ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Nancy Kanwisher - Brain researcher
Using fMRI imaging to watch the human brain at work, Nancy Kanwisher’s team has discovered cortical regions responsible for some surprisingly specific elements of cognition.

Why you should listen

Does the brain use specialized processors to solve complex problems, or does it rely instead on more general-purpose systems?

This question has been at the crux of brain research for centuries. MIT researcher Nancy Kanwisher seeks to answer this question by discovering a “parts list” for the human mind and brain. "Understanding the nature of the human mind," she says, "is arguably the greatest intellectual quest of all time."

Kanwisher and her colleagues have used fMRI to identify distinct sites in the brain for face recognition, knowing where you are, and thinking about other people’s thoughts. Yet these discoveries are a prelude to bigger questions: How do these brain regions develop and function? What are the actual computations that go on in each region, and how are these computations implemented in circuits of neurons? And how do these work together to produce human intelligence?

To learn more, see Kanwisher's collection of short talks on how scientists actually study the human mind and brain and what they have learned so far.

More profile about the speaker
Nancy Kanwisher | Speaker | TED.com
TED2014

Nancy Kanwisher: A neural portrait of the human mind

Nancy Kanwisher: Un retrato neural da mente humana

Filmed:
1,226,930 views

A pioneira da tecnoloxía de imaxe do cerebro Nancy Kanwisher, que usa a imaxe por resonancia magnética funcional para ver a actividade das rexións cerebrais (frecuentemente as propias), comparte o que ela e mais os seus colegas aprenderon: O cerebro está constituído por compoñentes moi especializados e tamén por "maquinaria" polivalente. Outra sorpresa: que aínda nos falta moito por aprender.
- Brain researcher
Using fMRI imaging to watch the human brain at work, Nancy Kanwisher’s team has discovered cortical regions responsible for some surprisingly specific elements of cognition. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
Today I want to tell you
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Hoxe quérovos falar
00:13
about a project being carried out
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dun proxecto que están a levar a cabo
00:15
by scientists all over the world
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científicos de todo o mundo
00:18
to paint a neural portrait of the human mind.
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para esbozar un retrato neuronal
da mente humana.
00:21
And the central idea of this work
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A idea central deste traballo
00:23
is that the human mind and brain
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é que a mente e mais o cerebro humanos
00:25
is not a single, general-purpose processor,
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non son un só procesador
cunha única finalidade xeral,
00:28
but a collection of highly specialized components,
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senón unha agrupación de compońentes
altamente especializados,
00:31
each solving a different specific problem,
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que resolven cadanseu problema específico,
00:34
and yet collectively making up
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e que colectivamente constitúen
00:37
who we are as human beings and thinkers.
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quen somos nós como seres humanos
e pensadores.
Para que comprendades esta idea,
00:41
To give you a feel for this idea,
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00:43
imagine the following scenario:
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imaxinade o seguinte escenario:
00:45
You walk into your child's day care center.
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Entrades na gardería da vosa filla.
00:47
As usual, there's a dozen kids there
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Coma decotío, hai unha
ducia de cativas alí
00:50
waiting to get picked up,
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agardando para seren recollidas.
00:51
but this time,
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Pero desta volta,
00:53
the children's faces look weirdly similar,
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as caras das nenas son
estrańamente semellantes,
00:56
and you can't figure out which child is yours.
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e non sodes quen de recońecer
cal das nenas é a vosa.
00:59
Do you need new glasses?
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Necesitades lentes novas?
01:00
Are you losing your mind?
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Estades perdendo a cabeza?
01:02
You run through a quick mental checklist.
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Facedes axińa un repaso mental.
Non, parece que podedes pensar
con claridade,
01:05
No, you seem to be thinking clearly,
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01:07
and your vision is perfectly sharp.
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e a vosa visión é perfectamente nítida.
01:09
And everything looks normal
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Todo semella normal
01:11
except the children's faces.
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agás as caras das nenas.
Podedes ver tódalas caras,
01:13
You can see the faces,
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pero non apreciades diferenza ningunha,
01:15
but they don't look distinctive,
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01:17
and none of them looks familiar,
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e ningunha delas vos é familiar;
01:18
and it's only by spotting an orange hair ribbon
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só cando albiscades
unha cinta do pelo laranxa
01:21
that you find your daughter.
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atopades á vosa filla.
01:23
This sudden loss of the ability to recognize faces
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Esta perda súbita da capacidade
para recońecer caras
01:26
actually happens to people.
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acontécelle realmente á xente.
01:28
It's called prosopagnosia,
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Chámase prosopagnosia,
01:30
and it results from damage
