Aditi Shankardass: A second opinion on learning disorders

翻译人员: John Mo 校对人员: Chunlei Chang

When I was 10 years old,

我十岁的时候，

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

我的一个表兄带我参观了他上的医学院。

And as a special treat,

作为一次特别优待

he took me to the pathology lab

他带我去了病理学实验室

and took a real human brain

拿出一个真正的人脑

out of the jar

从一个罐子里

and placed it in my hands.

把它放在了我手里。

And there it was,

就是这

the seat of human consciousness,

这里就是人们意识的载体

the powerhouse of the human body,

人们身体的司令部

sitting in my hands.

它就在我手中

And that day I knew that when I grew up,

这一天我知道当我长大

I was going to become a brain doctor,

我会成为一名研究大脑的医生

scientist, something or the other.

科学家，或者是其他的什么，

Years later, when I finally grew up,

几年之后，当我真地长大了，

my dream came true.

我的梦想实现了。

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

就在我做

on the neurological causes

关于儿童阅读障碍的神经学起因

of dyslexia in children

的博士论文时

that I encountered a startling fact

我发现了一个令人吃惊的现象

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

今天我想以此与你们分享。

It is estimated that one in six children,

据估计有六分之一的儿童，

that's one in six children,

六分之一呀，

suffer from some developmental disorder.

受发展障碍的影响。

This is a disorder that

这是一种

retards mental development in the child

妨碍儿童智力发展，

and causes permanent mental impairments.

甚至导致智力永久损伤的疾病。

Which means that each and every one of you here today

这意味着今天在座的各位中每六个人中就有一个人

knows at least one child that is suffering

知道至少一个孩子正在受

from a developmental disorder.

发展障碍疾病的折磨。

But here's what really perplexed me.

但是困扰我的还不是这个。

Despite the fact that each

尽管每一种

and every one of these disorders

每一种疾病

originates in the brain,

都可以在大脑中找到根源，

most of these disorders

但大部分

are diagnosed solely on the basis

只能通过可观察到的

of observable behavior.

行为来确诊。

But diagnosing a brain disorder

诊断一种脑部疾病

without actually looking at the brain

却不直接查看大脑

is analogous to treating a patient with a heart problem

就像是治疗心脏病人

based on their physical symptoms,

根据他们的身体症状，

without even doing an ECG or a chest X-ray

而不做心电图或者胸部X-光片

to look at the heart.

来查看心脏。

It seemed so intuitive to me.

我凭直觉感到

To diagnose and treat a brain disorder accurately,

要准确地诊断治疗脑部疾病

it would be necessary to look at the brain directly.

直接查看大脑是很必要的。

Looking at behavior alone

直接观察行为本身

can miss a vital piece of the puzzle

就可能错过至关重要的信息

and provide an incomplete, or even a misleading,

而仅仅提供一种不完整，

picture of the child's problems.

甚至能让人误解的构想。

Yet, despite all the advances in medical technology,

但是，尽管有先进的医疗技术，

the diagnosis of brain disorders

要诊断出六分之一

in one in six children

患病儿童的病因

still remained so limited.

依然不是件容易的事。

And then I came across a team at Harvard University

之后我便遇到了哈佛大学的一个小组，

that had taken one such advanced medical technology

他们已经研发出了先进的医疗技术

and finally applied it,

并最终把这种技术

instead of in brain research,

应用到了诊断儿童脑部疾病中

towards diagnosing brain disorders in children.

而不是应用到脑部研究。

Their groundbreaking technology

他们极具创造力的技术

records the EEG, or the electrical activity

记录下了脑电图或实时的

of the brain, in real time,

脑部电波活动，

allowing us to watch the brain

这可以让我们观察大脑

as it performs various functions

在它履行各种功能时

and then detect even the slightest abnormality

然后就我们就可以发现一些轻微的反常之处

in any of these functions:

在下面的这些功能中，

vision, attention, language, audition.

视觉，注意力，语言，听觉。

A program called Brain Electrical

有一项叫做大脑电波

Activity Mapping

活动图谱的工程

then triangulates the source

会找出大脑中的

of that abnormality in the brain.

反常的地方

And another program called

另一项叫做

Statistical Probability Mapping

统计概率图谱的工程

then performs mathematical calculations

用数学计算的办法

to determine whether any of these abnormalities

来算出这些反常是否

are clinically significant,

在临床上有用，

allowing us to provide a much more accurate

如果有用就给我们提供了一种更准确的

neurological diagnosis

神经诊断方法

of the child's symptoms.

对儿童的症状。

And so I became the head of neurophysiology

就这样我成为了这个团队中

for the clinical arm of this team,

临床分支的领导者。

and we're finally able to use this technology

最终我们可以用这种技术

towards actually helping

来帮助那些有大脑障碍的

children with brain disorders.

