Aditi Shankardass: A second opinion on learning disorders

Translator: yan Chase Reviewer: Sunny Kan Ngai Hang

When I was 10 years old,

我十岁果阵时,

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

我有个表哥带我参观咗佢返学嘅医学院

And as a special treat,

我仲得到特殊照顾

he took me to the pathology lab

佢带我去咗间病理学实验室

and took a real human brain

然后攞出个真实嘅人类大脑

out of the jar

从一个罐入边

and placed it in my hands.

然后摆喺我手上

And there it was,

呢个就喺

the seat of human consciousness,

人类意识嘅位置

the powerhouse of the human body,

人体躯干嘅发动机

sitting in my hands.

摆喺我手上

And that day I knew that when I grew up,

由果日开始 我知道我大个咗之後

I was going to become a brain doctor,

我会去做一个脑科医生

scientist, something or the other.

或者喺科学家,或者其他相关嘅

Years later, when I finally grew up,

过咗咁多年,当我终于大个女了

my dream came true.

我嘅梦想实现咗

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

然后当我修紧我嘅哲学博士学位

on the neurological causes

喺关于对神经系统有問題

of dyslexia in children

而造成阅读障碍嘅细路

that I encountered a startling fact

我发现到一个惊人嘅事实

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

而今日我想将佢同大家分享下

It is estimated that one in six children,

据估计,六分之一嘅细路

that's one in six children,

每六个细路就有一个

suffer from some developmental disorder.

会有某种程度嘅发展障碍问题

This is a disorder that

呢种发展障碍

retards mental development in the child

会阻住儿童嘅心智发展

and causes permanent mental impairments.

并造成永久嘅精神损伤

Which means that each and every one of you here today

即喺话今日在座嘅每一位½

knows at least one child that is suffering

都会认识起码一位细路

from a developmental disorder.

喺有发展障碍嘅

But here's what really perplexed me.

但喺有一度令我搞唔明嘅地方

Despite the fact that each

尽管事实上

and every one of these disorders

每个发展障碍嘅个案

originates in the brain,

都系产生喺大脑之中

most of these disorders

基本上呢啲紊乱

are diagnosed solely on the basis

都喺简单嘅通过

of observable behavior.

观察患者基本嘅行为嚟诊断

But diagnosing a brain disorder

但喺诊断一种大脑紊乱

without actually looking at the brain

又唔去睇个大脑发生咩事

is analogous to treating a patient with a heart problem

就好似医一个心脏病人

based on their physical symptoms,

只根据简单嘅身体症状

without even doing an ECG or a chest X-ray

而唔去睇心电图或者系X光胸透

to look at the heart.

嚟了解个心脏

It seemed so intuitive to me.

我觉得咁太依赖直觉喇

To diagnose and treat a brain disorder accurately,

要精确诊断同医好一种大脑紊乱

it would be necessary to look at the brain directly.

绝对要直接睇下个大脑

Looking at behavior alone

只喺睇病人嘅行为

can miss a vital piece of the puzzle

有可能错过最重要嘅一塊拼图

and provide an incomplete, or even a misleading,

同埋导致不完全,甚至喺错误解读

picture of the child's problems.

问题解决方案

Yet, despite all the advances in medical technology,

依家 尽管医疗科技进步咗好多

the diagnosis of brain disorders

要诊断六分之一儿童嘅

in one in six children

大脑紊乱

still remained so limited.

条件都喺好有限嘅

And then I came across a team at Harvard University

后来我遇到一个哈佛大学嘅小组

that had taken one such advanced medical technology

佢哋用咗种好先进嘅医疗技术™

and finally applied it,

并运用佢

instead of in brain research,

唔单止做大脑研究

towards diagnosing brain disorders in children.

仲用佢诊断儿童嘅大脑紊乱问题

Their groundbreaking technology

佢哋呢种创新嘅技术

records the EEG, or the electrical activity

可以记录EEG脑电图或者电流活动¾

of the brain, in real time,

仲喺实时记录

allowing us to watch the brain

咁样我哋就可以睇到

as it performs various functions

大脑执行不同嘅功能

and then detect even the slightest abnormality

然后检测出啲好细微嘅异常

in any of these functions:

喺呢啲功能之中

vision, attention, language, audition.

视觉,注意力,语言,发声

A program called Brain Electrical

有一个项目叫做

Activity Mapping

脑电活动绘图

then triangulates the source

用三角定位的方式找出

of that abnormality in the brain.

脑部唔正常信号嘅来源

And another program called

仲有一个项目叫做

Statistical Probability Mapping

统计几率绘图

then performs mathematical calculations

佢可以执行数学运算

to determine whether any of these abnormalities

通过运算嚟决定呢啲反常

are clinically significant,

喺未临床特征

allowing us to provide a much more accurate

咁就比咗我哋一个更加之精准嘅

neurological diagnosis

神经学诊断

of the child's symptoms.

对果啲儿童嘅症状

And so I became the head of neurophysiology

所以我就做咗呢个团队

for the clinical arm of this team,

临床部分嘅神经生理学嘅负责人

and we're finally able to use this technology

同埋我哋依家终于可以用呢种科技

towards actually helping

实实际际咁

children with brain disorders.