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e é consecuencia dun dano
01:31
to a particular part of the brain.
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nunha zona particular do cerebro.
01:33
The striking thing about it
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O rechamante disto
01:35
is that only face recognition is impaired;
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é que só resulta danado
o recońecemento de caras;
01:37
everything else is just fine.
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todo o demais está intacto.
01:40
Prosopagnosia is one of many surprisingly specific
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A prosopagnosia é unha das moitas
patoloxías mentais
01:44
mental deficits that can happen after brain damage.
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sorprendentemente específicas
que poden acontecer tras un dano cerebral.
Estas síndromes, en conxunto,
01:48
These syndromes collectively
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01:49
have suggested for a long time
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veńen suxerindo desde hai moito
01:52
that the mind is divvied up into distinct components,
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que a mente está dividida
en diferentes compońentes,
01:55
but the effort to discover those components
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pero o esforzo por descubrir
eses compońentes
01:58
has jumped to warp speed
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acelerouse coa invención
01:59
with the invention of brain imaging technology,
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da tecnoloxía de imaxe do cerebro,
02:02
especially MRI.
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especialmente a imaxe
por resonancia magnética.
02:05
So MRI enables you to see internal anatomy
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A resonancia magnética permítenos
ver a anatomía interna
02:08
at high resolution,
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cunha alta resolución.
02:10
so I'm going to show you in a second
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Vouvos amosar nuns intres
02:11
a set of MRI cross-sectional images
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un conxunto de imaxes transversais
de resonancia ragnética
02:15
through a familiar object,
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dun obxecto familiar.
02:16
and we're going to fly through them
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Ímolas pasar moi rápido
02:17
and you're going to try to figure out what the object is.
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e ides tentar descifrar que obxecto é.
02:20
Here we go.
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Imos aló.
Non é tan sinxelo. É unha alcachofa.
02:24
It's not that easy. It's an artichoke.
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De acordo, imos tentar outra,
02:26
Okay, let's try another one,
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02:27
starting from the bottom and going through the top.
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comezando pola base e indo cara a cúspide.
Brócoli! é unha cabeza de brócoli.
02:32
Broccoli! It's a head of broccoli.
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02:33
Isn't it beautiful? I love that.
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Non é bonita? Encántame.
02:35
Okay, here's another one. It's a brain, of course.
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Velaquí temos outra.
É un cerebro, por suposto.
De feito é o meu cerebro.
02:38
In fact, it's my brain.
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Estamos atravesando capas
da mińa cabeza así
02:39
We're going through slices through my head like that.
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02:41
That's my nose over on the right, and now
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Ese é o meu nariz arriba á dereita,
02:43
we're going over here, right there.
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e agora andamos por aquí,
exactamente aquí.
02:46
So this picture's nice, if I do say so myself,
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Esta imaxe é bonita, aínda
que estea mal que o diga eu,
pero só amosa anatomía.
02:51
but it shows only anatomy.
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O avance realmente extraordinario
coa imaxe funcional
02:53
The really cool advance with functional imaging
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aconteceu cando a comunidade científica
descubriu como facer imaxes
02:55
happened when scientists figured out how to make
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02:57
pictures that show not just anatomy but activity,
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que amosen non só anatomía,
senón tamén actividade.
03:00
that is, where neurons are firing.
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É dicir, onde están activas as neuronas.
Así é como funciona:
03:03
So here's how this works.
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os cerebros son como músculos.
03:04
Brains are like muscles.
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03:05
When they get active,
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Cando se activan,
necesitan que aumente o fluxo sanguíneo
para abastecer esa actividade,
03:07
they need increased blood flow to supply that activity,
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03:10
and lucky for us, blood flow
control to the brain is local,
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e por sorte para nós, o control
do fluxo sanguíneo ao cerebro é local.
03:14
so if a bunch of neurons, say, right there
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De xeito que se un grupo de neuronas
por aquí
03:16
get active and start firing,
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comezan a se activar,
03:17
then blood flow increases just right there.
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o fluxo sanguíneo aumenta xusto aquí.
A resonancia magnética funcional
capta ese aumento de fluxo sanguíneo
03:20
So functional MRI picks up
on that blood flow increase,
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e produce unha resposta máis alta
03:24
producing a higher MRI response
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03:26
where neural activity goes up.
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alí onde aumenta a actividade neuronal.
Para pońervos un exemplo concreto
03:29
So to give you a concrete feel
