Güei quedría falaros del celebru humanu, que ye lo que investigamos na Universidá de California. Pensái n'esti problema un segundu. Equí hai un bultu de carne, de kilu y mediu, que pués sostener na palma de la mano. Pero pué contemplar la inmensidá del espaciu interestelar. Pué contemplar el significáu d' infinitú. entrugar preguntes sobre'l significáu de la so propia esistencia, de la naturaleza de Dios.
I'd like to talk to you today about the human brain, which is what we do research on at the University of California. Just think about this problem for a second. Here is a lump of flesh, about three pounds, which you can hold in the palm of your hand. But it can contemplate the vastness of interstellar space. It can contemplate the meaning of infinity, ask questions about the meaning of its own existence, about the nature of God.
Y esto ye verdaderamente la cosa más apasionante nel mundu. Ye'l mayor misteriu de los seres humanos. D'ú vien tó esto? Bono, el celebru, como sabe, ta fechu de neurones. Equí tamos viendo neurones. Hai 100 billones de neurones nel celebru d'un home adultu. Y cada neurona fái ente 1000 y 10000 contautos con otres neurones del celebru. Y basáu n'esto, xente calculara qu'el númberu de permutaciones y combinaciones de l'actividá celebral supera'l númberu de partícules elementales nel universu.
And this is truly the most amazing thing in the world. It's the greatest mystery confronting human beings: How does this all come about? Well, the brain, as you know, is made up of neurons. We're looking at neurons here. There are 100 billion neurons in the adult human brain. And each neuron makes something like 1,000 to 10,000 contacts with other neurons in the brain. And based on this, people have calculated that the number of permutations and combinations of brain activity exceeds the number of elementary particles in the universe.
Asina que, ¿cómo estudies el celebru? Una posibilidá ye mirar a pacientes que tuvieran lesiones en diferentes partes del celebru, y estudiar cambios na so conducta. D'eso falé na última TED. Güei voy falar d'un otru abordaxe que ye poner electrodos en diferentes partes del celebru, y grabar l'actividá real de céllules individuales nel celebru. Ye como espiar l'actividá des célules nervioses.
So, how do you go about studying the brain? One approach is to look at patients who had lesions in different part of the brain, and study changes in their behavior. This is what I spoke about in the last TED. Today I'll talk about a different approach, which is to put electrodes in different parts of the brain, and actually record the activity of individual nerve cells in the brain. Sort of eavesdrop on the activity of nerve cells in the brain.
Y un descubrimientu reciente fechu por investigaores n'Italia, en Parma, por Giacomo Rizzolatti y los sos collacios, ye un grupu de neurones llamáu neurones espexu, que tan alantre nel celebru, nos llóbulos frontales. Y xurde qu'hai neurones que se llamen neurones d'órdenes motores ordinarias na parte anterior del celebru, que se conocieran dende más de 50 años. Estes neurones dispáranse cuando una persona fái una acción específica. Por exemplu, si yo faigo esto, y alcanzo y coyo una manzana, una orden motora na parte anterior del mio celebru se disparará. Si alcanzo y emburrio un oxetu, otra neurona se disparará, ordenándome emburriálu. Estes llámanse neurones d'ordenes motores, y conócense dende fái tiempu.
Now, one recent discovery that has been made by researchers in Italy, in Parma, by Giacomo Rizzolatti and his colleagues, is a group of neurons called mirror neurons, which are on the front of the brain in the frontal lobes. Now, it turns out there are neurons which are called ordinary motor command neurons in the front of the brain, which have been known for over 50 years. These neurons will fire when a person performs a specific action. For example, if I do that, and reach and grab an apple, a motor command neuron in the front of my brain will fire. If I reach out and pull an object, another neuron will fire, commanding me to pull that object. These are called motor command neurons that have been known for a long time.
