ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Greg Gage - Neuroscientist
TED Fellow Greg Gage helps kids investigate the neuroscience in their own backyards.

Why you should listen

As half of Backyard Brains, neuroscientist and engineer Greg Gage builds the SpikerBox -- a small rig that helps kids understand the electrical impulses that control the nervous system. He's passionate about helping students understand (viscerally) how our brains and our neurons work, because, as he said onstage at TED2012, we still know very little about how the brain works -- and we need to start inspiring kids early to want to know more.

Before becoming a neuroscientist, Gage worked as an electrical engineer making touchscreens. As he told the Huffington Post: "Scientific equipment in general is pretty expensive, but it's silly because before [getting my PhD in neuroscience] I was an electrical engineer, and you could see that you could make it yourself. So we started as a way to have fun, to show off to our colleagues, but we were also going into classrooms around that time and we thought, wouldn't it be cool if you could bring these gadgets with us so the stuff we were doing in advanced Ph.D. programs in neuroscience, you could also do in fifth grade?" His latest pieces of gear: the Roboroach, a cockroach fitted with an electric backpack that makes it turn on command, and BYB SmartScope, a smartphone-powered microscope.

More profile about the speaker
Greg Gage | Speaker | TED.com
TED-Ed

Greg Gage: The cockroach beatbox

Filmed:
831,513 views

By dissecting a cockroach ... yes, live on stage ... TED Fellow and neuroscientist Greg Gage shows how brains receive and deliver electric impulses -- and how legs can respond. This talk comes from the TED-Ed project.
- Neuroscientist
TED Fellow Greg Gage helps kids investigate the neuroscience in their own backyards. Full bio

