Vi ser med øjnene. Men vi ser også med hjernen. Og at se med hjernen bliver ofte kaldt fantasi. Og vi kender vores egen fantasis landskaber, vores indskaber. Vi har levet med dem hele livet. Men der findes også hallucinationer. Og hallucinationer er helt anderledes. De lader ikke til at være vores værk. De lader ikke til at være under vores kontrol. De lader til at komme udefra og [lader til] at efterligne opfattelsen.
We see with the eyes, but we see with the brain as well. And seeing with the brain is often called imagination. And we are familiar with the landscapes of our own imagination, our inscapes. We've lived with them all our lives. But there are also hallucinations as well. And hallucinations are completely different. They don't seem to be of our creation. They don't seem to be under control. They seem to come from the outside and to mimic perception. So I am going to be talking about hallucinations
Så jeg vil tale om hallucinationer. Og en bestemt form for visuel hallucination, som jeg ser blandt mine patienter. For et par måneder siden modtog jeg et telefonopkald fra et plejehjem, hvor jeg arbejder. De fortalte mig, at en af beboerne, en gammel dame i sine 90'ere, så ting. Og de tænkte på, om hun var blevet skør. Eller, for hun var en gammel dame, om hun havde haft et slagtilfælde, eller om hun havde Alzheimers.
and a particular sort of visual hallucination, which I see among my patients. A few months ago, I got a phone call from a nursing home where I work. They told me that one of their residents, an old lady in her 90s, was seeing things, and they wondered if she'd gone bonkers or, because she was an old lady, whether she'd had a stroke, or whether she had Alzheimer's.
Og derfor spurgte de mig, om jeg ville komme og se til Rosalie, den gamle dame. Jeg tog hen for at se til hende. Det var tydeligt med det samme, at hun var ved sine fulde fem og klar og godt begavet. Men hun var blevet meget forskrækket og meget forvirret, for hun var begyndt at se ting. Og hun fortalte mig, -- sygeplejerskerne havde ikke nævnt dette -- at hun var blind, at hun havde været helt blind pga. makulær degeneration i fem år. Men nu, de seneste par dage var hun begyndt at se ting.
And so they asked me if I would come and see Rosalie, the old lady. I went in to see her. It was evident straightaway that she was perfectly sane and lucid and of good intelligence, but she'd been very startled and very bewildered, because she'd been seeing things. And she told me -- the nurses hadn't mentioned this -- that she was blind, that she had been completely blind from macular degeneration for five years. But now, for the last few days, she'd been seeing things.
Så jeg sagde, "Hvad slags ting?" Og hun sagde, "Folk i østligt tøj i draperinger, der går op og ned af trapper. En mand, der vender sig mod mig og smiler. Men han har enorme tænder i den ene side af munden. Også dyr. Jeg ser en hvid bygning. Det sner, en blød sne. Jeg ser den her hest med seletøj, der trækker sneen væk. Så en nat ændrer scenen sig. Jeg ser katte og hunde gå imod mig. De kommer til et bestemt sted og stopper så. Så ændrer det sig igen. Jeg ser en masse børn. De går op og ned af trapper. De bærer lyse farver, rosa og blå, som østligt tøj."
So I said, "What sort of things?" And she said, "People in Eastern dress, in drapes, walking up and down stairs. A man who turns towards me and smiles, but he has huge teeth on one side of his mouth. Animals too. I see a white building. It's snowing, a soft snow. I see this horse with a harness, dragging the snow away. Then, one night, the scene changes. I see cats and dogs walking towards me. They come to a certain point and then stop. Then it changes again. I see a lot of children. They're walking up and down stairs. They wear bright colors, rose and blue, like Eastern dress."