Pero lo que Rizzolatti atopó foi un grupu d'estes neurones, como'l 20 por cientu d'elles, que también se disparará cuando veo a daquién facer la mesma acción. Asina, equí tá una neurona que se dispara cuando alcanzo y coyo daqué, pero que también se dispara cuando veo a Joe alcanzar y coyelo. Y ye braeramente esmechante. Porque ye como si esta neurona adoptara el puntu de vista del otru. Ye casi como si tuviera n'una simulación de realidá virtual de l'aición de la otra persona.
But what Rizzolatti found was a subset of these neurons, maybe about 20 percent of them, will also fire when I'm looking at somebody else performing the same action. So, here is a neuron that fires when I reach and grab something, but it also fires when I watch Joe reaching and grabbing something. And this is truly astonishing. Because it's as though this neuron is adopting the other person's point of view. It's almost as though it's performing a virtual reality simulation of the other person's action.
Pero, cuál ye'l significáu d'estes neurones espexu? Por un lláu, tienen que tar involucraes en procesos como la imitación ya emulación. Porque imitar un actu complexu requiér qu'el mio celebru adopte'l puntu de vista de la otra persona. Asín, esto ye lo importante d'imitar y emular. ¿Y por qué ye importante? Bono, miremos a esta diapositiva. ¿Cómo faes pa imitar? ¿Por qué ye importante? Neurones espexu ya imitación, emulación.
Now, what is the significance of these mirror neurons? For one thing they must be involved in things like imitation and emulation. Because to imitate a complex act requires my brain to adopt the other person's point of view. So, this is important for imitation and emulation. Well, why is that important? Well, let's take a look at the next slide. So, how do you do imitation? Why is imitation important? Mirror neurons and imitation, emulation.
Miremos agora a la cultura, al fenómenu de la cultura humana. Si vas p'atrás nel tiempu, entre 75 y 100 mil años, miremos a la evolución humana, xurde qu'algo perimportante pasó fái 75.000 años. Ye un xurdimientu súbitu y una diseminación rápida d'una serie d'habilidaes úniques pa'l ser humanu como usar les ferramientes, el usu'l fueu, d'abellugos, y, per supuestu, llenguaxe, y l'habilidá de lleer la mente d'otru y d'interpretar la so conducta. Y too eso pasó relativamente rápido.
Now, let's look at culture, the phenomenon of human culture. If you go back in time about [75,000] to 100,000 years ago, let's look at human evolution, it turns out that something very important happened around 75,000 years ago. And that is, there is a sudden emergence and rapid spread of a number of skills that are unique to human beings like tool use, the use of fire, the use of shelters, and, of course, language, and the ability to read somebody else's mind and interpret that person's behavior. All of that happened relatively quickly.
Incluso aunque'l celebru humanu había alcanzáu el so tamañu facía tres o cuatrocientos mil años entá, fái cien mil años too esto pasó perrápido. Y pueo dicir que lo que paso foi el xurdimientu súbitu d'un sofisticáu sistema de neurones espexu, que te permitía emular ya imitar les aiciones d'otres persones. Asina que cuando hubiera un descubrimientu accidental súbitu por un miembru'l grupu, por exemplu, l'usu'l fueu, o d'un tipu particular de ferramienta, en vez de morrer, esto se extendería rápido, horizontalmente per la población, o verticalmente, tres les xeneraciones.
Even though the human brain had achieved its present size almost three or four hundred thousand years ago, 100,000 years ago all of this happened very, very quickly. And I claim that what happened was the sudden emergence of a sophisticated mirror neuron system, which allowed you to emulate and imitate other people's actions. So that when there was a sudden accidental discovery by one member of the group, say the use of fire, or a particular type of tool, instead of dying out, this spread rapidly, horizontally across the population, or was transmitted vertically, down the generations.
