Nancy Kanwisher: A neural portrait of the human mind

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Madeleine Aronson

譯者: Jinyi Hu 審譯者: Yesbydefault 倪文娟

Today I want to tell you

今天我想分享

about a project being carried out

全球科學家正在進行的一項計畫，

by scientists all over the world

to paint a neural portrait of the human mind.

它的目的是要 畫出人類大腦的神經圖像。

And the central idea of this work

這項工作的核心概念是，

is that the human mind and brain

人類的心智和大腦，

is not a single, general-purpose processor,

並非單一、通用的處理器，

but a collection of highly specialized components,

而是許多高度分工單元的集合體，

each solving a different specific problem,

各自負責不同的特定問題，

and yet collectively making up

同時也聯合造就了

who we are as human beings and thinkers.

我們之為人類和思考者。

To give you a feel for this idea,

為了讓大家感受一下我的意思，

imagine the following scenario:

請想像這個情景：

You walk into your child's day care center.

你走進你孩子的托兒所，

As usual, there's a dozen kids there

像往常一樣，你看到十幾個孩子

waiting to get picked up,

正在等著家長來接。

but this time,

但是這次，

the children's faces look weirdly similar,

這些孩子的臉孔看起來出奇地相似，

and you can't figure out which child is yours.

你認不出哪個是你的孩子，

Do you need new glasses?

是你該換一副新眼鏡了嗎？

Are you losing your mind?

還是你神經錯亂了？

You run through a quick mental checklist.

你心裡快速自我檢查了一下，

No, you seem to be thinking clearly,

還好啊，你思緒清晰，

and your vision is perfectly sharp.

視力也沒問題，

And everything looks normal

一切看起來都很正常，

except the children's faces.

除了孩子們的臉孔。

You can see the faces,

你可以看到他們的臉，

but they don't look distinctive,

但是它們看起來沒有明顯的差別，

and none of them looks familiar,

而且全都很陌生。

and it's only by spotting an orange hair ribbon

後來是因為你看到一條橘色髮帶，

that you find your daughter.

才找到你的女兒。

This sudden loss of the ability to recognize faces

這種突然失去臉孔辨識能力的情況，

actually happens to people.

真的發生在某些人身上，

It's called prosopagnosia,

叫做「面容失憶症」，

and it results from damage

是因為大腦特定部位損傷所致。

to a particular part of the brain.

The striking thing about it

神奇的是，

is that only face recognition is impaired;

除了臉孔辨識能力受損以外，

everything else is just fine.

其他一切正常。

Prosopagnosia is one of many surprisingly specific

面容失憶症只是 許多奇特的精神疾病之一，

mental deficits that can happen after brain damage.

都是大腦損傷後 可能產生的後遺症。

These syndromes collectively

長久以來，這些病症一直都在暗示我們，

have suggested for a long time

that the mind is divvied up into distinct components,

大腦可以分成許多特殊的單元。

but the effort to discover those components

我們對這些大腦單元的研究，

has jumped to warp speed

近來進展神速，

with the invention of brain imaging technology,

這要歸功於大腦造影技術的發明，

especially MRI.

特別是 MRI 核磁共振造影。

So MRI enables you to see internal anatomy

磁振造影能看到 高解析度的腦部結構，

at high resolution,

so I'm going to show you in a second

我馬上要給你們看

a set of MRI cross-sectional images

某日常物品的一組 MRI 橫截面圖。

through a familiar object,

and we're going to fly through them

我會快速掃過一遍，

and you're going to try to figure out what the object is.

看你們能不能認出這是什麼東西。

Here we go.

開始：

It's not that easy. It's an artichoke.

不容易認出來，是一朵朝鮮薊。

Okay, let's try another one,

好，我們再試另一組，

starting from the bottom and going through the top.

從底部掃到頂部。

觀眾：青花菜！ 講者：一顆青花菜！

Broccoli! It's a head of broccoli.

Isn't it beautiful? I love that.