Nogle gange, sagde hun, før folkene kom på, kan hun hallucinere om pink og blå kvadrater på gulvet, der lader til at gå op til loftet. Jeg sagde, "Er det som en drøm?" Og hun sagde, "Nej, det er ikke som en drøm. Det er som en film." Hun sagde, "Det har farver. Det har bevægelse. Men det er helt tyst, som en stumfilm." Og hun sagde, at det er en ret kedelig film. Hun sagde, "Alle disse folk med østligt tøj, der går op og ned, meget gentagende, meget begrænset." (Latter)
Sometimes, she said, before the people come on, she may hallucinate pink and blue squares on the floor, which seem to go up to the ceiling. I said, "Is this like a dream?" And she said, "No, it's not like a dream. It's like a movie." She said, "It's got color. It's got motion. But it's completely silent, like a silent movie." And she said it's a rather boring movie. (Laughter) She said, "All these people with Eastern dress, walking up and down, very repetitive, very limited." (Laughter)
Og hun havde sans for humor. Hun vidste, det var en hallucination. Men hun var bange. Hun havde levet i 95 år, og hun havde aldrig haft en hallucination før. Hun sagde, at hallucinationerne var uden relation til noget som helst hun tænkte eller følte eller gjorde. At de lod til at komme frem af sig selv, eller forsvinde [af dem selv]. Hun havde ingen kontrol over dem. Hun sagde, at hun ikke genkendte nogen af folkene eller stederne i hallucinationerne. Og ingen af folkene eller dyrene, altså, de virkede alle til ikke at ænse hende. Og hun vidste ikke, hvad der foregik. Hun spekulerede på, om hun var ved at blive skør eller miste forstanden.
And she had a sense of humor. She knew it was a hallucination, but she was frightened. She had lived 95 years, and she'd never had a hallucination before. She said that the hallucinations were unrelated to anything she was thinking or feeling or doing, that they seemed to come on by themselves, or disappear. She had no control over them. She said she didn't recognize any of the people or places in the hallucinations, and none of the people or the animals -- well, they all seemed oblivious of her. And she didn't know what was going on. She wondered if she was going mad or losing her mind.
Nå, jeg undersøgte hende grundigt. Hun var en kvik gammel dame. Fuldstændig fornuftig. Hun havde ingen medicinske problemer. Hun var ikke på noget medicin, der kunne forårsage hallucinations. Men hun var blind. Og jeg sagde til hende, "Jeg tror, jeg ved, hvad du har." Jeg sagde, "Der er en speciel form for visuel hallucination, der kan komme af nedsat syn eller blindhed." "Dette blev først beskrevet," sagde jeg, "tilbage i det 18. århundrede af en mand ved navn Charles Bonnet. Og du har Charles Bonnets syndrom. Der er intet galt med din hjerne. Der er intet galt med dit sind. Du har Charles Bonnets syndrom."
Well, I examined her carefully. She was a bright old lady, perfectly sane. She had no medical problems. She wasn't on any medications which could produce hallucinations. But she was blind. And I then said to her, "I think I know what you have." I said, "There is a special form of visual hallucination which may go with deteriorating vision or blindness. This was originally described," I said, "right back in the 18th century, by a man called Charles Bonnet. And you have Charles Bonnet syndrome. There's nothing wrong with your brain. There's nothing wrong with your mind. You have Charles Bonnet syndrome."
Og hun blev meget lettet over at høre, at der ikke var noget seriøst i vejen og også ret nysgerrig. Hun sagde, "Hvem er denne Charles Bonnet?" Hun sagde, "Havde han dem selv?" Og hun sagde, "Sig til alle sygeplejerskerne, at jeg har Charles Bonnets syndrom." (Latter) "Jeg er ikke gal. Jeg er ikke dement. Jeg har Charles Bonnets syndrom." Nå, så jeg fortalte sygeplejerskerne det.
And she was very relieved at this, that there was nothing seriously the matter, and also rather curious. She said, "Who is this Charles Bonnet?" She said, "Did he have them himself?" And she said, "Tell all the nurses that I have Charles Bonnet syndrome." (Laughter) "I'm not crazy. I'm not demented. I have Charles Bonnet syndrome." Well, so, I did tell the nurses.
Nå for mig er dette en normal situation. Jeg arbejder hovedsagligt på plejehjem, og jeg ser en masse ældre mennesker, der er hørehæmmede eller synshæmmede. Omkring 10 procent af de hørehæmmede får musiske hallucinationer. Og omkring 10 procent af de synshæmmede får visuelle hallucinationer. Du behøver ikke være helt blind, kun tilstrækkeligt hæmmet.