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de como funciona un experimento
con resonancia magnética funcional,
03:30
for how a functional MRI experiment goes
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03:33
and what you can learn from it
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que podemos detectar nel
03:34
and what you can't,
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e que non podemos,
vou describir un dos primeiros
estudos que fixen.
03:36
let me describe one of the first studies I ever did.
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Queríamos ver se algunha zona cerebral se
especializaba no recońecemento de caras,
03:39
We wanted to know if there was a special
part of the brain for recognizing faces,
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03:43
and there was already reason to
think there might be such a thing
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e xa había razóns para pensar
que tal zona existía,
baseadas neste fenómeno da prosopagnosia
03:46
based on this phenomenon of prosopagnosia
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03:48
that I described a moment ago,
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que describín hai un momento,
03:50
but nobody had ever seen that part of the brain
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pero ninguén a vira nunca
03:52
in a normal person,
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nunha persoa normal,
03:54
so we set out to look for it.
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así que nos dispuxemos a buscala.
03:56
So I was the first subject.
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Eu fun o primeiro suxeito.
Metinme no escáner, deiteime boca arriba,
03:58
I went into the scanner, I lay on my back,
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04:01
I held my head as still as I could
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mantiven a cabeza tan inmóbil como puiden
04:03
while staring at pictures of faces like these
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mentres miraba fixamente imaxes
de caras coma estas
e obxectos coma estes,
04:08
and objects like these
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e caras, e obxectos... durante horas.
04:10
and faces and objects for hours.
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Como alguén que se aproxima
ao récord mundial
04:15
So as somebody who has
pretty close to the world record
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04:18
of total number of hours spent inside an MRI scanner,
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de horas botadas dentro dun escáner
de resonancia magnética,
04:22
I can tell you that one of the skills
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podo dicir que unha das habilidades
04:23
that's really important for MRI research
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máis importantes na investigación
con resonancia ragnética
04:26
is bladder control.
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é o control da vexiga.
04:28
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
04:29
When I got out of the scanner,
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Cando saín do escáner
04:31
I did a quick analysis of the data,
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fixen unha rápida análise dos datos,
buscando zonas do meu cerebro
04:33
looking for any parts of my brain
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04:35
that produced a higher response
when I was looking at faces
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que amosasen unha reacción máis forte
cando miraba caras
04:38
than when I was looking at objects,
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ca cando miraba obxectos.
04:39
and here's what I saw.
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E isto foi o que atopei:
Esta imaxe parece horríbel
segundo os patróns de hoxe en día,
04:42
Now this image looks just awful by today's standards,
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04:45
but at the time I thought it was beautiful.
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pero naquel momento eu atopeina fermosa.
04:48
What it shows is that region right there,
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O que amosa é esa rexión de aí,
04:50
that little blob,
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esa manchiña,
do tamańo dunha oliva
04:51
it's about the size of an olive
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04:53
and it's on the bottom surface of my brain
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que está na base do meu cerebro
04:55
about an inch straight in from right there.
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a unha polgada de profundidade dende aquí.
04:58
And what that part of my brain is doing
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E o que fai esa parte do meu cerebro
é xerar unha resposta máis alta
na resonancia magnética,
05:01
is producing a higher MRI response,
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é dicir, unha actividade neuronal
máis intensa,
05:04
that is, higher neural activity,
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05:06
when I was looking at faces
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cando eu miraba caras
05:07
than when I was looking at objects.
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ca cando miraba obxectos.
05:10
So that's pretty cool,
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Isto está moi ben,
05:11
but how do we know this isn't a fluke?
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pero como sabemos que non é casualidade?
05:13
Well, the easiest way
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Pois a maneira máis sinxela
05:15
is to just do the experiment again.
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é facer de novo o experimento.
05:17
So I got back in the scanner,
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Así que volvín ao escáner,
05:18
I looked at more faces and I looked at more objects
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mirei máis caras e máis obxectos
05:21
and I got a similar blob,
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e obtiven unha mancha semellante,
05:23
and then I did it again
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e despois fíxeno outra vez,
05:25
and I did it again
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e outra vez,
05:27
and again and again,