這不是很美嗎？我超愛這個。

Okay, here's another one. It's a brain, of course.

好，再一個。

是大腦，很明顯。

In fact, it's my brain.

事實上，這是我的大腦。

We're going through slices through my head like that.

正在掃過我的頭，產生一連串縱剖面圖，

That's my nose over on the right, and now

右邊是我的鼻子，

we're going over here, right there.

現在掃到這裡。

So this picture's nice, if I do say so myself,

這些照片很漂亮，如果容我這麼說，

but it shows only anatomy.

但這只能看到解剖圖。

The really cool advance with functional imaging

功能性造影 fMRI 最偉大的進步是

happened when scientists figured out how to make

科學家不再只能看到大腦的「構造」，

pictures that show not just anatomy but activity,

而能看到「活動」，

that is, where neurons are firing.

也就是神經元活動的地方。

So here's how this works.

原理是這樣：

Brains are like muscles.

腦很像肌肉，

When they get active,

活躍時，

they need increased blood flow to supply that activity,

需要充血，以供活動所需。

and lucky for us, blood flow control to the brain is local,

幸好，大腦血流量控制是區域性的，

so if a bunch of neurons, say, right there

所以，若這裡有一束神經元活躍起來，

get active and start firing,

並且開始發射，

then blood flow increases just right there.

就只有這裡的血流量會增加。

So functional MRI picks up on that blood flow increase,

所以功能性造影 fMRI 會測到這裡的血流量增加，

producing a higher MRI response

在神經元活躍處， 產生較強的核磁共振反應。

where neural activity goes up.

So to give you a concrete feel

為了讓大家實際看一下，

for how a functional MRI experiment goes

功能性造影實驗怎麼進行，

and what you can learn from it

並且了解它的功用和限制，

and what you can't,

let me describe one of the first studies I ever did.

讓我介紹我早期的一項研究：

We wanted to know if there was a special part of the brain for recognizing faces,

我們想知道， 大腦中是否有辨識臉孔的專區。

and there was already reason to think there might be such a thing

當時已有理由支持這個假設，

based on this phenomenon of prosopagnosia

因為有剛才講的「面容失憶症」病例。

that I described a moment ago,

but nobody had ever seen that part of the brain

但是從未有人在正常的大腦裡 找到過這個區域，

in a normal person,

so we set out to look for it.

所以我們開始尋找它。

So I was the first subject.

我是第一個受試者。

I went into the scanner, I lay on my back,

我進入掃描機，仰躺著，

I held my head as still as I could

頭盡量保持不動，

while staring at pictures of faces like these

一邊盯著像這些人臉的照片，

and objects like these

以及像這些物品的圖片。

and faces and objects for hours.

再看人臉，再看物品，連續好幾小時。

So as somebody who has pretty close to the world record

我待在核磁共振儀裡的時間， 久到快破世界紀錄，

of total number of hours spent inside an MRI scanner,

I can tell you that one of the skills

所以我可以告訴大家，

that's really important for MRI research

做 MRI 研究要具備的一項重要技能，

is bladder control.

就是憋尿。

(Laughter)

（觀眾笑聲）

When I got out of the scanner,

走出掃描儀以後，

I did a quick analysis of the data,

我快速分析了一下數據，

looking for any parts of my brain

看看我的大腦有沒有什麼區域

that produced a higher response when I was looking at faces

會在我看到人臉時，產生更強的反應，

than when I was looking at objects,

強於看到普通物品時。

and here's what I saw.

這是我所看到的：

Now this image looks just awful by today's standards,

依今天的標準來看，這個影像粗糙不堪，

but at the time I thought it was beautiful.

但當時我認為它很美。

What it shows is that region right there,

它展示了那個區域，

that little blob,

就是那一個小小的亮點，

it's about the size of an olive

大概像一顆橄欖的大小，

and it's on the bottom surface of my brain

位在我大腦的底部表層，

about an inch straight in from right there.