Now this, for me, is a common situation. I work in old-age homes, largely. I see a lot of elderly people who are hearing-impaired or visually impaired. About 10 percent of the hearing-impaired people get musical hallucinations. And about 10 percent of the visually impaired people get visual hallucinations. You don't have to be completely blind, only sufficiently impaired.
Nå hvad angår den originale beskrivelse i det 18. århundrede, havde Charles Bonnet dem ikke selv. Hans bedstefar havde disse hallucinationer. Hans bedstefar var underretsdommer, en ældre mand. Han var blevet opereret for grå stær. Hans syn var ret dårligt. Og i 1759 beskrev han for sit barnebarn forskellige ting, han så.
Now, with the original description in the 18th century, Charles Bonnet did not have them. His grandfather had these hallucinations. His grandfather was a magistrate, an elderly man. He'd had cataract surgery. His vision was pretty poor. And in 1759, he described to his grandson various things he was seeing.
Det første, han sagde, var, at han så et lommetørklæde frit i luften. Det var et stort, blåt lommetørklæde med fire orange cirkler. Og han vidste, det var en hallucination. Man har ikke lommetørklæder frit i luften. Og så så han et stort hjul frit i luften. Men nogle gange var han ikke sikker på, om han hallucinerede eller ej. For hallucinationerne ville passe ind i sammenhængen af syn. Så ved én lejlighed, da hans børnebørn besøgte dem, sagde han, "Og hvem er så disse nydelige unge mænd, I har med?" Og de sagde, "Ak, Bedstefar, der er ingen nydelige unge mænd." Og så forsvandt de nydelige unge mænd. Det er typisk for disse hallucinationer, at de kan komme i et glimt og forsvinde i et glimt. De toner som regel ikke ind og ud. De er ret pludselige. Og de ændrer sig pludseligt.
The first thing he said was he saw a handkerchief in midair. It was a large blue handkerchief with four orange circles. And he knew it was a hallucination. You don't have handkerchiefs in midair. And then he saw a big wheel in midair. But sometimes he wasn't sure whether he was hallucinating or not, because the hallucinations would fit in the context of the visions. So on one occasion, when his granddaughters were visiting them, he said, "And who are these handsome young men with you?" (Laughter) And they said, "Alas, Grandpapa, there are no handsome young men." And then the handsome young men disappeared. It's typical of these hallucinations that they may come in a flash and disappear in a flash. They don't usually fade in and out. They are rather sudden, and they change suddenly.
Charles Lullin, bedstefaren, så hundredvis af forskellige figurer, forskellige landskaber af alle slags. Ved én lejlighed så han en mand i badekåbe, der røg pibe, og indså, det var ham selv. Det var den eneste figur, han genkendte. Ved én lejlighed, da han gik i Paris' gader, så han -- dette var ægte -- et stillads. Men da han kom hjem, så han en miniatureudgave af stilladset seks tommer højt på sit skrivebord. Denne gentagelse af sansning kaldes nogle gange palinopsia.
Charles Lullin, the grandfather, saw hundreds of different figures, different landscapes of all sorts. On one occasion, he saw a man in a bathrobe smoking a pipe, and realized it was himself. That was the only figure he recognized. On one occasion, when he was walking in the streets of Paris, he saw -- this was real -- a scaffolding. But when he got back home, he saw a miniature of the scaffolding, six inches high, on his study table. This repetition of perception is sometimes called "palinopsia."
For ham, og for Rosalie, hvad der lader til at foregå -- og Rosalie sagde, "Hvad foregår der?" -- og jeg sagde, at som du mister synet, når de visuelle dele af hjernen ikke længere modtager noget, bliver de hyperaktive og pirrelige. Og de begynder at affyre spontant. Og man begynder at se ting. Tingene, man ser, kan i den grad være meget komplicerede.
With him and with Rosalie, what seems to be going on -- and Rosalie said, "What's going on?" -- and I said that as you lose vision, as the visual parts of the brain are no longer getting any input, they become hyperactive and excitable, and they start to fire spontaneously. And you start to see things. The things you see can be very complicated indeed.