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e outra, e outra,
05:30
and around about then
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e foi nese momento
05:31
I decided to believe it was for real.
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cando decidín crer que era real.
05:34
But still, maybe this is
something weird about my brain
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Pero aínda así, podía tratarse de algo
estrańo no meu cerebro
e que ninguén máis tivese aí esa mancha,
05:38
and no one else has one of these things in there,
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así que para descubrilo,
escaneamos un grupo de persoas
05:40
so to find out, we scanned a bunch of other people
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05:43
and found that pretty much everyone
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e atopamos que case todas
tińan esa pequena rexión
para o procesamento de caras
05:45
has that little face-processing region
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05:47
in a similar neighborhood of the brain.
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nunha zona similar do cerebro.
Así que a seguinte cuestión era:
05:50
So the next question was,
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que raio fai esa cousa realmente?
05:52
what does this thing really do?
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05:53
Is it really specialized just for face recognition?
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Está especializada soamente
no recońecemento de caras?
Se cadra non, verdade?
05:57
Well, maybe not, right?
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05:58
Maybe it responds not only to faces
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Se cadra non só reacciona con caras
06:00
but to any body part.
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senón con calquera parte do corpo.
Podería reaccionar
con calquera cousa humana,
06:02
Maybe it responds to anything human
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ou algo vivo,
06:05
or anything alive
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ou algo redondo.
06:07
or anything round.
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O único xeito de estar realmente seguros
de que esa rexión
06:08
The only way to be really sure that that region
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06:10
is specialized for face recognition
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está especializada
no recońecemento de caras
06:13
is to rule out all of those hypotheses.
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é descartar todas esas hipóteses.
Así que botamos boa parte
dos seguintes dous anos
06:15
So we spent much of the next couple of years
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escaneando suxeitos
06:18
scanning subjects while they looked at lots
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mentres ollaban moreas de imaxes
de diferentes tipos,
06:20
of different kinds of images,
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06:21
and we showed that that part of the brain
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e observamos que esa parte do cerebro
reacciona fortemente cando miramos
06:23
responds strongly when you look at
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imaxes de caras de calquera tipo,
06:25
any images that are faces of any kind,
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e reacciona moito menos
06:29
and it responds much less strongly
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con calquera imaxe que non sexa unha cara,
06:31
to any image you show that isn't a face,
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como algunhas destas.
06:34
like some of these.
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06:35
So have we finally nailed the case
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Podemos entón concluír definitivamente
que esta rexión é necesaria para
o recońecemento de caras?
06:37
that this region is necessary for face recognition?
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Non.
06:41
No, we haven't.
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A tecnoloxía de imaxe do cerebro
non pode revelar nunca
06:42
Brain imaging can never tell you
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06:44
if a region is necessary for anything.
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se unha rexión é necesaria para algo.
06:46
All you can do with brain imaging
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Todo o que se pode facer con ela
06:48
is watch regions turn on and off
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é ver rexións acenderse e apagarse
06:50
as people think different thoughts.
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mentres a persoa
pensa en diferentes cousas.
06:52
To tell if a part of the brain is
necessary for a mental function,
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Para saber se unha parte do cerebro
é necesaria para unha función mental
06:55
you need to mess with it and see what happens,
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fai falla enredar con ela
e ver que é o que pasa,
06:58
and normally we don't get to do that.
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e normalmente non chegamos a facer iso.
07:00
But an amazing opportunity came about
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Pero tivemos unha oportunidade magnífica
cando moi recentemente
un par de colegas meus
07:03
very recently when a couple of colleagues of mine
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fixeron probas con este home,
que sofre epilepsia
07:05
tested this man who has epilepsy
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07:08
and who is shown here in his hospital bed
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e que podemos ver aquí
na súa cama do hospital.
Ten postos eléctrodos
07:11
where he's just had electrodes placed
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07:12
on the surface of his brain
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na superficie do cerebro
para identificar a orixe dos seus ataques.
07:14
to identify the source of his seizures.
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07:17
So it turned out by total chance
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Así que, de pura casualidade
07:20
that two of the electrodes
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resultou que dous dos eléctrodos
07:22
happened to be right on top of his face area.