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

00:13
When you think about the brainmozak,
0
13952
1859
Kada razmišljate o mozgu,
00:15
it's difficulttežak to understandrazumjeti,
1
15835
1794
teško ga je shvatiti,
00:17
because if I were to askpitati you right now,
how does the heartsrce work,
2
17653
3238
jer da vas sad pitam kako srce radi,
00:20
you would instantlyodmah tell me it's a pumppumpa.
3
20915
2142
odmah biste mi rekli da je pumpa.
00:23
It pumpspumpe bloodkrv.
4
23081
1418
Pumpa krv.
00:24
If I were to askpitati about your lungspluća,
5
24523
1676
Ako vas pitam za pluća,
00:26
you would say it exchangesrazmjena
oxygenkisik for carbonugljen dioxidedioksid.
6
26223
2576
rekli biste da izmjenju je kisik
za ugljikov dioksid.
00:28
That's easylako.
7
28823
1014
To je lako.
00:29
If I were to askpitati you how the brainmozak worksdjela,
it's hardteško to understandrazumjeti
8
29861
3065
Ako vas pitam kako mozak radi,
to je teško shvatiti
00:32
because you can't just look
at a brainmozak and understandrazumjeti what it is.
9
32950
3053
jer ne možete samo pogledati
mozak i shvatiti što je to.
00:36
It's not a mechanicalmehanički objectobjekt,
not a pumppumpa, not an airbagzračni jastuk.
10
36027
2804
To nije mehanički predmet
niti pupma niti zračni jastuk.
00:38
It's just like, if you heldodržanog it
in your handruka when it was deadmrtav,
11
38855
2863
To je, ako ga držite kada je mrtav,
00:41
it's just a piecekomad of fatmast.
12
41742
1205
samo komad sala.
00:43
To understandrazumjeti how the brainmozak worksdjela,
you have to go insideiznutra a livingživot brainmozak.
13
43885
3389
Da bi shvatili kako mozak radi
morate ući u živi mozak.
00:47
Because the brain'smozak je not mechanicalmehanički,
the brainmozak is electricalelektrična and it's chemicalkemijski.
14
47298
3678
Jer mozak nije mehanički,
električan je i kemijski.
00:51
Your brainmozak is madenapravljen out of
100 billionmilijardi cellsStanice, calledzvao neuronsneuroni.
15
51000
2813
Vaš mozak napravljen je od
100 milijardi stanica, nazvanih neuroni.
00:53
And these neuronsneuroni communicatekomunicirati
with eachsvaki other with electricityelektricitet.
16
53837
3877
I ovi neuroni komuniciraju
jedni s drugima elektricitetom.
00:57
And we're going to eavesdropprisluškivati
in on a conversationrazgovor betweenizmeđu two cellsStanice,
17
57738
3238
I mi ćemo prisluškivati
razgovor između dvije stanice,
01:01
and we're going to listen
to something calledzvao a spikešiljak.
18
61000
2858
i slušat ćemo nešto
što se zove amplituda.
01:03
But we're not going to recordsnimiti my brainmozak
or your brainmozak or your teachers'nastavnika brainsmozak,
19
63882
3893
Ali nećemo snimati moj mozak
ili vaš ili vašeg profesora,
01:07
we're going to use our good
friendprijatelj the cockroachžohar.
20
67799
2295
koristit ćemo našeg dobrog prijatelja
žohara.
01:10
Not just because I think they're coolsvjež,
21
70118
1858
Ne samo zato što mislim da su cool,
01:12
but because they have brainsmozak
very similarsličan to oursnaša.
22
72000
2378
već zato što imaju mozak sličan
našemu.
01:14
So if you learnnaučiti a little bitbit
about how theirnjihov brainsmozak work,
23
74402
2668
Pa ako naučite malo o tome
kako radi njihov mozak,
01:17
we're going to learnnaučiti a lot
about how our brainsmozak work.
24
77094
2478
naučit ćemo puno o tome
kako radi naš mozak.
01:19
I'm going to put them
in some iceled watervoda here
25
79596
2079
Stavit ću ih u ledenu vodu.
01:22
And then --
26
82612
1073
I onda --
01:24
AudiencePublika: EwEW!
GregGreg GabeGabe: Yeah ...
27
84214
2405
Publika: Fuj!
Greg Gabe: Da...
01:26
Right now they're becomingpostaje anesthetizedpod anestezijom.
28
86643
1976
Sada ih anesteziramo.
01:28
Because they're coldhladno bloodedčistokrvan,
they becomepostati the temperaturetemperatura of the watervoda
29
88643
3302
Jer su hladnokrvni,
postat će iste temperature kao i voda
01:31
and they can't controlkontrolirati it
so they just basicallyu osnovi "chillaxOpusti se," right?
30
91969
3126
i ne mogu to kontrolirati
tako da se samo opuste, zar ne?
01:35
They're not going to feel anything,
31
95119
1857
Neće osjećati ništa,
01:37
whichkoji maysvibanj tell you a little
about what we're going to do,
32
97000
2775
što će vam možda reći nešto
o tome što ćemo raditi,
01:39
a scientificznanstvena experimenteksperiment
to understandrazumjeti the brainmozak.
33
99799
2630
znanstvenom eksperimentu
kako bismo razumjeli mozak.
01:42
So ...
34
102453
1021
Dakle ...
01:44
This is the legnoga of a cockroachžohar.
35