For en anden af mine patienter, der [ligesom Charles Lullin stadig] havde noget af synet, kunne synes hun havde være forstyrrende. Ved én lejlighed sagde hun, hun så en mand i en stribet trøje i en restaurant. Og han vendte rundt. Og så delte han sig i seks identiske skikkelser i stribede trøjer, der begyndte at gå imod hende. Og så blev de seks skikkelser sat sammen igen, som en concertina. Engang, imens hun kørte, eller rettere, hendes mand kørte, delte vejen sig i fire. Og hun følte sig selv køre op ad fire veje på én gang.
With another patient of mine who also had some vision, the visions she had could be disturbing. On one occasion, she said she saw a man in a striped shirt in a restaurant. And he turned round, and then he divided into six figures in striped shirts, who started walking towards her. And then the six figures came together, like a concertina. Once, when she was driving, or rather, her husband was driving, the road divided into four and she felt herself going simultaneously up four roads.
Hun havde også meget mobile hallucinationer. Mange af dem havde noget at gøre med en bil. Nogle gange så hun en teenagedreng sidde på bilens kølerhjelm. Han var meget vedholdende og han bevægede sig ret yndefuldt, når bilen drejede. Og så, når de holdt stille, ville drengen pludseligt sætte lodret af, 30 meter op i luften, og så forsvinde.
She had very mobile hallucinations as well. A lot of them had to do with a car. Sometimes she would see a teenage boy sitting on the hood of the car. He was very tenacious, and he moved rather gracefully when the car turned. And then when they came to a stop, the boy would do a sudden vertical takeoff, 100 foot in the air, and then disappear.
En anden af mine patienter havde en anden form for hallucination. Dette var en kvinde, der ikke havde problemer med øjnene, men med de visuelle dele af sin hjerne. En lille svulst i nakkelappen. Og først og fremmest så hun tegneserier. Disse tegneserier var gennemsigtige og dækkede halvdelen af det synlige felt, som en skærm. Og hun så især tegneserier med Kermit. (Latter) Nu ser jeg godt nok ikke Sesame Street. Men hun havde en pointe i at sige, "Hvorfor Kermit?" Hun sagde, "Kermit betyder intet for mig. Du ved, jeg tænkte på freudianske determinanter. Hvorfor Kermit? Kermit betyder intet for mig."
Another patient of mine had a different sort of hallucination. This was a woman who didn't have trouble with her eyes but the visual parts of her brain, a little tumor in the occipital cortex. And, above all, she would see cartoons. And these cartoons would be transparent, and would cover half the visual field, like a screen. And especially, she saw cartoons of Kermit the Frog. (Laughter) Now, I don't watch Sesame Street, but she made a point of saying, "Why Kermit?" she said, "Kermit the Frog means nothing to me." You know, I was wondering about Freudian determinants: Why Kermit? "Kermit the Frog means nothing to me."
Hun havde ikke så meget imod tegneserierne. Men hvad der forstyrrede hende, var at hun havde meget vedvarende billeder eller hallucinationer af ansigter og som for Rosalie, var ansigterne ofte deforme med meget store tænder eller meget store øjne. Og disse skræmte hende. Nå, hvad sker der for disse mennesker? Som læge, er jeg nødt til at forsøge at definere, hvad der sker, og forsikre folk. Især forsikre dem om, at de ikke er ved at blive sindssyge.
She didn't mind the cartoons too much. But what did disturb her was she got very persistent images or hallucinations of faces, and as with Rosalie, the faces were often deformed, with very large teeth or very large eyes. And these frightened her. Well, what is going on with these people? As a physician, I have to try and define what's going on and to reassure people, especially to reassure them that they're not going insane.
Omkring 10 procent, som jeg sagde, af synshæmmede får disse. Men ikke mere end en procent af menneskerne vedkender sig dem. Fordi de er bange for, at de vil blive anset for gale eller sådan noget. Og hvis de nævner dem for deres egne læger, kan de blive fejldiagnosticerede.
Something like 10 percent, as I said, of visually impaired people get these. But no more than one percent of the people acknowledge them, because they are afraid they will be seen as insane or something. And if they do mention them to their own doctors, they may be misdiagnosed.