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estaban xusto enriba da área das caras.
07:25
So with the patient's consent,
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Así que co consentimento do paciente,
07:27
the doctors asked him what happened
186
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os doutores preguntáronlle que acontecía
07:30
when they electrically stimulated
that part of his brain.
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cando estimulaban electricamente
esa parte do cerebro.
O paciente non sabía
07:34
Now, the patient doesn't know
188
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1654
onde estaban eses eléctrodos,
07:35
where those electrodes are,
189
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1384
e nunca escoitara falar
da rexión cerebral das caras.
07:37
and he's never heard of the face area.
190
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2212
07:39
So let's watch what happens.
191
447574
1991
Vexamos que acontece.
Comeza cunha condición control:
07:41
It's going to start with a control condition
192
449565
1969
07:43
that will say "Sham" nearly invisibly
193
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2407
aparece "Sham" [falso]
case de xeito invisible
07:45
in red in the lower left,
194
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1710
en vermello na parte inferior esquerda
07:47
when no current is delivered,
195
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2282
cando non se lle aplica corrente.
07:49
and you'll hear the neurologist speaking
to the patient first. So let's watch.
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Primeiro ouviredes ao neurólogo
falando co paciente. Vexamos.
07:53
(Video) Neurologist: Okay, just look at my face
197
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2081
Neurólogo: Mira a mińa cara
e dime qué pasa cando fago isto.
07:55
and tell me what happens when I do this.
198
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3285
De acordo?
07:59
All right?
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934
Paciente: Vale.
08:00
Patient: Okay.
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2823
Neurólogo: Un, dous, tres.
08:02
Neurologist: One, two, three.
201
470871
4320
[Paciente: Nada]
08:07
Patient: Nothing.
Neurologist: Nothing? Okay.
202
475191
3015
Neurólogo: Nada? Vale.
Vouno facer unha vez máis.
08:10
I'm going to do it one more time.
203
478206
2407
08:12
Look at my face.
204
480613
3194
Mira a mińa cara.
Un, dous, tres.
08:15
One, two, three.
205
483807
4500
[Paciente: Acabas de transformarte
noutra persoa.]
08:20
Patient: You just turned into somebody else.
206
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2824
[A túa cara sufriu unha metamorfose.]
08:23
Your face metamorphosed.
207
491131
2137
[O teu nariz volveuse fláccido,
caeu cara á esquerda.]
08:25
Your nose got saggy, it went to the left.
208
493268
3011
08:28
You almost looked like somebody I'd seen before,
209
496279
3536
[Asemellábaste a alguén que xa vira antes]
08:31
but somebody different.
210
499815
2634
[pero non eras ti]
[Foi unha alucinación]
08:34
That was a trip.
211
502449
2072
(Gargallada)
08:36
(Laughter)
212
504521
3132
08:39
Nancy Kanwisher: So this experiment —
213
507653
1615
Este experimento
(Aplauso)
08:41
(Applause) —
214
509268
4223
...este experimento esclarece finalmente
a cuestión
08:45
this experiment finally nails the case
215
513491
2682
de que esta rexión do cerebro
08:48
that this region of the brain is not only
216
516173
1825
non soamente reacciona
selectivamente ás caras
08:49
selectively responsive to faces
217
517998
2137
senón que está causalmente relacionada
coa percepción de caras.
08:52
but causally involved in face perception.
218
520135
3045
Repasei todos estes detalles sobre
a rexión das caras
08:55
So I went through all of these details
219
523180
2130
08:57
about the face region to show you what it takes
220
525310
2464
para amosarvos que é o que fai falla
08:59
to really establish that a part of the brain
221
527774
2339
para confirmar que unha parte do cerebro
09:02
is selectively involved in a specific mental process.
222
530113
3128
está relacionada
cun proceso mental específico.
09:05
Next, I'll go through much more quickly
223
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2159
De seguido vou amosar moito máis á présa
09:07
some of the other specialized regions of the brain
224
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2660
algunhas outras rexións do cerebro
especializadas
09:10
that we and others have found.
225
538060
2100
que nós e mais outros grupos atopamos.
09:12
So to do this, I've spent a lot of time
226
540160
2114
Botei moito tempo no escáner
o último mes
09:14
in the scanner over the last month
227
542274
1867
para poder amosárvolas no meu cerebro.
Así que, imos aló!
09:16
so I can show you these things in my brain.
228
544141
2261
09:18
So let's get started. Here's my right hemisphere.
229
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3233
Aquí está o meu hemisferio dereito.
Estades vendo a mińa cabeza dende aquí.
09:21
So we're oriented like that.
You're looking at my head this way.
230
549635
2662
Imaxinade que quitamos o cranio
09:24
Imagine taking the skull off
231
552297
1093
e vemos a superficie do cerebro así.
09:25
and looking at the surface of the brain like that.
232
553390
2268
Como podedes ver
09:27
Okay, now as you can see,
233
555658
1758
a superficie do cerebro está
completamente pregada.
09:29
the surface of the brain is all folded up.
234
557416
1503
Iso non é bo, podería haber
cousas agochadas aí dentro.
09:30
So that's not good. Stuff could be hidden in there.
235
558919
1721
09:32
We want to see the whole thing,
236
560640
1434
Querémolo ver enteiro,
09:34
so let's inflate it so we can see the whole thing.
237
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3312
así que o imos inchar
para podelo ver completo.
09:37
Next, let's find that face area I've been talking about
238
565386
2829
Agora busquemos esa área das caras
da que estiven falando,
09:40
that responds to images like these.
239
568215
2227
que reacciona ante imaxes coma estas.
Para vela, viremos o cerebro
09:42
To see that, let's turn the brain around
240
570442
1519
e observemos a superficie interna
da parte inferior.
09:43
and look on the inside surface on the bottom,
241
571961
2019
09:45
and there it is, that's my face area.
242
573980
2305
E velaquí a temos,
esa é a mińa área das caras.
09:48
Just to the right of that is another region
243
576285
2707
Xusto á dereita desa hai outra rexión,
09:50
that is shown in purple
244
578992
1638