104466
1510
Ovo je noga žohara.
01:46
And a cockroachžohar
has all these beautifullijep hairsdlake
36
106000
2143
I žohar ima sve ove divne
dlačice
01:48
and prickliespricklies all over it.
37
108167
1809
i izbočine po njoj.
01:50
UnderneathIspod eachsvaki one of those is a cellćelija,
38
110000
2976
Ispod svake od njih je stanica,
01:53
and this cell'smobitel je a neuronneuron
that is going to sendposlati informationinformacija
39
113000
2976
a neuron te stanice će poslati
informacije
01:56
about windvjetar or vibrationvibracija.
40
116000
1439
o vjetru ili vibraciji.
01:57
If you ever try to catchulov a cockroachžohar,
it's hardteško because they can feel you comingdolazak
41
117463
3846
Ako ikad pokušate uhvatiti žohara,
teško je jer osjete da dolazite
02:01
before you're even there,
they startpočetak runningtrčanje.
42
121333
2159
i prije nego dođete, počnu bježati.
02:03
These cellsStanice are zippingpatentni zatvarač up
this informationinformacija up to the brainmozak
43
123516
2769
Ove stanice šalju informacije u mozak
02:06
usingkoristeći those little axonsAksoni
with electronicelektronička messagesporuke in there.
44
126309
2783
koristeći te male aksone sa elektroničkim
porukama u njima.
02:09
We're going to recordsnimiti
by stickinglijepljenje a pinigla right in there.
45
129116
2582
Snimit ćemo to zabadanjem
pribadače ondje.
02:11
We need to take off the legnoga
of a cockroachžohar --
46
131722
2647
Trebamo skinuti nogu žohara --
02:14
don't worrybrinuti, they'lloni će growrasti back --
47
134393
1583
ne brinite, ponovno će narasti --
02:16
then we're going to put two pinsigle in there.
48
136000
2317
a onda ćemo ovdje staviti dvije pribadače.
02:18
These are metalmetal pinsigle.
49
138341
1024
Ovo su metalne pribadače.
02:19
One will pickodabrati up this electronicelektronička messageporuka,
this electricelektrični messageporuka is going by.
50
139389
3631
Jedna će pokupiti poruku
kako bude prolazila.
02:23
So, we're now going to do the surgerykirurgija,
let's see if you guys can see this.
51
143044
3480
Sada ćemo napraviti operaciju,
da vidimo možete li vidjeti ovo.
02:28
Yeah, it's grossbruto ...
52
148635
1403
Da, odvratno je..
02:32
All right. So there we go.
53
152460
2420
U redu. To je to.
02:35
You guys can see his legnoga right there.
54
155880
1793
Vi možete vidjeti nogu ondje.
02:37
Now I'm going to take this legnoga,
55
157697
1500
Tako da ću sada uzeti tu nogu,
02:39
I'm going to put it in this inventionizum
that we camedošao up with
56
159221
2716
i stavit ću je u ovaj izum
koji smo smislili
02:41
calledzvao the SpikerboxSpikerbox --
57
161961
1118
nazvan Kutija za Amplitude--
02:43
and this replaceszamjenjuje lots of expensiveskup
equipmentoprema in a researchistraživanje lablaboratorija,
58
163103
3506
i ovo zamjenjuje puno skupe opreme
u istraživačkom laboratoriju,
02:46
so you guys can do this
in your ownvlastiti highvisok schoolsškola,
59
166633
3176
tako da to možete raditi u svojim
srednjim školama,
02:49
or in your ownvlastiti basementspodrumima if it's me.
60
169833
2254
ili svojim podrumima ako sam ja u pitanju.
02:53
(AudiencePublika: LaughterSmijeh)
61
173418
1333
(Smijeh)
02:55
So, there.
62
175552
1723
Eto ga.
02:59
Can you guys see that?
63
179973
1361
Možete li vidjeti to?
03:01
AlrightU redu, so I'm going to go aheadnaprijed
and turnskretanje this on.
64
181358
2752
U redu, sada ću ovo uključiti.
03:06
I'm going to plugutikač it in.
65
186833
1143
Priključit ću ga.
03:08
(TuningUgađanje soundzvuk)
66
188000
1001
(Zvuk podešavanja)
03:09
To me, this is the mostnajviše beautifullijep
soundzvuk in the worldsvijet.
67
189025
2563
Za mene, ovo je najljepši
zvuk na svijetu.
03:11
This is what your brainmozak
is doing right now.
68
191612
2008
Ovo trenutno radi vaš mozak.
03:13
You have 100 billionmilijardi cellsStanice
makingizrađivanje these raindrop-typeKapljica kiše-tip noiseszvukovi.
69
193644
2932
Imate sto milijardi stanica koje
rade te zvukove poput kišnih kapljica.
03:16
Let's take a look at what it looksizgled like,
70
196600
1985
Pogledajmo kako to izgleda,
03:18
let's pullVuci it up on the iPadiPad screenzaslon.
71
198609
1799
prikažimo to na ekranu iPada.
03:20
I pluggedčep my iPadiPad into here as well.
72
200432
1729
Spojio sam i moj iPad tu.
03:22
So rememberzapamtiti we said
the axonAkson looksizgled like a spikešiljak.
73
202185
2244
Rekli smo kako akson
izgleda kao amplituda.
03:24
So we're going to take a look
74
204453
1417
Tako da ćemo pogledati
03:25
at what one of them
looksizgled like in just a briefkratak seconddrugi.