大約在從這進去一吋深的地方。

And what that part of my brain is doing

我大腦這部分所做的，

is producing a higher MRI response,

就是產生較強的核磁共振反應，

that is, higher neural activity,

也就是，較活躍的神經元活動，

when I was looking at faces

這發生在當我看著人臉時，

than when I was looking at objects.

而不是看著物品時。

So that's pretty cool,

這非常有趣。

but how do we know this isn't a fluke?

但我們怎知這不是巧合？

Well, the easiest way

最簡單的方法，

is to just do the experiment again.

就是再做一次實驗。

So I got back in the scanner,

所以我又躺回掃描儀中，

I looked at more faces and I looked at more objects

看了更多的臉孔，以及更多的物品，

and I got a similar blob,

結果得到幾乎同一處亮點。

and then I did it again

然後我又重複一遍這個實驗，

and I did it again

再一遍，

and again and again,

又一遍，

再一遍。

and around about then

做完這一遍，

I decided to believe it was for real.

我決定相信，實驗結果是正確的。

But still, maybe this is something weird about my brain

但是，這可能是因為我的大腦比較怪，

and no one else has one of these things in there,

別人的大腦不會這樣。

so to find out, we scanned a bunch of other people

為了找到答案，我們又掃描了一批人，

and found that pretty much everyone

結果發現幾乎每個人

has that little face-processing region

都有那一小塊臉孔辨識區域，

in a similar neighborhood of the brain.

大約都在大腦中相似的地帶。

So the next question was,

所以接下來的問題是，

what does this thing really do?

這個區域到底是做什麼的？

Is it really specialized just for face recognition?

它真的只專門辨識臉孔嗎？

Well, maybe not, right?

不見得，對吧？

Maybe it responds not only to faces

可能它不只對臉孔有反應，

but to any body part.

而是對身體任何部分都有反應。

Maybe it responds to anything human

可能它對任何人類的、

or anything alive

或是有生命的、

or anything round.

或是圓形的東西都有反應。

The only way to be really sure that that region

唯一的確認方法，

is specialized for face recognition

證實它專門辨識人臉，

is to rule out all of those hypotheses.

就是一一排除這些可能性。

So we spent much of the next couple of years

所以接下來兩、三年，

scanning subjects while they looked at lots

我們幾乎都在掃描受試者，

of different kinds of images,

讓他們看各式各樣不同的圖片。

and we showed that that part of the brain

結果發現，這個大腦區域

responds strongly when you look at

只要看到是臉孔的圖像，反應都很強烈。

any images that are faces of any kind,

and it responds much less strongly

但是看到非臉圖像時，反應不強，

to any image you show that isn't a face,

like some of these.

就像下排這些。

So have we finally nailed the case

那麼，我們是否解開了謎底？

that this region is necessary for face recognition?

確認我們需要靠它來辨識臉孔？

No, we haven't.

不，還不能確定。

Brain imaging can never tell you

大腦造影技術沒辦法告訴我們

if a region is necessary for anything.

某個大腦區域對於某種功能 是否為必要。

All you can do with brain imaging

大腦造影只能

is watch regions turn on and off

觀察人們有不同想法時， 大腦各區的亮、暗情況。

as people think different thoughts.

To tell if a part of the brain is necessary for a mental function,

若想知道大腦某區域 是否為某種心智功能之必要，

you need to mess with it and see what happens,

必須刺激這個區域，看看會發生什麼事。

and normally we don't get to do that.

通常我們沒有機會這樣做。

But an amazing opportunity came about

但是後來有一個奇妙的機緣：

very recently when a couple of colleagues of mine

最近我的幾位同事

tested this man who has epilepsy

測試了這位癲癇病患，

and who is shown here in his hospital bed

這是他躺在病床上，

where he's just had electrodes placed

醫院剛安裝了一些電極

on the surface of his brain

在他的大腦表面，

to identify the source of his seizures.

以便找出癲癇的病灶。

So it turned out by total chance

很巧的是，

that two of the electrodes

其中兩個電極

happened to be right on top of his face area.