Især er opfattelsen, at hvis du ser ting eller hører ting, er du ved at blive gal. Men de psykotiske hallucinationer er meget forskellige. Psykotiske hallucinationer, uanset om de er visuelle eller stemmer, de henvender sig til dig. De anklager dig. De forfører dig. De ydmyger dig. De håner dig. Du interagerer med dem. Der er intet af denne bliven tiltalt ved disse Charles Bonnet-hallucinationer. Der er en film. Du ser en film, der intet har med dig at gøre. Eller det er sådan folk opfatter det.
In particular, the notion is that if you see things or hear things, you're going mad. But the psychotic hallucinations are quite different. Psychotic hallucinations, whether they are visual or vocal, they address you. They accuse you, they seduce you, they humiliate you, they jeer at you. You interact with them. There is none of this quality of being addressed with these Charles Bonnet hallucinations. There is a film. You're seeing a film which has nothing to do with you -- or that's how people think about it.
Der er også en sjælden ting kaldet temporallapsepilepsi. Og somme tider, hvis man har dette, kan man føle sig ført tilbage til en tid og et sted i fortiden. Man er ved en bestemt vejtilslutning. Man kan lugte ristede kastanjer. Man kan høre trafikken. Alle sanser er involverede. Og man venter på sin pige. Og det er den tirsdag aften tilbage i 1982. Og tindingelaphallucinationerne er alle mange-sansende hallucinationer fyldt med følelse, fyldt med genkendelighed, placerede i rum og tid, sammenhængende, dramatiske. Charles Bonnet hallucinationerne er helt anderledes.
There is also a rare thing called temporal lobe epilepsy, and sometimes, if one has this, one may feel oneself transported back to a time and place in the past. You're at a particular road junction. You smell chestnuts roasting. You hear the traffic. All the senses are involved. And you're waiting for your girl. And it's that Tuesday evening back in 1982. The temporal lobe hallucinations are all sense hallucinations, full of feeling, full of familiarity, located in space and time, coherent, dramatic. The Charles Bonnet ones are quite different.
Så i Charles Bonnet hallucinationer har man alle mulige niveauer fra de geometriske hallucinationer, de pink og blå kvadrater, kvinden så, op til de ret detaljerede hallucinationer med figurer og især ansigter. Ansigter, og nogle gange deforme ansigter, er den allermest almindelige ting i disse hallucinationer. Og en af de næst-mest normale er tegneserier.
In the Charles Bonnet hallucinations, you have all sorts of levels, from the geometrical hallucinations -- the pink and blue squares the woman had -- up to quite elaborate hallucinations with figures and especially faces. Faces, and sometimes deformed faces, are the single commonest thing in these hallucinations. And one of the second commonest is cartoons.
Så, hvad sker der? Fascinerende nok i de sidste par år har det været muligt at skabe funktionelle hjernebilleder, at lave fMRI på folk, mens de hallucinerer. Og faktisk at finde ud af, at forskellige dele af den visuelle hjerne aktiveres, mens de hallucinerer. Når folk har disse simple geometriske hallucinationer, aktiveres den primære visuelle hjernebark. Dette er den del af hjernen, der opfatter kanter og mønstre. Man skaber ikke billeder med sin primære visuelle hjernebark.
So, what is going on? Fascinatingly, in the last few years, it's been possible to do functional brain imagery, to do fMRI on people as they are hallucinating, and, in fact, to find that different parts of the visual brain are activated as they are hallucinating. When people have these simple, geometrical hallucinations, the primary visual cortex is activated. This is the part of the brain which perceives edges and patterns. You don't form images with your primary visual cortex.
Når billeder skabes, er en højere del af den visuelle hjernebark involveret i tindingelappen. Og især ét af områderne i tindingelappen hedder den tenformede gyrus. Og det er kendt, at hvis folk har skader i den tenformede gyrus, mister de måske evnen til at genkende ansigter. Men hvis der er en abnorm aktivitet i den tenformede gyrus, kan de få ansigtshallucinationer. Og dette er præcis, hvad man finder hos nogle af disse folk. Der er et område i den forreste del af denne gyrus, hvor tænder og øjne repræsenteres. Og denne del af gyrussen aktiveres, når folk får de deforme hallucinationer.