75
205894
2642
kako jedan od njih izgleda
za trenutak.
03:28
We're going to tapslavina here,
76
208560
1226
dodirnut ćemo ovdje,
03:29
so we can sortvrsta of averageprosječan this guy.
77
209810
1705
tako da možemo odrediti prosjek.
03:31
So there we see it.
That's an actionakcijski potentialpotencijal.
78
211539
2437
Ovdje ga vidimo.
To je potencijal akcije.
03:34
You've got 100 billionmilijardi cellsStanice
in your brainmozak doing this right now,
79
214000
3048
Imate 100 milijardi stanica
u vašem mozgu koje to sada rade,
03:37
sendingslanje all this informationinformacija back
about what you're seeingvidim, hearingsluh.
80
217072
3244
šalju sve ove informacije o tome
što vidite, čujete.
03:40
We alsotakođer said this is a cellćelija
81
220340
1301
Rekli smo i da je ovo stanica
03:41
that's going to be takinguzimanje up informationinformacija
about vibrationsvibracije in the windvjetar.
82
221665
3311
koja će prenositi informacije
o vibracijama u vjetru.
03:45
So what if we do an experimenteksperiment?
83
225000
1715
Pa što ako napravimo eksperiment?
03:46
We can actuallyzapravo blowudarac on this
and hearčuti if we see a changepromijeniti.
84
226739
2707
Možemo puhnuti na ovo i čudi
da li ima promjene.
03:49
Are you guys going to be readyspreman?
85
229470
1482
Hoćete li vi biti spremni?
03:50
If I blowudarac on it you tell me
if you hearčuti anything.
86
230976
2295
Ako puhnem na to,
recite mi čujete li išta.
03:53
(BlowingPuše)
87
233295
1068
(Puhanje)
03:55
(SoundZvuk changespromjene)
88
235007
1476
(Zvuk se promijeni)
03:57
Let me just touchdodir this
with a little penpero here.
89
237000
2413
Dozvolite da dotaknem
ovo olovkom.
03:59
(NoiseBuka)
90
239437
1149
(Zvuk)
04:02
That was the neuralživčani firingplamena ratestopa.
91
242761
1572
To je bila brzina okidanja neurona.
04:04
That actuallyzapravo tookuzeo a while
in neuroscienceneuroznanost to understandrazumjeti this.
92
244357
2977
Neuroznanosti je trebalo
neko vrijeme da shvati ovo.
04:07
This is calledzvao ratestopa codingšifriranje:
93
247358
1293
Ovo se zove kodiranje brzine:
04:08
the harderteže you presstisak on something,
the more spikesšiljci there are,
94
248675
2967
što jače pritisnete nešto,
više je amplituda.
04:11
and all that informationinformacija
is comingdolazak up to your brainmozak.
95
251666
2431
i sve te informacije dolaze
u vaš mozak.
04:14
That's how you perceivedoživljavaju things.
96
254121
1482
Tako percipirate stvari.
04:15
So that's one way of doing
an experimenteksperiment with electricityelektricitet.
97
255627
2722
To je jedan od načina kako
napraviti eksperiment s elektricitetom.
04:18
The other way is that your brainmozak is not
only takinguzimanje in electricalelektrična impulsesimpulse,
98
258373
4521
Drugi je da vaš mozak ne prima isključivo
električne impulse,
04:22
you're alsotakođer sendingslanje out.
99
262918
1153
nego ih i šalje.
04:24
That's how you movepotez your musclesmišići around.
100
264095
1949
Tako pomičete mišiće.
04:26
Let's see what happensdogađa se if I've pluggedčep in
something that's electricelektrični
101
266068
3160
Pogledajmo što će se dogoditi
ako spojimo nešto električno
04:29
into the cockroachžohar legnoga here.
102
269252
1724
u žoharovu nogu ovdje.
04:31
I'm going to take two pinsigle,
I'm going to plugutikač them ontona the cockroachžohar.
103
271000
3744
Uzet ću dvije pribadače
i spojiti ih na žiohara.
04:34
I'm going to take the other endkraj,
I'm going to plugutikač in into my iPodiPod.
104
274768
3492
A drugi dio ću spojiti
u moj iPOD.
04:38
It's my iPhoneiPhone actuallyzapravo.
105
278284
1453
To je zapravo moj iPhone.
04:39
Do you guys know how your earbudsslušalice
work in your earsuši?
106
279761
3111
Znate kako slušalice rade
u vašim ušima?
04:42
You have a batterybaterija
in your phonetelefon, or iPodiPod, right?
107
282896
2307
Imate bateriju
u telefonu, ili iPodu, zar ne?
04:45
It's sendingslanje electricalelektrična currentstruja
into these magnetsMagneti in your earbudsslušalice
108
285227
3103
Šalje električnu struju
u ove magnete u slušalicama,
04:48
whichkoji shaketresti back and forthdalje
and allowdopustiti you to hearčuti things.
109
288354
2622
koji se tresu naprijed i natrag
i omogućuju da čujete stvari.
04:51
But that current'sstruja the sameisti currencyvaluta
that our brainmozak usesnamjene,
110
291000
2976
Alli struja ima isti smjer
koji koristi naš mozak,
04:54
so we can sendposlati that to our cockroachžohar legnoga
111
294000
1956
tako da možemo to poslati
u nogu našeg žohara,
04:55