剛好裝在臉孔辨識區上面。

So with the patient's consent,

在病人的同意之下，

the doctors asked him what happened

醫生通電流刺激大腦這個區域， 然後問他有什麼感覺。

when they electrically stimulated that part of his brain.

Now, the patient doesn't know

當時這位病人並不知道

where those electrodes are,

這些電極裝在哪裡，

and he's never heard of the face area.

也從未聽說過大腦有臉孔辨識區。

So let's watch what happens.

讓我們看看發生了什麼事：

It's going to start with a control condition

先從控制組開始，

that will say "Sham" nearly invisibly

螢幕左下角會有淡紅色標示 “SHAM”，

in red in the lower left,

when no current is delivered,

表示這時沒有電流通過。

and you'll hear the neurologist speaking to the patient first. So let's watch.

你會先聽到神經學家對病人說話。

我們開始看：

(Video) Neurologist: Okay, just look at my face

神經學家：好，看著我的臉，

and tell me what happens when I do this.

然後告訴我， 當我這樣做的時候發生了什麼事。

All right?

可以嗎？

Patient: Okay.

病人：好。

Neurologist: One, two, three.

神經學家：一、二、三。 （SHAM，未通電流）

Patient: Nothing. Neurologist: Nothing? Okay.

病人：沒事。 神經學家：沒事？好。

I'm going to do it one more time.

我要再做一次，

Look at my face.

看著我的臉，

One, two, three.

一、二、三。 （通 4 毫安培電流）

Patient: You just turned into somebody else.

病人：你剛剛變成了另外一個人！

Your face metamorphosed.

你變臉了，

Your nose got saggy, it went to the left.

你的鼻子下垂，往左偏了，

You almost looked like somebody I'd seen before,

你看起來幾乎很像 我以前見過的某個人，

but somebody different.

但又不是那個人。

That was a trip.

太迷幻了！

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Nancy Kanwisher: So this experiment —

所以這個實驗

(Applause) —

（觀眾掌聲）

this experiment finally nails the case

這個實驗終於確認

that this region of the brain is not only

大腦的這個區域

selectively responsive to faces

不只會對臉孔產生反應，

but causally involved in face perception.

而是直接影響臉孔認知。

So I went through all of these details

我解釋臉孔辨識區的這所有細節，

about the face region to show you what it takes

是要讓你們了解，

to really establish that a part of the brain

要怎樣才能確知大腦某個區域

is selectively involved in a specific mental process.

是專門負責某項腦力活動。

Next, I'll go through much more quickly

接下來，我會很快地介紹，

some of the other specialized regions of the brain

我們和其他科學家發現的 大腦其他功能專區。

that we and others have found.

So to do this, I've spent a lot of time

為了這個，上個月我常待在掃描儀內，

in the scanner over the last month

so I can show you these things in my brain.

好讓你們看看我大腦的這些區域。

So let's get started. Here's my right hemisphere.

讓我們開始吧：

這是我的右腦。

So we're oriented like that. You're looking at my head this way.

掃描是從這個方向， 你們是這樣看我的大腦。

Imagine taking the skull off

想像把頭殼拿掉，

and looking at the surface of the brain like that.

然後從這裡看大腦表面。

Okay, now as you can see,

好，正如你們所見，

the surface of the brain is all folded up.

大腦表面滿是褶皺，

So that's not good. Stuff could be hidden in there.

這樣不容易看，裡面可能還有東西，

We want to see the whole thing,

我們想要看到大腦的全部，

so let's inflate it so we can see the whole thing.

所以把它展開，就可以看清楚了。

Next, let's find that face area I've been talking about

接下來，要找出剛講的臉孔辨識區，

that responds to images like these.

就是對這些圖有反應的那個區域。

To see that, let's turn the brain around

要看到它，就把大腦轉過來，

and look on the inside surface on the bottom,

看底部的內表層。

and there it is, that's my face area.