When images are formed, a higher part of the visual cortex is involved, in the temporal lobe. And in particular, one area of the temporal lobe is called the fusiform gyrus. And it's known that if people have damage in the fusiform gyrus, they may lose the ability to recognize faces. But if there's an abnormal activity in the fusiform gyrus, they may hallucinate faces, and this is exactly what you find in some of these people. There is an area in the anterior part of this gyrus where teeth and eyes are represented, and that part of the gyrus is activated when people get the deformed hallucinations.
Der er en anden del af hjernen, som især aktiveres, når man ser tegneserier. Den aktiveres, når man genkender tegneserier, når man tegner tegneserier, og når man hallucinerer om dem. Det er meget interessant, at dette skulle være specifikt. Der er andre dele af hjernen, som er specifikt involveret med genkendelsen af og hallucination om bygninger og landskaber.
There is another part of the brain which is especially activated when one sees cartoons. It's activated when one recognizes cartoons, when one draws cartoons and when one hallucinates them. It's very interesting that that should be specific. There are other parts of the brain which are specifically involved with the recognition and hallucination of buildings and landscapes. Around 1970, it was found that there were not only parts of the brain,
Omkring 1970 fandt man ud af, at der ikke kun var specielle dele af hjernen [involverede], men specielle celler. "Ansigtsceller" blev opdaget omkring 1970. Og nu ved vi, at der er hundredvis af andre slags celler, der kan være meget meget specifikke. Så man kan ikke bare have "bil"-celler, man kan have "Aston Martin"-celler. (Latter) Jeg så en Aston Martin i morges. Jeg var nødt til at have den med. Og nu er den derinde et sted. (Latter)
but particular cells. "Face cells" were discovered around 1970. And now we know that there are hundreds of other sorts of cells, which can be very, very specific. So you may not only have "car" cells, you may have "Aston Martin" cells. (Laughter) I saw an Aston Martin this morning. I had to bring it in. (Laughter) And now it's in there, somewhere. So --
Nå, på dette niveau i det, der kaldes den inferotemporale hjernebark, er der kun visuelle billeder, eller hjernespind eller brudstykker. Det er først på højere niveauer, at de andre sanser kommer med, og der er forbindelser med hukommelse og følelse. Og med Charles Bonnets syndrom kommer man ikke op på disse højere niveauer. Man er på disse niveauer af lavere visuel hjernebark, hvor man har tusindvis og titusindvis og millioner af billeder, eller hjernespind, eller brudstykker af billeder, alle kodet i nerver især celler eller små bunker af celler.
(Laughter) now, at this level, in what's called the inferotemporal cortex, there are only visual images, or figments or fragments. It's only at higher levels that the other senses join in and there are connections with memory and emotion. And in the Charles Bonnet syndrome, you don't go to those higher levels. You're in these levels of inferior visual cortex, where you have thousands and tens of thousands and millions of images, or figments or fragmentary figments, all neurally encoded in particular cells or small clusters of cells.
Normalt er alle disse del af den integrerede strøm af opfattelse eller fantasi. Og man er dem ikke bevidst. Det er kun, hvis man er synshæmmet eller blind, at processen afbrydes. Og i stedet for at få normal opfattelse, får man en anarkisk, krampagtig stimulans eller frigivelse af alle disse visuelle celler i den inferotemporale hjernebark. Så pludselig ser man et ansigt. Pludselig ser man en bil. Pludselig dit og pludselig dat. Sindet gør sit bedste for at organisere og give en form for sammenhæng i dette. Men ikke med stor succes.
Normally, these are all part of the integrated stream of perception, or imagination, and one is not conscious of them. It is only if one is visually impaired or blind that the process is interrupted. And instead of getting normal perception, you're getting an anarchic, convulsive stimulation, or release, of all of these visual cells in the inferotemporal cortex. So, suddenly, you see a face. Suddenly, you see a car. Suddenly this and suddenly that. The mind does its best to organize and to give some sort of coherence to this, but not terribly successfully.