Asina, esto fizo que la evolución fora lamarckiana, non darwiniana. L'evolución darwiniana ye llenta, echa cientos de miles d'años. Un osu polar, pa desarrollar pelaxe, echará cientos de xeneraciones, quizá cien mil años. Un ser humanu, un guah.e, pué simplemente ver al so pá matar a otru osu polar, despeyeyalu y ponése la piel nel so cuerpu y aprendelo n'un pasu. Lo que al osu polar llevó-y cien mil años aprender, pué ser aprendío en cinco, igual diez minutos. Y una vez que foi aprendío, s'extiende en proporción xeometrica por toa la población.
So, this made evolution suddenly Lamarckian, instead of Darwinian. Darwinian evolution is slow; it takes hundreds of thousands of years. A polar bear, to evolve a coat, will take thousands of generations, maybe 100,000 years. A human being, a child, can just watch its parent kill another polar bear, and skin it and put the skin on its body, fur on the body, and learn it in one step. What the polar bear took 100,000 years to learn, it can learn in five minutes, maybe 10 minutes. And then once it's learned this it spreads in geometric proportion across a population.
Esta ye la base. Imitar habilidaes complexes ye lo que llamamos cultura y ye la base de la civilización. Pero hay otru tipu de neurones espexu, que se dedica a daqué diferente. Y ye qu'hai neurones espexu, igual qu'hai neurones espexu pa les acciones, les hay pa'l tautu. N'otres pallabres, si daquién me toca, la mio mano, una neurona n'el córtex sensorial na rexón sensorial del cerebru dispara. Pero la mesma neurona, n'algunos casos disparará cuando veo a otra persona ser tocada. Asina, tá empatizando a la otra persona siendo tocada.
This is the basis. The imitation of complex skills is what we call culture and is the basis of civilization. Now there is another kind of mirror neuron, which is involved in something quite different. And that is, there are mirror neurons, just as there are mirror neurons for action, there are mirror neurons for touch. In other words, if somebody touches me, my hand, neuron in the somatosensory cortex in the sensory region of the brain fires. But the same neuron, in some cases, will fire when I simply watch another person being touched. So, it's empathizing the other person being touched.
Y asína, munches d'elles s'activarán cuando me toquen en diferentes sitios. Diferentes neurones pa diferentes sitios. Pero un subgrupu d'elles s'activará incluso cuando veo a daquién ser tocáu n'esi sitiu. Otra vez tenemos neurones dedicaes a l'empatía. Y la pregunta xurde: si yo simplemente veo a otra persona ser tocada, ¿por qué nun me confundo y lliteramlente siento esa sensación simplemente viendo a esa persona siendo tocada? Quiero dicir, empatizo con esa persona pero nun siento el toque. Bueno, eso ye porque tienes receptores na to piel, receptores del tautu y del dolor, que conectan col celebru y y-dicen "Tranquilu, nun te tan tocando. Asina qu'empatiza, por toos los medios, con la otra persona, pero nun sientas el toque porque si non confundiráste."
So, most of them will fire when I'm touched in different locations. Different neurons for different locations. But a subset of them will fire even when I watch somebody else being touched in the same location. So, here again you have neurons which are enrolled in empathy. Now, the question then arises: If I simply watch another person being touched, why do I not get confused and literally feel that touch sensation merely by watching somebody being touched? I mean, I empathize with that person but I don't literally feel the touch. Well, that's because you've got receptors in your skin, touch and pain receptors, going back into your brain and saying "Don't worry, you're not being touched. So, empathize, by all means, with the other person, but do not actually experience the touch, otherwise you'll get confused and muddled."