sinalada en cor morada,
09:52
that responds when you process color information,
245
580630
3072
que reacciona cando procesamos
información sobre cores;
09:55
and near those regions are other regions
246
583702
2691
e preto desas rexións hai outras
09:58
that are involved in perceiving places,
247
586393
2363
implicadas na percepción de lugares.
Agora mesmo estou vendo a disposición
do espazo ao meu redor
10:00
like right now, I'm seeing
this layout of space around me
248
588756
2838
10:03
and these regions in green right there
249
591594
1752
e esas rexións verdes de aí
10:05
are really active.
250
593346
1274
están moi activas.
10:06
There's another one out on the outside surface again
251
594620
2370
Hai outra na superficie exterior,
onde atopamos tamén
outro par de rexións das caras.
10:08
where there's a couple more face regions as well.
252
596990
2805
10:11
Also in this vicinity
253
599795
2345
Moi preto destas
hai unha rexión específica
10:14
is a region that's selectively involved
254
602140
1645
para o procesamento do movemento
que percibimos visualmente
10:15
in processing visual motion,
255
603785
1936
10:17
like these moving dots here,
256
605721
1504
coma eses puntos móbiles de aí;
10:19
and that's in yellow at the bottom of the brain,
257
607225
2689
é esa marela da parte inferior.
10:21
and near that is a region that responds
258
609914
3168
Preto de aí hai unha rexión que reacciona
cando miramos imaxes de corpos
e partes do corpo
10:25
when you look at images of bodies and body parts
259
613082
2897
10:27
like these, and that region is shown in lime green
260
615979
2745
coma estas; a rexión amósase en verde lima
10:30
at the bottom of the brain.
261
618724
2003
na parte inferior do cerebro.
10:32
Now all these regions I've shown you so far
262
620727
2632
Todas esas rexións que amosei
ata o de agora
10:35
are involved in specific aspects of visual perception.
263
623359
4432
están involucradas en aspectos específicos
da percepción visual.
E temos tamén rexións do cerebro
especializadas
10:39
Do we also have specialized brain regions
264
627791
2148
10:41
for other senses, like hearing?
265
629939
2813
noutros sentidos, coma a audición?
10:44
Yes, we do. So if we turn the brain around a little bit,
266
632752
3037
Si! Se viramos un chisco o cerebro,
10:47
here's a region in dark blue
267
635789
2401
aquí hai unha rexión en azul escuro
10:50
that we reported just a couple of months ago,
268
638190
2346
da que demos conta hai un par de meses,
10:52
and this region responds strongly
269
640536
1634
e esta rexión reacciona fortemente
10:54
when you hear sounds with pitch, like these.
270
642170
3429
cando oímos sons cun ton definido,
coma estes:
10:57
(Sirens)
271
645599
2143
(Sirenas)
(Música de violonchelo)
10:59
(Cello music)
272
647742
2081
11:01
(Doorbell)
273
649823
1917
(Timbre)
11:03
In contrast, that same region
does not respond strongly
274
651740
3608
En contraste, esa mesma rexión
non reacciona así
cando oímos sons que nos son familiares
11:07
when you hear perfectly familiar sounds
275
655348
1562
11:08
that don't have a clear pitch, like these.
276
656910
2362
que non teńen un ton claro, coma estes:
11:11
(Chomping)
277
659272
2469
(Dentadas)
(Redobre de tambores)
11:13
(Drum roll)
278
661741
2200
(Cisterna)
11:15
(Toilet flushing)
279
663941
2767
11:18
Okay. Next to the pitch region
280
666708
2498
Ao lado da rexión do ton
hai outro conxunto de rexións que
reaccionan de xeito específico
11:21
is another set of regions that
are selectively responsive
281
669206
2474
11:23
when you hear the sounds of speech.
282
671680
2765
cando oímos falar a alguén.
11:26
Okay, now let's look at these same regions.
283
674445
1840
Agora vexamos estas mesmas rexións:
No hemisferio esquerdo hai
unha disposición semellante
11:28
In my left hemisphere, there's a similar arrangement —
284
676285
2468
11:30
not identical, but similar —
285
678753
1473
—non idéntica, pero semellante—
11:32
and most of the same regions are in here,
286
680226
2209
e a meirande parte das rexións
están tamén aquí.
11:34
albeit sometimes different in size.
287
682435
2002
Porén, ás veces teńen diferente tamańo.
11:36
Now, everything I've shown you so far
288
684437
2014
Todo o que vos amosei ata o de agora
11:38
are regions that are involved in
different aspects of perception,
289
686451
3026
son rexións involucradas en
diferentes aspectos da percepción:
11:41
vision and hearing.
290
689477
1833
visión e mais audición.
Contamos con rexións do cerebro
especializadas nos procesos mentais
11:43
Do we also have specialized brain regions
291
691310
1660
11:44
for really fancy, complicated mental processes?
292
692970
3435
realmente sofisticados e complicados?
11:48
Yes, we do.
293
696405
1429
Si que as temos!
11:49
So here in pink are my language regions.
294
697834
3389
Aquí en rosa
están as mińas rexións da linguaxe.
11:53
So it's been known for a very long time
295
701223
1428
É ben sabido desde hai moito
11:54
that that general vicinity of the brain
296
702651
2035
que esa zona do cerebro
11:56
is involved in processing language,
297
704686
2193
está involucrada no procesamento
da linguaxe,
11:58
but we showed very recently
298
706879
1732
pero moi recentemente demostramos
12:00
that these pink regions
299
708611
1710
que esas rexións rosas
12:02
respond extremely selectively.
300
710321
2205
reaccionan de xeito moi selectivo.
12:04
They respond when you understand
the meaning of a sentence,
301
712526
2812
Reaccionan cando entendemos
o significado dunha frase,
12:07
but not when you do other complex mental things,
302
715338
2838
pero non cando realizamos
outros procesos mentais complexos
12:10
like mental arithmetic
303
718176
2179
coma o cálculo mental
12:12
or holding information in memory
304
720355
2396
ou cando memorizamos información
12:14
or appreciating the complex structure
305
722751
2655
ou apreciamos a complexa estrutura
12:17
in a piece of music.
306
725406
2284
dunha peza musical.
A rexión máis asombrosa
que se atopou ata agora
12:21
The most amazing region that's been found yet
307
729664
2889
12:24
is this one right here in turquoise.
308
732553
3307
é esta turquesa de aquí.
12:27
This region responds
309
735860
2190
Esta rexión reacciona
12:30
when you think about what another person is thinking.
310
738050
4268
cando pensamos sobre
o que outra persoa está pensando.
12:34
So that may seem crazy,
311
742318
1644
Iso pode soar a tolemia,
12:35
but actually, we humans do this all the time.
312
743962
3868
pero realmente, os seres humanos
facémolo todo o tempo.
12:39
You're doing this when you realize
313
747830
2193
Estades facendo isto cando vos decatades