and hopefullynadajmo se if this worksdjela,
112
295980
1335
i možda ovo bude radilo,
04:57
we can actuallyzapravo see what happensdogađa se
when we playigrati musicglazba into the cockroachžohar.
113
297339
3342
pa ćemo vidjeti što se događa
kada puštamo glazbu u žohara,.
05:00
Let's take a look.
114
300705
1122
Pogledajmo.
05:03
(MusicGlazba beatpobijediti)
115
303523
2406
(Ritam glazbe)
05:05
Can we turnskretanje it up? There we go.
116
305953
1491
Možemo li je pojačati? Evo ga.
05:07
(AudiencePublika reactsreagira and gaspsgasps)
117
307468
2508
(Uzdasi)
05:10
GGGG: So what's happeningdogađa?
118
310000
1730
GG: Pa što se događa?
05:11
AudiencePublika: WowSjajna osoba!
119
311754
1246
Publika: Vau!
05:13
(LaughterSmijeh)
120
313024
1086
(Smijeh)
05:14
So you see what's movingkreće.
It's movingkreće on the bassBas gitara.
121
314134
2842
Tako da vidite što se kreće.
Kreće se na bas.
05:17
All those audiophilesaudiofila out there,
122
317000
2168
Svi vi audiofili
05:19
if you have awesomesuper, kickingmrda carautomobil stereosstereo,
123
319192
2127
imaate neke snažne audio uređaje u autu,
05:21
you know, the bassBas gitara speakerszvučnici
are the biggestnajveći speakerszvučnici.
124
321343
2594
i znate da je bass najveći zvučnik.
05:23
The biggestnajveći speakerszvučnici
have the longestnajduži wavesvalovi,
125
323961
2086
Najveći zvučnik ima najduže valove
05:26
whichkoji have the mostnajviše currentstruja,
126
326071
1341
koji daju najviše struje,
05:27
and the currentstruja is what's causinguzrok
these things to movepotez.
127
327436
2587
i struja je ono što uzrokuje
pokretanje ovih stvari.
05:30
So it's not just speakerszvučnici
that are causinguzrok electricityelektricitet.
128
330047
3629
Tako da to nije samo zvučnik
koji uzrokuje elektricitet.
05:33
MicrophonesMikrofoni alsotakođer causeuzrok electricityelektricitet.
129
333700
1890
Mikrofoni to također čine.
05:35
(BeatPobijediti)
130
335614
1072
(Ritam)
05:36
So I'm going to go aheadnaprijed and invitepozvati
anotherjoš personosoba out on the stagefaza here
131
336710
3673
Tako da ću na pozornicu
pozvati još nekog
05:40
to help me out with this.
132
340407
1208
da mi pomogne s ovim.
05:41
So there we go.
133
341639
1124
Evo ga.
05:42
(BeatboxingNe sjećam je se)
134
342787
2119
(Beatboxanje)
05:47
This is the first time this has ever
happeneddogodilo in the historypovijest of mankindčovječanstvo.
135
347000
3429
Ovo je prvi put da se
ovo dogodilo u povijesti čovječanstva.
05:50
HumanLjudski beatboxBeatbox to a cockroachžohar legnoga.
136
350453
2523
Čovjek beatboxa u nogu žohara.
05:53
When you guys go back to your highvisok schoolškola,
think about neuroscienceneuroznanost
137
353000
3474
Kada se vratite u škole
razmišljajte o neuroznanosti
05:56
and how you guys can beginpočeti
the neuro-revolutionneuro-revolucija.
138
356498
2478
i kako možete početi
neuro-revoluciju.
05:59
Thank you very much. Byebok byebok.
139
359000
1701
Hvala vam puno.
06:00
(ApplausePljesak)
140
360725
1000
(Pljesak)
Translated by Ivan Stamenkovic
Reviewed by Senzos Osijek

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Greg Gage - Neuroscientist
TED Fellow Greg Gage helps kids investigate the neuroscience in their own backyards.

Why you should listen

As half of Backyard Brains, neuroscientist and engineer Greg Gage builds the SpikerBox -- a small rig that helps kids understand the electrical impulses that control the nervous system. He's passionate about helping students understand (viscerally) how our brains and our neurons work, because, as he said onstage at TED2012, we still know very little about how the brain works -- and we need to start inspiring kids early to want to know more.

Before becoming a neuroscientist, Gage worked as an electrical engineer making touchscreens. As he told the Huffington Post: "Scientific equipment in general is pretty expensive, but it's silly because before [getting my PhD in neuroscience] I was an electrical engineer, and you could see that you could make it yourself. So we started as a way to have fun, to show off to our colleagues, but we were also going into classrooms around that time and we thought, wouldn't it be cool if you could bring these gadgets with us so the stuff we were doing in advanced Ph.D. programs in neuroscience, you could also do in fifth grade?" His latest pieces of gear: the Roboroach, a cockroach fitted with an electric backpack that makes it turn on command, and BYB SmartScope, a smartphone-powered microscope.

More profile about the speaker
Greg Gage | Speaker | TED.com