ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Miguel Nicolelis - Neuroscientist
Miguel Nicolelis explores the limits of the brain-machine interface.

Why you should listen

At the Nicolelis Laboratory at Duke University, Miguel Nicolelis is best known for pioneering studies in neuronal population coding, Brain Machine Interfaces (BMI) and neuroprosthetics in human patients and non-human primates.His lab's work was seen, famously though a bit too briefly, when a brain-controlled exoskeleton from his lab helped Juliano Pinto, a paraplegic man, kick the first ball at the 2014 World Cup.

But his lab is thinking even bigger. They've developed an integrative approach to studying neurological disorders, including Parkinsons disease and epilepsy. The approach, they hope, will allow the integration of molecular, cellular, systems and behavioral data in the same animal, producing a more complete understanding of the nature of the neurophysiological alterations associated with these disorders. He's the author of the books Beyond Boundaries and The Relativistic Brain.

Miguel was honored as one of Foreign Policy's 2015 Global Thinkers.

More profile about the speaker
Miguel Nicolelis | Speaker | TED.com
TEDMED 2012

Miguel Nicolelis: A monkey that controls a robot with its thoughts. No, really.

Miguel Nicolelis: 一只猴子用意念控制一个机器人,真的可以。

Filmed:
1,315,130 views

我们能否用我们的大脑直接控制机械,完全不需要身体作为中介?Miguel Nicolelis 讲述了一个惊人的实验,在这个实验中,一只身在美国的聪明猴子学习完全通过意识控制猴子“化身”,还能控制处在日本的机械肢体。这项研究将对瘫痪人群意义重大,可能也会改变每个人的日常生活。 (TEDMED 2012 年录制.)
- Neuroscientist
Miguel Nicolelis explores the limits of the brain-machine interface. Full bio