de que a vosa parella se vai inquietar
12:42
that your partner is going to be worried
314
750023
1631
12:43
if you don't call home to say you're running late.
315
751654
2507
se non chamades para avisar
de que ides chegar tarde.
12:46
I'm doing this with that region of my brain right now
316
754161
3469
Eu estou facendo isto con esa rexión
agora mesmo
12:49
when I realize that you guys
317
757630
2281
cando me decato de que probablemente vós
12:51
are probably now wondering about
318
759911
1598
estaredes preguntándovos
sobre todo ese territorio gris
inexplorado do cerebro.
12:53
all that gray, uncharted territory in the brain,
319
761509
2547
12:56
and what's up with that?
320
764056
1964
"Que demo pasa con iso?"
12:58
Well, I'm wondering about that too,
321
766020
1685
Ben, eu estoumo preguntando tamén!
12:59
and we're running a bunch of
experiments in my lab right now
322
767705
2395
E actualmente estamos
realizando experimentos
13:02
to try to find a number of other
323
770100
2013
para tratar de atopar
outras especializacións do cerebro
13:04
possible specializations in the brain
324
772113
2032
para outras funcións mentais
que sexan moi específicas.
13:06
for other very specific mental functions.
325
774145
3368
Pero o que é máis importante,
non creo que teńamos
13:09
But importantly, I don't think we have
326
777513
2621
13:12
specializations in the brain
327
780134
1564
especializacións no cerebro
13:13
for every important mental function,
328
781698
2746
para cada función mental importante,
mesmo para funcións mentais que poden ser
críticas para a supervivencia.
13:16
even mental functions that may be critical for survival.
329
784444
3409
De feito, hai uns anos
13:19
In fact, a few years ago,
330
787853
2102
un científico do meu laboratorio
13:21
there was a scientist in my lab
331
789955
1117
13:23
who became quite convinced
332
791072
1409
chegou a crer firmemente
13:24
that he'd found a brain region
333
792481
1749
que atopara unha rexión do cerebro
13:26
for detecting food,
334
794230
1912
para percibir comida.
E o escáner rexistraba
unha resposta intensa
13:28
and it responded really strongly in the scanner
335
796142
1918
13:30
when people looked at images like this.
336
798060
2728
cando a xente miraba imaxes coma esta.
13:32
And further, he found a similar response
337
800788
2912
E ademais, atopou unha reacción similar
13:35
in more or less the same location
338
803700
1939
nunha localización semellante
13:37
in 10 out of 12 subjects.
339
805639
2001
en dez de cada doce suxeitos.
Así que estaba bastante emocionado,
13:39
So he was pretty stoked,
340
807640
2294
e ía polo laboratorio
contándolle a todo o mundo
13:41
and he was running around the lab
341
809934
1260
13:43
telling everyone that he was going to go on "Oprah"
342
811194
2002
que ía asistir
ao programa de Oprah Winfrey
co seu descubrimento.
13:45
with his big discovery.
343
813196
2018
13:47
But then he devised the critical test:
344
815214
3022
Pero despois ideou
unha proba determinante:
13:50
He showed subjects images of food like this
345
818236
3183
Amosáballes aos suxeitos imaxes de comida
coma estas,
13:53
and compared them to images with very similar
346
821419
2741
e mais imaxes con cores e formas
moi semellantes,
13:56
color and shape, but that weren't food, like these.
347
824160
3810
pero que non eran comida, coma estas.
13:59
And his region responded the same
348
827970
2131
E a súa rexión reaccionaba do mesmo xeito
14:02
to both sets of images.
349
830101
1949
a ámbolos dous grupos de imaxes.
Así que non era unha área da comida,
14:04
So it wasn't a food area,
350
832050
1327
14:05
it was just a region that liked colors and shapes.
351
833377
2771
só unha rexión á que lle prestaban
as cores e as formas.
14:08
So much for "Oprah."
352
836148
2561
Adeus, Oprah.
14:12
But then the question, of course, is,
353
840483
2225
A cuestión é, xa que logo,
como procesamos todo o demais
14:14
how do we process all this other stuff
354
842708
2126
para o que non temos
rexións especializadas do cerebro?
14:16
that we don't have specialized brain regions for?
355
844834
2970
Eu creo que a resposta é
14:19
Well, I think the answer is that in addition
356
847804
1811
que ademais deses compońentes moi
especializados que veño de describir,
14:21
to these highly specialized components
that I've been describing,
357
849615
3554
14:25
we also have a lot of very general-
purpose machinery in our heads
358
853169
3679
temos tamén unha morea de mecanismos
nas nosas cabezas, con obxectivos xerais
14:28
that enables us to tackle
359
856848
1494
que nos permiten afrontar
14:30
whatever problem comes along.
360
858342
2106
calquera problema que se presenta.
14:32
In fact, we've shown recently that
361
860448
2055
De feito, recentemente descubrimos
14:34
these regions here in white
362
862503
2068
que esas rexións brancas de aí
14:36
respond whenever you do any difficult mental task
363
864571
3411
reaccionan sempre que facemos
calquera tarefa mental difícil
14:39
at all —
364
867982
1101
—ben, das sete que probamos.
14:41
well, of the seven that we've tested.
365
869083
3571
14:44
So each of the brain regions that I've described
366
872654
2169
Así que cada rexión do cerebro
que vos describín hoxe
14:46
to you today
367
874823
1306
14:48
is present in approximately the same location
368
876129
2767
está presente máis ou menos
na mesma localización
14:50
in every normal subject.
369
878896
1742
en tódolos suxeitos normais.
Podería collervos a calquera de vós
14:52
I could take any of you,
370
880638
1623
14:54
pop you in the scanner,
371
882261
1226
metervos no escáner,
e atoparía cada unha desas rexións
no voso cerebro.
14:55
and find each of those regions in your brain,
372
883487
2285
14:57
and it would look a lot like my brain,
373
885772
1905
E asemellaríase moito ao meu cerebro,
14:59
although the regions would be slightly different
374
887677
2070
aínda que as rexións
terían lixeiras diferenzas
15:01
in their exact location and in their size.
375
889747
3564
na localización e no tamańo.
O que me parece importante deste traballo
15:05
What's important to me about this work
376
893311
2365
non son as localizacións particulares
desas rexións cerebrais,
15:07
is not the particular locations of these brain regions,
377
895676
2969
senón o simple feito de que temos
compońentes da mente e do cerebro
15:10
but the simple fact that we have
378
898645
2587
15:13
selective, specific components of mind and brain
379
901232
2568
selectivos, específicos.
15:15
in the first place.
380
903800
1648
Iso en primeiro lugar.
15:17
I mean, it could have been otherwise.
381
905448
2011
Podería ser doutro xeito!
