in Brazil

SAD-a i Brazila

together to work to actually get this new body built --

kako bi zajedno radili i zapravo napravili ovo novo tijelo -

a body that we believe, through the same plastic mechanisms

tijelo za koje smatramo da bi, kroz iste plastične mehanizme

that allow Aurora and other monkeys to use these tools through a brain-machine interface

koji su omogućili Aurori i drugim majmunima da koriste oruđa kroz sučelje mozak-računalo

and that allows us to incorporate the tools that we produce and use in our daily life.

i koje je omogućilo nama da se sjedinimo s oruđima koja koristimo u dnevnom životu

This same mechanism, we hope, will allow these patients,

ovaj isti mehanizam će, nadamo se, omogućiti ovim pacijentima

not only to imagine again the movements that they want to make

ne samo da zamisle ponovo pokrete koje žele učiniti

and translate them into movements of this new body,

i prevedu ih u pokrete ovog novog tijela,

but for this body to be assimilated as the new body that the brain controls.

nego da se ovo tijelo prilagodi kao novo tijelo koje mozak kontrolira.

So I was told about 10 years ago

Rečeno mi je prije 10 godina

that this would never happen, that this was close to impossible.

da se ovo nikad neće dogoditi, da je ovo skoro pa nemoguće.

And I can only tell you that as a scientist,

I mogu vam jedino reći kao znanstvenik,

I grew up in southern Brazil in the mid-'60s

Odrastao sam u južnom Brazilu u srednjim 60-ima

watching a few crazy guys telling [us] that they would go to the Moon.

slušajući par šašavih ljudi kako nam govore da će nas odvesti na Mjesec.

And I was five years old,

Imao sam pet godina,

and I never understood why NASA didn't hire Captain Kirk and Spock to do the job;

i nikako nisam razumio zašto NASA nije unajmila Kirka i Spocka da obave posao;

after all, they were very proficient --

na kraju krajeva, bili su vrlo sposobni --

but just seeing that as a kid

ali jednostavno gledajući to kao dijete

made me believe, as my grandmother used to tell me,

Povjerovao sam, kao što mi je baka često govorila,

that "impossible is just the possible

Da je „nemoguće samo moguće

that someone has not put in enough effort to make it come true."

u koje netko nije uložio dovoljno truda da to ostvari.“

So they told me that it's impossible to make someone walk.

Znači, rekli su mi da je nemoguće učiniti da netko ponovo hoda.

I think I'm going to follow my grandmother's advice.

Mislim da ću slijediti bakin savjet.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)