Vale, entós hay una señal de retroalimentación que veta la señal de la neurona espexu pa que nun pueas sentir conscientemente esi toque. Pero si quites el brazu, simplemente lu anestesies, ye decir, pónesme una inyeición, anestesies el plexu braquial, así qu'el brazu ta insensible, y nun capta sensaciones, si agora te veo siendo tocáu, siéntolo literalmente na mio mano. N'otres pallabres, acabes de tirar el muru entre ti y otros seres humanos. Asina que les llamo neurones Gandhi, o neurones empátiques. (Rises)
Okay, so there is a feedback signal that vetoes the signal of the mirror neuron preventing you from consciously experiencing that touch. But if you remove the arm, you simply anesthetize my arm, so you put an injection into my arm, anesthetize the brachial plexus, so the arm is numb, and there is no sensations coming in, if I now watch you being touched, I literally feel it in my hand. In other words, you have dissolved the barrier between you and other human beings. So, I call them Gandhi neurons, or empathy neurons. (Laughter)
Y esto nun ye n'un sentíu metafóricu y abstractu, too lo que te separa d'el de l'otra persona, ye la to piel. Quita la piel, y esperimentarás el toque a la otra persona na to mente. Acabes de tirar el muru entre ti y otros seres humanos. Y esto ye, por supuestu, la base de muncha de la filosofía oriental, y de que nun hay un yo independiente, aislláu d'otros seres humanos, inspeccionando'l mundiu, inspeccionando a otres persones. Tú tas conectáu, non solamente por el Facebook ya Internet, tas lliteralmente conectáu por les tos neurones. Y hái cadenes enteres de neurones en esti cuartu, falando con otres. Y nun hái distinción entre la to conciencia y la d'otra persona.
And this is not in some abstract metaphorical sense. All that's separating you from him, from the other person, is your skin. Remove the skin, you experience that person's touch in your mind. You've dissolved the barrier between you and other human beings. And this, of course, is the basis of much of Eastern philosophy, and that is there is no real independent self, aloof from other human beings, inspecting the world, inspecting other people. You are, in fact, connected not just via Facebook and Internet, you're actually quite literally connected by your neurons. And there is whole chains of neurons around this room, talking to each other. And there is no real distinctiveness of your consciousness from somebody else's consciousness.
Y esto nun ye ningún cuentu filosóficu. Xurde del nuestru conocimientu de la neurociencia. Y si tienes un paciente con miembru fantasma. Si-y quitaron el brazu y tienes un "fantasma", y ves a daquién ser tocáu, percíbeslo nel to "fantasma". Y lo impresionante ye, que si tienes dolor nel to miembru fantasma ya aprietes la mano'l otru, masaxes la so manu, quítate'l dolor nel to miembru fantasma, casi como si la neurona tuviera calmando'l dolor simplemente viendo a daquién más ser masaxeáu.
And this is not mumbo-jumbo philosophy. It emerges from our understanding of basic neuroscience. So, you have a patient with a phantom limb. If the arm has been removed and you have a phantom, and you watch somebody else being touched, you feel it in your phantom. Now the astonishing thing is, if you have pain in your phantom limb, you squeeze the other person's hand, massage the other person's hand, that relieves the pain in your phantom hand, almost as though the neuron were obtaining relief from merely watching somebody else being massaged.
Y equí ta la mio última diapositiva. Durante munchu tiempu la xente ha visto la ciencia y les humanidaes como coses diferentes. C.P. Snow faló de dos cultures: ciencia n'un lau, humanidaes nel otru; nunca se deberán alcontrar. Y toi diciendo qu'el sistema de neurones espexu tá baxo l'interfaz, dexándote repensar coses como la conciencia, la representación del yo, lo que te separa d'otros seres humanos, lo que te dexa empatizar con otros seres humanos, incluso coses como'l xurdimientu de la cultura y la civilización, úniques pa los seres humanos. Gracies. (Aplausos)
So, here you have my last slide. For the longest time people have regarded science and humanities as being distinct. C.P. Snow spoke of the two cultures: science on the one hand, humanities on the other; never the twain shall meet. So, I'm saying the mirror neuron system underlies the interface allowing you to rethink about issues like consciousness, representation of self, what separates you from other human beings, what allows you to empathize with other human beings, and also even things like the emergence of culture and civilization, which is unique to human beings. Thank you. (Applause)