儿童。

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

我很高兴现在我正在

of setting up this technology here in India.

将这项技术在印度建立起来。

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

我想告诉你这样一个孩子，

whose story was also covered by ABC News.

他的故事也被ABC新闻报道过。

Seven-year-old Justin Senigar

七岁的查斯丁 西尼加

came to our clinic with this diagnosis

来到我们诊所

of very severe autism.

他被诊断患有严重的自闭症。

Like many autistic children,

像许多自闭症儿童一样

his mind was locked inside his body.

他的思想被禁闭在身体中。

There were moments when he would

就曾出现过他经常

actually space out for seconds at a time.

独自发呆几秒钟的情况。

And the doctors told his parents

医生告诉他的父母

he was never going to be able

他再也不能

to communicate or interact socially,

与人交流了，

and he would probably never have too much language.

他可能不太会说话了。

When we used this groundbreaking EEG technology

当我们用这种创造性的脑电图技术

to actually look at Justin's brain,

查看查斯丁的大脑时

the results were startling.

结果令人吃惊。

It turned out that Justin was almost

它显示查斯丁几乎没有自闭症。

certainly not autistic.

他正在受癫痫的折磨

He was suffering from brain seizures

他正在受癫痫的折磨

that were impossible to see with the naked eye,

而这几乎不可能用肉眼发现，

but that were actually causing symptoms

却引起了像自闭症

that mimicked those of autism.

一样的症状。

After Justin was given anti-seizure medication,

在治疗查斯丁的癫痫时，

the change in him was amazing.

他的变化很惊人。

Within a period of 60 days,

60天之内，

his vocabulary went from two to three words

他的词汇量从两三个单词

to 300 words.

提高到300个单词。

And his communication and social interaction

他的沟通和社交能力

were improved so dramatically

也得到了极大地提高，

that he was enrolled into a regular school

因而他入学了

and even became a karate super champ.

并成为了空手道超级冠军。

Research shows that 50 percent of children,

研究表明一半

almost 50 percent of children

几乎一半

diagnosed with autism

被诊断患有自闭症的儿童

are actually suffering from hidden brain seizures.

实际上是受着隐秘的癫痫的折磨。

These are the faces of the children

这是一些我检测过的

that I have tested

儿童的脸。

with stories just like Justin.

有着像查斯丁一样故事的

All these children

所有这些孩子

came to our clinic with a diagnosis

被诊断

of autism, attention deficit disorder,

患有自闭症，注意力缺失，

mental retardation, language problems.

智力障碍，语言问题来到我们的诊所。

Instead, our EEG scans revealed

而我们脑电图扫描显示

very specific problems hidden within their brains

他们的大脑中隐藏着一些问题

that couldn't possibly have been detected

这些问题很可能不会通过

by their behavioral assessments.

对他们行为的估测来发现。

So these EEG scans

因此这些脑电图扫描

enabled us to provide these children

让我们对这些孩子做出了

with a much more accurate neurological diagnosis

更为准确的精神诊断

and much more targeted treatment.

更具针对性的治疗。

For too long now, children with developmental disorders

有发展障碍的儿童被误诊

have suffered from misdiagnosis

而他们真正的问题却没有被发现

while their real problems have gone undetected

并变得更严重，

and left to worsen.

这种情况持续太久了。

And for too long, these children and their parents

这些孩子和他们的父母受挫折和绝望的折磨

have suffered undue frustration and desperation.

太久了。

But we are now in a new era of neuroscience,

但现在我们处在一个神经科学的新时代，

one in which we can finally look

在这个时代我们可以

directly at brain function in real time

实时地直接查看大脑的功能状态

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

这不会有危险或副作用，没有侵害性，

and find the true source

并找到如此

of so many disabilities in children.

这些儿童智力障碍的真正原因。

So if I could inspire

如果今天我可以

even a fraction of you in the audience today

通过与一位孩子患有发展障碍的父母分享

to share this pioneering diagnostic approach

这种先进的诊断办法

with even one parent whose child

让在座的各位中一小部分人

is suffering from a developmental disorder,

感到备受鼓舞的话

then perhaps one more puzzle

那也许又一个人脑中的疑惑

in one more brain will be solved.

会被消除。

One more mind will be unlocked.

又一个思想会被解放。

And one more child who has been misdiagnosed

又一个被误诊的或是

or even undiagnosed by the system

没有被该系统诊断的孩子

will finally realize his or her true potential

会意识到他或她的潜力

while there's still time

那就是这仍然还有时间

for his or her brain to recover.

让他或她的大脑恢复正常。

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

所有这些只需通过观察这个孩子的脑电波。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）