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

00:16
The kind of neuroscience神经科学 that I do and my colleagues同事 do
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我和我同事们所从事的神经科学研究
00:19
is almost几乎 like the weatherman天气预报.
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就像天气预报
00:21
We are always chasing storms风暴.
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我们总在追逐风暴
00:24
We want to see and measure测量 storms风暴 -- brainstorms奇思妙想, that is.
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我们想要观测的是头脑风暴
00:29
And we all talk about brainstorms奇思妙想 in our daily日常 lives生活,
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平日里我们总在谈论头脑风暴
00:32
but we rarely很少 see or listen to one.
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但我们很少真正看到,或听到它
00:35
So I always like to start开始 these talks会谈
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所以每当我谈到头脑风暴时
00:37
by actually其实 introducing引入 you to one of them.
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总希望能先让你们真实体验一下
00:40
Actually其实, the first time we recorded记录 more than one neuron神经元 --
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实际上,这是我们第一次记录到多个神经细胞:
00:43
a hundred brain cells细胞 simultaneously同时 --
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同时观测100个脑细胞时
00:46
we could measure测量 the electrical电动 sparks火花
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我们所测到的电火花
00:48
of a hundred cells细胞 in the same相同 animal动物,
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来自同一个动物的100个细胞
00:51
this is the first image图片 we got,
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我们第一次记录到的
00:53
the first 10 seconds of this recording记录.
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就是这段录音的前10秒
00:55
So we got a little snippet片段 of a thought,
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我们撷取到了思想的一个小片段
00:58
and we could see it in front面前 of us.
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它就这样呈现在我们面前。
01:01
I always tell the students学生们
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我总是告诉学生们
01:02
that we could also call neuroscientists神经学家 some sort分类 of astronomer天文学家,
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某种意义上讲,我们可以把神经学家叫做天文学家
01:06
because we are dealing交易 with a system系统
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因为我们所处理的这个系统
01:08
that is only comparable可比 in terms条款 of number of cells细胞
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包含数量巨大的细胞
01:11
to the number of galaxies星系 that we have in the universe宇宙.
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数量大到只有宇宙中的星系数量可以比拟
01:14
And here we are, out of billions数十亿 of neurons神经元,
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现在,在数十亿计的神经元中
01:17
just recording记录, 10 years年份 ago, a hundred.
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我们可以记录到的,已经从10 年前的100个
01:20
We are doing a thousand now.
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到了现在的1000个
01:21
And we hope希望 to understand理解 something fundamental基本的 about our human人的 nature性质.
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我们想理解人性的基础
01:27
Because, if you don't know yet然而,
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因为,你可能不知道
01:29
everything that we use to define确定 what human人的 nature性质 is comes from these storms风暴,
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我们用来确立人性的一切,都源于这些头脑风暴
01:34
comes from these storms风暴 that roll over the hills丘陵 and valleys山谷 of our brains大脑
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这些席卷我们大脑沟回的风暴
01:38
and define确定 our memories回忆, our beliefs信仰,
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它确立了我们的记忆,信仰
01:42
our feelings情怀, our plans计划 for the future未来.
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情感,以及我们的未来规划
01:45
Everything that we ever do,
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我们所做的一切
01:47
everything that every一切 human人的 has ever doneDONE, do or will do,
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每一个人曾经做,正在做和将要做的一切
01:52
requires要求 the toil辛劳 of populations人群 of neurons神经元 producing生产 these kinds of storms风暴.
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都基于大量的神经细胞工作所产生的这些风暴
01:58
And the sound声音 of a brainstorm头脑风暴, if you've never heard听说 one,
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而头脑风暴的声音,如果你们没听过的话,
02:00
is somewhat有些 like this.
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就是这个样子的。
02:04
You can put it louder if you can.
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需要的话,你们可以放大音量来听。
02:07
My son儿子 calls电话 this "making制造 popcorn爆米花 while listening to a badly-tuned严重调谐 A.M. station."
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我儿子说这就像"一边听着没调准的收音机,一边做爆米花"。
02:13
This is a brain.
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这就是大脑。
02:15
This is what happens发生 when you route路线 these electrical电动 storms风暴 to a loudspeaker喇叭
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这是这些电风暴在扬声器中播放的声音。
02:18
and you listen to a hundred brain cells细胞 firing射击,
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你可以听到一百个脑细胞同时开火的声音,
02:21
your brain will sound声音 like this -- my brain, any brain.
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你我的大脑听起来都像这样,任何大脑都如此。
02:26
And what we want to do as neuroscientists神经学家 in this time
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此时,作为神经学家,我们想做的
02:29
is to actually其实 listen to these symphonies交响乐, these brain symphonies交响乐,
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实际上就是欣赏这些交响乐,头脑的交响乐
02:35
and try to extract提取 from them the messages消息 they carry携带.
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试着获取这其中承载的信息。
02:38
In particular特定, about 12 years年份 ago
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需要特别提一句的是,大概12 年前
02:41
we created创建 a preparation制备 that we named命名 brain-machine脑机 interfaces接口.