找到了，這就是我的臉孔辨識區。

Just to the right of that is another region

它的右邊，是另一個區域，

that is shown in purple

標成紫色的，

that responds when you process color information,

會對色彩有反應。

and near those regions are other regions

另外，在這兩區附近，

that are involved in perceiving places,

有些區域是跟地理認知有關。

like right now, I'm seeing this layout of space around me

像現在，我正在看四週的講堂空間，

and these regions in green right there

這些綠色的區域

are really active.

會非常活躍，

There's another one out on the outside surface again

外表層也有一個綠色的。

where there's a couple more face regions as well.

還有幾個臉孔辨識區。

Also in this vicinity

另外，這附近還有

is a region that's selectively involved

一個處理視覺運動的區域，

in processing visual motion,

like these moving dots here,

就像這些運動的小點，

and that's in yellow at the bottom of the brain,

就是在大腦底部黃色的這個區域。

and near that is a region that responds

旁邊的這個區域，

會在看到身體部位時產生反應，

when you look at images of bodies and body parts

like these, and that region is shown in lime green

像這些圖片，

就是在大腦底部亮綠色的那個區域。

at the bottom of the brain.

Now all these regions I've shown you so far

到目前為止，我給你們看的所有區域，

are involved in specific aspects of visual perception.

都是跟視覺的特定面向有關。

Do we also have specialized brain regions

那麼，我們是否有大腦專區

for other senses, like hearing?

負責其他感覺呢？

例如聽覺？

Yes, we do. So if we turn the brain around a little bit,

有的。

如果把大腦再轉過來一點，

here's a region in dark blue

這裡有一塊深藍色區域，

that we reported just a couple of months ago,

是我們在幾個月前才確認的，

and this region responds strongly

聽到有音高的聲音時，這區會強烈反應，

when you hear sounds with pitch, like these.

像這些聲音：

(Sirens)

（警報聲）

(Cello music)

（大提琴音樂）

(Doorbell)

（門鈴）

In contrast, that same region does not respond strongly

但是，同樣這個區域，

聽到無明顯音高的熟悉聲音時， 卻反應微弱，

when you hear perfectly familiar sounds

that don't have a clear pitch, like these.

像這些聲音：

(Chomping)

（拍手聲）

(Drum roll)

（鼓點聲）

(Toilet flushing)

（馬桶沖水聲）

Okay. Next to the pitch region

好，音高區的旁邊，

is another set of regions that are selectively responsive

有另一組區域，

when you hear the sounds of speech.

會對講話聲有反應。

Okay, now let's look at these same regions.

好，我們來看看同樣這些區域，

In my left hemisphere, there's a similar arrangement —

在我的左腦，也有相似的區域分佈，

not identical, but similar —

不完全相同，但是十分相似。

and most of the same regions are in here,

同樣的這些區域 幾乎也都在左腦裡，

albeit sometimes different in size.

只是大小可能不一樣。

Now, everything I've shown you so far

到現在為止，我介紹的所有區域，

are regions that are involved in different aspects of perception,

都跟知覺的不同面向有關，

vision and hearing.

視覺跟聽覺。

Do we also have specialized brain regions

那，大腦有沒有專區

for really fancy, complicated mental processes?

負責很高階、複雜的心智活動呢？

Yes, we do.

有的。

So here in pink are my language regions.

這些粉紅色塊是我的語言區。

So it's been known for a very long time

科學家很早就發現，

that that general vicinity of the brain

大腦的這些地帶

is involved in processing language,

是語言處理區。

but we showed very recently

但我們的最新研究顯示，

that these pink regions

這些粉紅區域的反應

respond extremely selectively.

是非常有選擇性。

They respond when you understand the meaning of a sentence,

當你了解一個句子的意思時，反應很強，

but not when you do other complex mental things,

但是對其他複雜的腦力活動沒有反應，

like mental arithmetic

例如，心算，

or holding information in memory

或記憶訊息，

or appreciating the complex structure

或欣賞一段音樂的複雜結構。

in a piece of music.