Da disse først blev beskrevet, troede man, at de kunne fortolkes som drømme. Men faktisk siger folk, "Jeg genkender ikke de folk. Jeg får ingen associationer." "Kermit betyder intet for mig." Man kommer ingen vegne ved at tænke på dem som drømme.
When these were first described, it was thought that they could be interpreted like dreams. But, in fact, people say, "I don't recognize the people. I can't form any associations. Kermit means nothing to me." You don't get anywhere, thinking of them as dreams.
Nå, jeg har mere eller mindre sagt, hvad jeg ville. Jeg tror, jeg bare vil sammenfatte og sige, at det her er normalt. Tænk på antallet af blinde Der må være hundredtusindvis af blinde, der har disse hallucinationer, men er for bange til at nævne dem. Så denne slags ting bør gøres opmærksom på for patienter, for læger, for offentligheden. Endelig synes jeg, de er uendeligt interessante og værdifulde til at give en noget indsigt i, hvordan hjernen virker.
Well, I've more or less said what I wanted. I think I just want to recapitulate and say this is common. Think of the number of blind people. There must be hundreds of thousands of blind people who have these hallucinations but are too scared to mention them. So this sort of thing needs to be brought into notice, for patients, for doctors, for the public. Finally, I think they are infinitely interesting and valuable, for giving one some insight as to how the brain works.
Charles Bonnet sagde for 250 år siden -- han spekulerede på hvordan, imens han tænkte på disse hallucinationer, hvordan, som han sagde det, sindets teater kunne skabes af hjernens maskineri. Nu, 250 år senere, tror jeg vi begynder at se et glimt af, hvordan dette gøres. Mange tak.
Charles Bonnet said, 250 years ago -- he wondered how, thinking of these hallucinations, how, as he put it, the theater of the mind could be generated by the machinery of the brain. Now, 250 years later, I think we're beginning to glimpse how this is done. Thanks very much.
(Bifald)
(Applause)
Chris Anderson: Det var superbt. Mange gange tak. Du taler om disse ting med så stor indsigt og empati for dine patienter. Har du selv oplevet nogen af syndromerne, du skriver om?
Chris Anderson: That was superb. Thank you so much. You speak about these things with so much insight and empathy for your patients. Have you yourself experienced any of the syndromes you write about?
Oliver Sacks: Jeg frygtede, du ville spørge om det. (Latter) Altså, jah, mange af dem. Og faktisk er jeg en smule synshæmmet selv. Jeg er blind på det ene øje, og det andet er ikke frygteligt godt. Og jeg ser de geometriske hallucinationer. Men de stopper der.
Oliver Sacks: I was afraid you would ask that. (Laughter) Well, yeah, a lot of them. And, actually, I'm a little visually impaired myself. I'm blind in one eye and not terribly good in the other. And I see the geometrical hallucinations. But they stop there.
C.A.: Og de forstyrrer dig ikke? Fordi du forstår, hvad der forårsager det. Det gør dig ikke bekymret?
CA: And they don't disturb you? Because you understand what's doing it, it doesn't make you worried?
O.S.: Altså de forstyrrer mig ikke mere end min tinnitus. Som jeg ignorerer. De interesserer mig til tider. Og jeg har mange billeder af dem i mine notesbøger. Jeg har selv fået en FMRI for at se, hvordan min visuelle hjernebark tager over. Og når jeg ser alle disse hexagoner og komplekse ting, som jeg også ser under visuel migræne, tænker jeg på, hvorvidt alle ser sådanne ting, og hvorvidt ting som hulekunst eller ornamentkunst kan være afledt af dem en smule.
OS: Well, they don't disturb me any more than my tinnitus, which I ignore. They occasionally interest me, and I have many pictures of them in my notebooks. I've gone and had an fMRI myself, to see how my visual cortex is ticking over. And when I see all these hexagons and complex things, which I also have, in visual migraine, I wonder whether everyone sees things like this and whether things like cave art or ornamental art may have been derived from them a bit.
C.A.: Det var en yderst fascinerede snak. Mange gange tak for at dele den.
CA: That was an utterly, utterly fascinating talk. Thank you so much for sharing.
O.S.: Tak. Tak. (Bifald)
OS: Thank you. Thank you. (Applause)