15:19
The brain could have been a single,
382
907459
2441
O cerebro podería ser
un único procesador
cunha finalidade xeral,
15:21
general-purpose processor,
383
909900
1495
15:23
more like a kitchen knife
384
911395
1472
máis semellante a un coitelo
15:24
than a Swiss Army knife.
385
912867
1683
ca a unha navalla suíza.
15:26
Instead, what brain imaging has delivered
386
914550
3111
En lugar disto, o que as técnicas
de imaxe do cerebro amosan
15:29
is this rich and interesting picture of the human mind.
387
917661
3846
é esta imaxe rica e interesante
da mente humana.
15:33
So we have this picture of very general-purpose
388
921507
2463
Así que temos esta imaxe,
da maquinaria cun propósito moi xeral,
15:35
machinery in our heads
389
923970
1070
15:37
in addition to this surprising array
390
925040
2357
ademais desta variedade sorprendente
15:39
of very specialized components.
391
927397
3435
de compońentes tan especializados.
15:43
It's early days in this enterprise.
392
931712
2153
Este proxecto acaba de comezar.
15:45
We've painted only the first brushstrokes
393
933865
2776
Só demos as primeiras brochadas
15:48
in our neural portrait of the human mind.
394
936641
2927
do noso retrato neuronal da mente humana.
As cuestións máis fundamentais
permanecen sen resolver.
15:51
The most fundamental questions remain unanswered.
395
939568
3082
15:54
So for example, what does each
of these regions do exactly?
396
942650
3800
Por exemplo: que fai exactamente
cada una destas rexións?
Por que necesitamos
tres áreas para caras,
15:58
Why do we need three face areas
397
946450
2142
16:00
and three place areas,
398
948592
1465
e tres áreas para lugares?
16:02
and what's the division of labor between them?
399
950057
2868
Como se reparten o traballo entre elas?
16:04
Second, how are all these things
400
952925
2693
En segundo lugar: como están
todas estas cousas
16:07
connected in the brain?
401
955618
1712
conectadas no cerebro?
16:09
With diffusion imaging,
402
957330
1587
Con imaxe de difusión
16:10
you can trace bundles of neurons
403
958917
2179
podemos rastrexar feixes de neuronas
16:13
that connect to different parts of the brain,
404
961096
2575
que conectan diferentes partes do cerebro,
16:15
and with this method shown here,
405
963671
1631
e con este método amosado aquí,
16:17
you can trace the connections of
individual neurons in the brain,
406
965302
3697
pódemos rastrexar as conexións
de neuronas individuais no cerebro,
16:20
potentially someday giving us a wiring diagram
407
968999
2718
o que potencialmente pode darnos algún día
un diagrama do cableado
16:23
of the entire human brain.
408
971717
2066
do cerebro humano ao completo.
16:25
Third, how does all of this
409
973783
2047
En terceiro lugar: como se construíu
16:27
very systematic structure get built,
410
975830
3149
toda esta estrutura tan sistemática
16:30
both over development in childhood
411
978979
2956
durante o desenvolvemento infantil
16:33
and over the evolution of our species?
412
981935
2812
e mais na evolución da nosa especie?
Para abordar cuestións coma estas,
16:36
To address questions like that,
413
984747
1900
16:38
scientists are now scanning
414
986647
1783
a comunidade científica está escaneando
16:40
other species of animals,
415
988430
2157
outras especies animais,
16:42
and they're also scanning human infants.
416
990587
5386
e tamén nenas e nenos.
Moita xente xustifica o alto custo
da investigación en neurociencia
16:48
Many people justify the high
cost of neuroscience research
417
996931
3651
16:52
by pointing out that it may help us someday
418
1000582
2754
sinalando que podería axudarnos algún día
a tratar enfermidades do cerebro
coma o Alzheimer e mais o autismo.
16:55
to treat brain disorders like Alzheimer's and autism.
419
1003336
3457
16:58
That's a hugely important goal,
420
1006793
1947
É un obxectivo moi importante,
17:00
and I'd be thrilled if any of my work contributed to it,
421
1008740
3221
e entusiasmaríame que o meu traballo
contribuíse a iso;
17:03
but fixing things that are broken in the world
422
1011961
2998
pero arranxar cousas rotas do mundo
17:06
is not the only thing that's worth doing.
423
1014959
2801
non é o único que paga a pena facer.
17:09
The effort to understand the human mind and brain
424
1017760
3228
O esforzo para entender a mente
e o cerebro do ser humano
17:12
is worthwhile even if it never led to the treatment
425
1020988
2818
paga a pena mesmo se non chegase
nunca a conducir
17:15
of a single disease.
426
1023806
1677
ao tratamento dunha soa enfermidade.
17:17
What could be more thrilling
427
1025483
2037
Que podería ser máis emocionante
17:19
than to understand the fundamental mechanisms
428
1027520
3141
ca comprender os mecanismos fundamentais
17:22
that underlie human experience,
429
1030661
2296
que subxacen á experiencia humana,
17:24
to understand, in essence, who we are?
430
1032957
2926
ca comprender, en esencia, quen somos?
17:27
This is, I think, the greatest scientific quest
431
1035883
3449
Isto é, creo, a maior misión científica
17:31
of all time.
432
1039332
2713
de tódolos tempos.
17:34
(Applause)
433
1042045
5470
(Aplauso)
Translated by L.Carmela Darriba
Reviewed by Servizo de Normalización Lingüística

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Nancy Kanwisher - Brain researcher
Using fMRI imaging to watch the human brain at work, Nancy Kanwisher’s team has discovered cortical regions responsible for some surprisingly specific elements of cognition.

Why you should listen

Does the brain use specialized processors to solve complex problems, or does it rely instead on more general-purpose systems?

This question has been at the crux of brain research for centuries. MIT researcher Nancy Kanwisher seeks to answer this question by discovering a “parts list” for the human mind and brain. "Understanding the nature of the human mind," she says, "is arguably the greatest intellectual quest of all time."

Kanwisher and her colleagues have used fMRI to identify distinct sites in the brain for face recognition, knowing where you are, and thinking about other people’s thoughts. Yet these discoveries are a prelude to bigger questions: How do these brain regions develop and function? What are the actual computations that go on in each region, and how are these computations implemented in circuits of neurons? And how do these work together to produce human intelligence?

To learn more, see Kanwisher's collection of short talks on how scientists actually study the human mind and brain and what they have learned so far.

More profile about the speaker
Nancy Kanwisher | Speaker | TED.com
THE ORIGINAL VIDEO ON TED.COM