TED英語演講：如何用你的大腦控制他人的手臂

　　演說題目：How to control someone else's arm with your brain

　　演說者：Greg Gage

　　演講稿

　　The brain is an amazing and complex organ. And while many people are fascinated by the brain, they can't really tell you that much about the properties about how the brain works because we don't teach neuroscience in schools.

　　大腦是個很神奇又復雜的器官。盡管很多人都對大腦十分著迷，他們卻講不出太多關于大腦的特征，以及它是怎樣工作的，因為學校沒有神經(jīng)科學的課。

　　And one of the reasons why is that the equipment is so complex and so expensive that it's really only done at major universities and large institutions. And so in order to be able to access the brain, you really need to dedicate your life and spend six and a half years as a graduate student just to become a neuroscientist to get access to these tools.

　　其中一個原因就是相應的設備太復雜又太昂貴，這些研究只有在高等學府和大型研究機構才能進行。所以為了能夠接觸到大腦，你幾乎需要奉獻終生，花六年半的時間在研究生院學習，只為了成為神經(jīng)科學家好能夠使用那些設備。

　　And that's a shame because one out of five of us, that's 20 percent of the entire world, will have a neurological disorder. And there are zero cures for these diseases. And so it seems that what we should be doing is reaching back earlier in the eduction process and teaching students about neuroscience so that in the future, they may be thinking about possibly becoming a brain scientist.

　　很遺憾的是，我們每五個人當中就有一個，也就是全球人口的20%會受神經(jīng)性失調(diào)的困擾。然而還沒有任何方法能治愈這些疾病。這么看來，我們應當從教育的更早期階段開始就傳授給學生神經(jīng)科學的知識，這樣在將來，他們或許會考慮成為腦神經(jīng)科學家。

　　When I was a graduate student, my lab mate Tim Marzullo and myself, decided that what if we took this complex equipment that we have for studying the brain and made it simple enough and affordable enoughthat anyone that you know, an amateur or a high school student, could learn and actually participate in the discovery of neuroscience.

　　當我還是一名研究生的時候，就與同實驗室的Tim Marzullo決定，將我們現(xiàn)在研究大腦用的復雜儀器進行簡化，價格能足夠親民，讓任何人，從神經(jīng)科學愛好者到高中生，都能夠?qū)W習并參與到探索神經(jīng)科學的過程當中。

　　And so we did just that. A few years ago, we started a company called Backyard Brains and we make DIY neuroscience equipment and I brought some here tonight, and I want to do some demonstrations. You guys want to see some?

　　于是我們這樣做了。幾年前，我們成立了一家名叫Backyard Brains (大腦后院)的公司，主要生產(chǎn)DIY的神經(jīng)科學儀器，我今天帶來了一些，打算為大家做現(xiàn)場的演示。你們想看嗎?

　　So I need a volunteer. So right before -- what is your name? (Applause) Sam Kelly: Sam. Greg Gage: All right, Sam, I'm going to record fr-om your brain. Have you had this before? SK: No. GG: I need you to stick out your arm for science, roll up your sleeve a bit, So what I'm going to do, I'm putting electrodes on your arm, and you're probably wondering, I just said I'm going to record fr-om your brain, what am I doing with your arm?

　　我需要一個志愿者。首先——你叫什么名字? Sam Kelly: Sam。Greg Gage：很好，Sam，我接下來要記錄你的腦部活動了。你以前做過這個實驗嗎?SK：沒有。GG：我需要你為了科學伸出胳膊，稍微卷起你的袖子，我接下來要做的，是在你的胳膊上貼幾個電極，你可能在想，我剛說我要記錄你的大腦，這跟胳膊有什么關系?

　　Well, you have about 80 billion neurons inside your brain right now. They're sending electrical messages back and forth, and chemical messages. But some of your neurons right here in your motor cortex are going to send messages down when you move your arm like this. They're going to go down across your corpus callosum, down onto your spinal cord to your lower motor neuron out to your muscles here, and that electrical discharge is going to be picked up by these electrodes right here and we're going to be able to listen to exactly what your brain is going to be doing. So I'm going to turn this on for a second.

　　其實，此時此刻在你的大腦內(nèi)有800億神經(jīng)元，它們在來回發(fā)送電信號和化學信號。但在這里有一些位于你的運動皮質(zhì)的神經(jīng)元，你這樣運動胳膊的時候會向下發(fā)送信號。這些信號會向下穿過胼胝體，進入你的脊髓，到達下運動神經(jīng)元，再到達你這里的肌肉，這種電信號釋放會被這里的電極接收，于是我們就能夠聽到你的大腦到底想要做些什么。我來打開這個東西。

　　Have you ever heard what your brain sounds like? SK: No. GG: Let's try it out. So go ahead and squeeze your hand. (Rumbling) So what you're listening to, so this is your motor units happening right here. Let's take a look at it as well. So I'm going to stand over here, and I'm going to open up our app here. So now I want you to squeeze. (Rumbling)

　　你有聽過你的大腦的聲音嗎?SK：沒有。GG：來試試吧。來試著抬肘握一下拳。(隆隆聲)你現(xiàn)在聽到的，這就是你的運動單元正在此處發(fā)揮作用。我們也來看一下好了。我會站在這里，我需要打開我們的應用程序。現(xiàn)在握一下拳，(隆隆聲)

　　So right here, these are the motor units that are happening fr-om her spinal cord out to her muscle right here,and as she's doing it, you're seeing the electrical activity that's happening here. You can even click here and try to see one of them. So keep doing it really hard. So now we've paused on one motor action potential that's happening right now inside of your brain.