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我们创建了一个模式,我们把它叫做 脑-机 介面。
02:44
And you have a scheme方案 here that describes介绍 how it works作品.
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我可以在这里介绍一下它的工作原理。
02:47
The idea理念 is, let's have some sensors传感器 that listen to these storms风暴, this electrical电动 firing射击,
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想法就是,使用某些传感器,去聆听这些风暴,电风暴,
02:52
and see if you can, in the same相同 time that it takes
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我们能否与此同时
02:55
for this storm风暴 to leave离开 the brain and reach达到 the legs or the arms武器 of an animal动物 --
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在这些风暴离开大脑达到动物四肢的
03:00
about half a second第二 --
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半秒左右的时间内
03:03
let's see if we can read these signals信号,
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我们能否读取这些信号
03:06
extract提取 the motor发动机 messages消息 that are embedded嵌入式 in it,
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将其中携带的运动信息提取出来
03:09
translate翻译 it into digital数字 commands命令
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转化成数字命令
03:11
and send发送 it to an artificial人造 device设备
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并发送到人工设备上
03:13
that will reproduce复制 the voluntary自主性 motor发动机 wheel of that brain in real真实 time.
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设备将同步做出大脑指令的动作
03:19
And see if we can measure测量 how well we can translate翻译 that message信息
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通过比较设备和动物身体所做的动作
03:23
when we compare比较 to the way the body身体 does that.
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我们可以衡量这种“信息翻译”的准确程度
03:26
And if we can actually其实 provide提供 feedback反馈,
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如果我们可以提供反馈
03:29
sensory感觉的 signals信号 that go back from this robotic机器人, mechanical机械, computational计算 actuator执行器
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把大脑控制下的
03:35
that is now under the control控制 of the brain,
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人工机械执行器发出的信号
03:37
back to the brain,
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再次传回大脑
03:39
how the brain deals交易 with that,
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大脑将如何处理
03:41
of receiving接收 messages消息 from an artificial人造 piece of machinery机械.
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这些从人工设备接收回的信息
03:46
And that's exactly究竟 what we did 10 years年份 ago.
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这就是我们 10 年前做的事情。
03:48
We started开始 with a superstar超级明星 monkey called Aurora极光
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我们在一只名叫Aurora的猴子身上开始试验
03:51
that became成为 one of the superstars超级巨星 of this field领域.
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它现在已经成了这个领域的一个超级巨星了。
03:53
And Aurora极光 liked喜欢 to play video视频 games游戏.
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Aurora喜欢玩电子游戏。
03:56
As you can see here,
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就像你们现在看到的,
03:57
she likes喜欢 to use a joystick操纵杆, like any one of us, any of our kids孩子, to play this game游戏.
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就像我们和我们的孩子一样,它喜欢用操纵杆玩这个游戏
04:02
And as a good primate灵长类动物, she even tries尝试 to cheat作弊 before she gets得到 the right answer回答.
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作为优秀的灵长类动物,找到正确答案前它甚至还会试着作弊
04:07
So even before a target目标 appears出现 that she's supposed应该 to cross交叉
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它需要用操纵杆控制光标穿过目标
04:11
with the cursor光标 that she's controlling控制 with this joystick操纵杆,
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但在目标出现之前
04:14
Aurora极光 is trying to find the target目标, no matter where it is.
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Aurora就已经开始到处寻找目标了
04:18
And if she's doing that,
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只要它这么做,
04:19
because every一切 time she crosses十字架 that target目标 with the little cursor光标,
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当它每次操作光标穿过目标,
04:23
she gets得到 a drop下降 of Brazilian巴西人 orange橙子 juice果汁.
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就可以得到一滴巴西橙汁。
04:25
And I can tell you, any monkey will do anything for you
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我可以跟你们说,只需一小滴巴西橙汁,
04:28
if you get a little drop下降 of Brazilian巴西人 orange橙子 juice果汁.
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任何猴子都肯为你赴汤蹈火。
04:32
Actually其实 any primate灵长类动物 will do that.
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这适用于任何灵长类动物。
04:34
Think about that.
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想想吧。
04:36
Well, while Aurora极光 was playing播放 this game游戏, as you saw,
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玩你们看到的这种游戏
04:39
and doing a thousand trials试验 a day
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每天进行一千次判断
04:41
and getting得到 97 percent百分 correct正确 and 350 milliliters毫升 of orange橙子 juice果汁,
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达到 97%的正确率, 获得350 毫升橙汁奖励。
04:45
we are recording记录 the brainstorms奇思妙想 that are produced生成 in her head
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我们记录它大脑中产生的头脑风暴
04:49
and sending发出 them to a robotic机器人 arm
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将它们发送到一个机器手臂
04:50
that was learning学习 to reproduce复制 the movements运动 that Aurora极光 was making制造.
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机械手臂学习如何重现Aurora正在进行的动作。
04:54
Because the idea理念 was to actually其实 turn on this brain-machine脑机 interface接口
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因为我们的想法是开启 脑-机 介面
04:58
and have Aurora极光 play the game游戏 just by thinking思维,
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让Aurora通过思考就可以玩游戏
05:03
without interference干扰 of her body身体.
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不需要肢体的加入
05:05
Her brainstorms奇思妙想 would control控制 an arm