去帮助大脑紊乱嘅小朋友

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

喺呢度我好开心咁同大家讲我哋依家

of setting up this technology here in India.

正在将呢种科技应用到印度

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

我想同大家讲下一个小朋友

whose story was also covered by ABC News.

佢嘅故事美国广播公司都有介绍

Seven-year-old Justin Senigar

七岁嘅 Justin Seingar

came to our clinic with this diagnosis

嚟到我哋诊所

of very severe autism.

佢被人哋诊断到有好严重嘅自闭症

Like many autistic children,

好似好多自闭症儿童咁

his mind was locked inside his body.

佢嘅心智被自己嘅身体鎖住咗

There were moments when he would

曾经有几次

actually space out for seconds at a time.

佢自己一个人喺度发牛斗

And the doctors told his parents

个医生同佢父母讲

he was never going to be able

佢永远都唔可以

to communicate or interact socially,

好似社交咁沟通同互动

and he would probably never have too much language.

佢可能永远唔会讲好多野

When we used this groundbreaking EEG technology

当我哋用呢个创新嘅脑电图(EEG)科技

to actually look at Justin's brain,

去认真睇下Justin嘅大脑

the results were startling.

结果系好出乎意料嘅

It turned out that Justin was almost

结果显示Justin基本

certainly not autistic.

完全无自闭症

He was suffering from brain seizures

佢只系脑部疾病发作

that were impossible to see with the naked eye,

而斋系用对眼系睇唔到嘅

but that were actually causing symptoms

但喺佢又喺会引起

that mimicked those of autism.

好似自闭症咁嘅症状

After Justin was given anti-seizure medication,

当Justin接受咗抗发作药物治疗之后

the change in him was amazing.

佢嘅改变喺十分惊人嘅

Within a period of 60 days,

喺60日嘅时间之内

his vocabulary went from two to three words

佢嘅词汇从两三个单词

to 300 words.

飞升到300几个

And his communication and social interaction

佢嘅沟通同社交

were improved so dramatically

不可思议嘅提升到

that he was enrolled into a regular school

可以去正常嘅学校返学

and even became a karate super champ.

佢甚至变成咗一个空手道嘅冠軍

Research shows that 50 percent of children,

调查表明一半嘅儿童

almost 50 percent of children

接近一半

diagnosed with autism

被诊断为自闭症嘅

are actually suffering from hidden brain seizures.

其实系因为有隐藏住个大脑疾病

These are the faces of the children

呢啲就喺我测试过嘅

that I have tested

小朋友嘅面容

with stories just like Justin.

就好似Justin嘅故事咁

All these children

呢啲细路

came to our clinic with a diagnosis

嚟到我哋诊所之前被诊断为

of autism, attention deficit disorder,

自闭症,注意力缺陷紊乱

mental retardation, language problems.

精神障碍,语言障碍

Instead, our EEG scans revealed

事实上,我哋嘅EEG脑电图扫描揭示佐

very specific problems hidden within their brains

隐藏在大脑入边嘅特殊问题

that couldn't possibly have been detected

呢啲问题本来喺无办法

by their behavioral assessments.

用行为评估检测出嘅

So these EEG scans

所以EEG脑电图扫描

enabled us to provide these children

令到我哋可以向依啲小朋友提供一个

with a much more accurate neurological diagnosis

精确好多嘅神经生理学诊断

and much more targeted treatment.

同埋更加之有针对性嘅治疗比呢啲小朋友

For too long now, children with developmental disorders

好耐以嚟,有发展紊乱嘅小朋友

have suffered from misdiagnosis

忍受住误诊

while their real problems have gone undetected

而真正嘅问题仲未被检测出嚟

and left to worsen.

而令到佢病情恶化

And for too long, these children and their parents

一路以嚟,呢啲小朋友同佢哋嘅父母

have suffered undue frustration and desperation.

忍受住過度嘅伤心同绝望

But we are now in a new era of neuroscience,

但喺我哋依家处于神经生理学嘅新时代

one in which we can finally look

喺度我哋终于可以直接睇到

directly at brain function in real time

大脑嘅实时运行

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

而无风险同埋副作用,亦无侵略性

and find the true source

我哋可以搵到

of so many disabilities in children.

令儿童们失常嘅真正原因

So if I could inspire

所以如果今日我可以启发

even a fraction of you in the audience today

就算只系你哋其中嘅一小部分人♪

to share this pioneering diagnostic approach

将呢种先进嘅诊断手法

with even one parent whose child

分享比就算一个

is suffering from a developmental disorder,

患有大脑发展紊乱嘅儿童嘅父母

then perhaps one more puzzle

咁可能又一个

in one more brain will be solved.

脑疾会被治愈

One more mind will be unlocked.

又一个紧闭嘅大脑会被打开

And one more child who has been misdiagnosed

咁又一个被误诊

or even undiagnosed by the system

或者系用现在嘅系统无法诊断嘅儿童

will finally realize his or her true potential

终于可以发现佢嘅潜力

while there's still time

因为依家仲有时间

for his or her brain to recover.

佢嘅大脑仲可以恢复翻

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

而呢啲,只要简单嘅通过睇下佢嘅脑电波就可以做到

Thank you.

多谢

(Applause)

(掌声)