　　就在這兒，這些就是正在起作用的運動單元，從她的脊椎延伸到這里的肌肉，伴隨著她的動作，你可以看到這里的電信號活動。你甚至可以點進去看其中的一個。繼續(xù)不停地使勁握拳。我們現(xiàn)在暫停在此時此刻正在你腦內(nèi)的一個運動電勢。

　　Do you guys want to see some more? (Applause) That's interesting, but let's get it better. I need one more volunteer. What is your name, sir? Miguel Goncalves: Miguel. GG: Miguel, all right. You're going to stand right here. So when you're moving your arm like this, your brain is sending a signal down to your muscles right here.

　　你們想看更多的嗎?剛才的那個挺有趣的，不過還有更有意思的。我還需要一名志愿者。先生，請問你的名字是?Miguel Goncalves：Miguel GG：好的，Miguel。你需要站在這里。(對SK)當你在這樣握拳的時候，你的大腦向你這里的肌肉發(fā)出了信號。(對MG)我想讓你也像那樣握拳。你的大腦也將向你的肌肉發(fā)出信號。

　　I want you to move your arm as well. So your brain is going to send a signal down to your muscles.And so it turns out that there is a nerve that's right here that runs up here that innervates these three fingers,and it's close enough to the skin that we might be able to stimulate that so that what we can do is copy your brain signals going out to your hand and inject it into your hand, so that your hand will move when your brain tells your hand to move. So in a sense, she will take away your free will and you will no longer have any control over this hand. You with me?

　　實際上這里有一根神經(jīng)一路上來并支配這三根手指的活動，而這根神經(jīng)又離皮膚足夠近，讓我們能夠刺激它，所以我們能做的是復制從你(SK)的大腦向手臂發(fā)出的信號，并把這個信號注入到你(MG)手臂里，于是你的手臂會在你(SK)的大腦告訴手臂要動的時候動。所以從某種意義上說，(對MG)她會奪走你的自由意志，你將無法控制你自己的這只手。你明白了嗎?

　　So I just need to hook you up. (Laughter) So I'm going to find your ulnar nerve, which is probably right around here. You don't know what you're signing up for when you come up. So now I'm going to move away and we're going to plug it in to our human-to-human interface over here.

　　我需要把你連接上。我要找到你的尺神經(jīng)，大概在這個位置。你上臺的時候還不知道將要發(fā)生什么吧。我現(xiàn)在要讓開，并連接好我們的人對人互動界面。

　　Okay, so Sam, I want you to squeeze your hand again. Do it again. Perfect. So now I'm going to hook you up over here so that you get the -- It's going to feel a little bit weird at first, this is going to feel like a -- (Laughter) You know, when you lose your free will, and someone else becomes your agent, it does feel a bit strange.

　　好了，Sam，我想請你再次握一下拳。再做一次。好的，完美。(對MG)我現(xiàn)在要把你連接上，這樣你就能接收到——剛開始會覺得有點奇怪，你會覺得-- (笑聲)你懂的，當你失去了意志，別人成為了你的代理人，這的確會感覺有點奇怪。

　　Now I want you to relax your hand. Sam, you're with me? So you're going to squeeze. I'm not going to turn it on yet, so go ahead and give it a squeeze.

　　我現(xiàn)在需要你放松你的手。Sam，你有在聽吧?你現(xiàn)在握拳。我還沒要打開機器呢，所以不要擔心，先握一下。

　　So now, are you ready, Miguel? MG: Ready as I'll ever be. GG: I've turned it on, so go ahead and turn your hand. Do you feel that a little bit? MG: Nope. GG: Okay, do it again? MG: A little bit. GG: A little bit? (Laughter) So relax. So hit it again. (Laughter) Oh, perfect, perfect. So relax, do it again.

　　那么現(xiàn)在，你準備好了嗎，Miguel?MG：我已經(jīng)迫不及待了。GG：我已經(jīng)打開儀器了，(對SK)現(xiàn)在試著握一下拳。你感覺到了嗎?MG：沒有。GG：好，(對SK)再試一次?MG：有一點。GG：有一點?好，放松。(對SK)再握一次。(笑聲)完美，完美。放松，再來一次。

　　All right, so right now, your brain is controlling your arm and it's also controlling his arm, so go ahead and just do it one more time. All right, so it's perfect. (Laughter)

　　好的，此時此刻，你的大腦控制著你的胳膊，同時也在控制他的胳膊，那現(xiàn)在再來一次。很好，簡直太完美了。 (笑聲)

　　So now, what would happen if I took over my control of your hand? And so, just relax your hand. What happens? Ah, nothing. Why not? Because the brain has to do it. So you do it again. All right, that's perfect.

　　接下來，如果由我來控制你的手呢?放松你的手。發(fā)生了什么?啊哦，什么都沒有。為什么呢?因為需要大腦去控制。你再來一次。很好，這很完美。

　　Thank you guys for being such a good sport. This is what's happening all across the world --electrophysiology! We're going to bring on the neuro-revolution.

　　謝謝你們?nèi)绱司�彩的配合。這就是目前全世界都在研究的——電生理學!我們要引領神經(jīng)學的革命。

　　Thank you.(Applause)

　　謝謝。