The most amazing region that's been found yet

目前所發現最令人稱奇的區域，

is this one right here in turquoise.

是藍綠色的這一塊，

This region responds

當你猜測他人心思時，這一區會很活躍。

when you think about what another person is thinking.

So that may seem crazy,

聽起來很詭異，

but actually, we humans do this all the time.

但其實，我們人類經常做這件事，

You're doing this when you realize

比方說，當你想到

that your partner is going to be worried

你的伴侶會很擔憂，

if you don't call home to say you're running late.

如果你會晚回家卻沒打電話。

I'm doing this with that region of my brain right now

現在我大腦的那一區也在這樣做，

when I realize that you guys

就在我意識到 你們可能正在猜測

are probably now wondering about

all that gray, uncharted territory in the brain,

大腦中那些未知的灰色區域，

and what's up with that?

想知道它們是做什麼的？

Well, I'm wondering about that too,

其實，我自己也很想知道，

and we're running a bunch of experiments in my lab right now

我的實驗室團隊正在進行很多實驗，

to try to find a number of other

想找到其他一些

possible specializations in the brain

可能存在的大腦專區，

for other very specific mental functions.

負責其他特定心智功能。

但是我想強調，

But importantly, I don't think we have

不是每個重要的心智功能 都有對應的大腦專區，

specializations in the brain

for every important mental function,

even mental functions that may be critical for survival.

即使是攸關生存的重要心智功能。

In fact, a few years ago,

事實上，幾年前，

there was a scientist in my lab

我實驗室有一位科學家，

who became quite convinced

他十分肯定

that he'd found a brain region

自己發現了辨識食物的大腦專區，

for detecting food,

and it responded really strongly in the scanner

當人們看到這些圖像時，反應很強烈。

when people looked at images like this.

And further, he found a similar response

不但如此，

他在 12 位受試者中發現， 有 10 位都在相似區域有類似反應。

in more or less the same location

in 10 out of 12 subjects.

So he was pretty stoked,

這發現讓他非常振奮，

and he was running around the lab

在實驗室滿場跑，

telling everyone that he was going to go on "Oprah"

告訴每個人他要上電視《毆普拉》受訪，

with his big discovery.

分享他的大發現了！

But then he devised the critical test:

但接下來他設計了一個關鍵的測試：

He showed subjects images of food like this

給受試者看像這樣的食物圖片，

and compared them to images with very similar

對照另一組顏色、形狀都很相似

color and shape, but that weren't food, like these.

但並非食物的圖片，就像這些，

And his region responded the same

結果這個大腦區域

對兩組圖片反應都一樣，

to both sets of images.

So it wasn't a food area,

所以它並不是食物專區，

it was just a region that liked colors and shapes.

只是一個喜歡顏色和形狀的區域。

So much for "Oprah."

上《毆普拉》的美夢就泡湯了。

But then the question, of course, is,

那麼接下來的問題當然是，

how do we process all this other stuff

人類是如何辦到

that we don't have specialized brain regions for?

其他那些沒有大腦專區負責的事呢？

Well, I think the answer is that in addition

我認為答案是，

除了今天介紹的這些高度分工專區，

to these highly specialized components that I've been describing,

we also have a lot of very general- purpose machinery in our heads

大腦裡還有許多通用的機制，

that enables us to tackle

使我們能夠處理遇到的任何問題。

whatever problem comes along.

In fact, we've shown recently that

事實上，我們最新的研究顯示，

these regions here in white

這些白色區域，

respond whenever you do any difficult mental task

在你做任何困難任務時都有反應，

at all —

well, of the seven that we've tested.

至少對我們設計的全部七個任務 都有反應。

So each of the brain regions that I've described

我今天介紹的每一個大腦專區，

to you today

is present in approximately the same location

在每個正常大腦中，位置幾乎都一樣。

in every normal subject.

I could take any of you,

我可以隨意挑選你們其中一人，

pop you in the scanner,

送進掃描儀，

and find each of those regions in your brain,

找出在你大腦中的這些專區，

and it would look a lot like my brain,

結果會和我大腦的分佈很像，

although the regions would be slightly different

儘管精確位置和大小可能稍有差異。

in their exact location and in their size.

What's important to me about this work

對我而言，這項工作的重要性，

is not the particular locations of these brain regions,

並不在於這些大腦專區的特定位置，

but the simple fact that we have

而是發現，

selective, specific components of mind and brain

大腦和心智確實有非常專屬的單元。

in the first place.

I mean, it could have been otherwise.

意思是，當初可能有不一樣的發現，

The brain could have been a single,

人腦可能是個單一、通用的處理器，

general-purpose processor,

more like a kitchen knife

像一把菜刀，

than a Swiss Army knife.

而不是一把瑞士刀。

Instead, what brain imaging has delivered

然而，腦造影技術呈現了

is this rich and interesting picture of the human mind.

豐富奧妙的人腦圖像。

So we have this picture of very general-purpose

所以我們看到整個大腦是

machinery in our heads

一部萬用機器，

in addition to this surprising array

加上令人驚奇的許多

of very specialized components.

高度分工的專用元件。

It's early days in this enterprise.

腦神經科學還在萌芽階段，

We've painted only the first brushstrokes

人類大腦神經圖像 我們只畫了剛開始的幾筆，

in our neural portrait of the human mind.

The most fundamental questions remain unanswered.

最根本的一些問題仍無解答。

So for example, what does each of these regions do exactly?

例如，

今天講的每個區域到底是做什麼的？

Why do we need three face areas

為什麼我們需要三個臉孔區域？

and three place areas,

和三個地理區域？

and what's the division of labor between them?

它們之間如何分工？

Second, how are all these things

第二，大腦中這所有的東西

connected in the brain?

如何互相聯繫？

With diffusion imaging,

利用擴散造影，

you can trace bundles of neurons

可以追蹤連接大腦不同部分的 多束神經元，

that connect to different parts of the brain,

and with this method shown here,

你現在看到的這個方法，

you can trace the connections of individual neurons in the brain,

可以追蹤「個別神經元」之間的聯繫，

potentially someday giving us a wiring diagram

有朝一日，或許能畫出完整的人腦線路圖。

of the entire human brain.

Third, how does all of this

第三，這整個超高系統結構

very systematic structure get built,

是如何建立起來的？

both over development in childhood

童年時期的發展對它有什麼影響？

and over the evolution of our species?

物種演化對它又有什麼影響？

To address questions like that,

為了解決像這類的問題，

scientists are now scanning

科學家們已開始掃描其他動物，

other species of animals,

and they're also scanning human infants.

也掃描人類嬰兒。

Many people justify the high cost of neuroscience research

許多人認為腦神經學 值得斥資重金研究，

by pointing out that it may help us someday

認為將來可能會幫助我們

to treat brain disorders like Alzheimer's and autism.

治療大腦疾病，

如老年癡呆症和自閉症。

That's a hugely important goal,

這個目標極其重要，

and I'd be thrilled if any of my work contributed to it,

若我的研究能有助此目標， 我會高興得不得了。

but fixing things that are broken in the world

但修復世間的破碎與敗壞，

is not the only thing that's worth doing.

不是唯一值得做的事。

The effort to understand the human mind and brain

認識人類心智和大腦 同樣值得追求，

is worthwhile even if it never led to the treatment

即使這些努力沒能治癒任何疾病。

of a single disease.

What could be more thrilling

有什麼比了解人類生命經驗的基礎 更令人振奮呢？

than to understand the fundamental mechanisms

that underlie human experience,

to understand, in essence, who we are?

從本質上，了解「我們是誰？」

This is, I think, the greatest scientific quest

我想，

這是人類永遠最重要的科學探索。

of all time.

投影片：感謝研究團隊過去與現在成員 （觀眾掌聲）

(Applause)