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它的头脑风暴将控制机械臂
05:08
that would move移动 the cursor光标 and cross交叉 the target目标.
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机械臂移动光标穿过目标
05:11
And to our shock休克, that's exactly究竟 what Aurora极光 did.
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我们惊讶地发现,Aurora正是这么做的
05:14
She played发挥 the game游戏 without moving移动 her body身体.
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它玩游戏时,完全无需移动自己的身体
05:18
So every一切 trajectory弹道 that you see of the cursor光标 now,
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你们目前看到的每一条光标轨迹
05:21
this is the exact精确 first moment时刻 she got that.
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都是来自它第一次做到这点的时候
05:24
That's the exact精确 first moment时刻
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都来自那一刻
05:26
a brain intention意向 was liberated解放 from the physical物理 domains of a body身体 of a primate灵长类动物
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一个意识可以被灵长类动物从物理意义的身体中解放出来
05:32
and could act法案 outside, in that outside world世界,
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可以通过控制人工设备
05:36
just by controlling控制 an artificial人造 device设备.
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在外部世界进行动作
05:39
And Aurora极光 kept不停 playing播放 the game游戏, kept不停 finding发现 the little target目标
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Aurora一直玩游戏,不断寻找目标
05:44
and getting得到 the orange橙子 juice果汁 that she wanted to get, that she craved渴望 for.
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并得到它渴望的橙汁
05:48
Well, she did that because she, at that time, had acquired后天 a new arm.
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那个时候,它已经获得了“新”手臂
05:55
The robotic机器人 arm that you see moving移动 here 30 days later后来,
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你们在这里看到机械手臂的动作
05:58
after the first video视频 that I showed显示 to you,
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是在第一个视频的30天后录制的
06:00
is under the control控制 of Aurora's极光的 brain
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在Aurora的大脑的控制之下
06:03
and is moving移动 the cursor光标 to get to the target目标.
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它正将光标移到目标
06:06
And Aurora极光 now knows知道 that she can play the game游戏 with this robotic机器人 arm,
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Aurora现在知道,它可以用机械臂玩这个游戏,
06:10
but she has not lost丢失 the ability能力 to use her biological生物 arms武器 to do what she pleases.
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同时还可以随心所欲使用自己的生物手臂去干别的
06:16
She can scratch her back, she can scratch one of us, she can play another另一个 game游戏.
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用自己的手臂挠自己的背,可以挠我们,还可以玩另一个游戏
06:20
By all purposes目的 and means手段,
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总而言之
06:21
Aurora's极光的 brain has incorporated合并 that artificial人造 device设备
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Aurora的大脑已经整合了这个人工设备
06:25
as an extension延期 of her body身体.
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作为它身体的延伸
06:28
The model模型 of the self that Aurora极光 had in her mind心神
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Aurora意识里的自我已经扩展
06:32
has been expanded扩大 to get one more arm.
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多出了一只手臂
06:36
Well, we did that 10 years年份 ago.
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这就是我们 10 多年所做的事
06:38
Just fast快速 forward前锋 10 years年份.
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让我们快进随后的10 年
06:41
Just last year we realized实现 that you don't even need to have a robotic机器人 device设备.
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就在去年我们意识到,你甚至不需要有一个机械设备
06:46
You can just build建立 a computational计算 body身体, an avatar头像, a monkey avatar头像.
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你可以只生成一个计算意义的身体,一个化身,猴子化身
06:51
And you can actually其实 use it for our monkeys猴子 to either interact相互作用 with them,
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实际上,你就可以使用这个化身与猴子互动
06:56
or you can train培养 them to assume承担 in a virtual虚拟 world世界
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或者训练猴子,让它们学会在一个虚拟的世界中
07:00
the first-person第一个人 perspective透视 of that avatar头像
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以化身的角度
07:03
and use her brain activity活动 to control控制 the movements运动 of the avatar's角色的 arms武器 or legs.
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用大脑活动控制化身的肢体动作
07:09
And what we did basically基本上 was to train培养 the animals动物
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基本上,我们所做的就是训练动物
07:12
to learn学习 how to control控制 these avatars替身
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学习如何控制这些化身
07:15
and explore探索 objects对象 that appear出现 in the virtual虚拟 world世界.
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探索出现在虚拟世界中的对象
07:19
And these objects对象 are visually视觉 identical相同,
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这些对象看上去一样
07:21
but when the avatar头像 crosses十字架 the surface表面 of these objects对象,
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但当化身穿过对象表面
07:25
they send发送 an electrical电动 message信息 that is proportional成比例的 to the microtactilemicrotactile texture质地 of the object目的
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对象就会发出与自身表面微结构触感对应的电信息
07:31
that goes back directly to the monkey's猴子的 brain,
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这些电信息直接返回猴子的大脑
07:35
informing通知 the brain what it is the avatar头像 is touching接触.
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告诉大脑,化身触摸到了什么
07:40
And in just four weeks, the brain learns获悉 to process处理 this new sensation感觉
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短短四个星期内,大脑就学会处理这种新的感觉
07:45
and acquires获取 a new sensory感觉的 pathway -- like a new sense.
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并建立起了新的感官通路 — 就像一种新的感觉
07:51
And you truly liberate解放 the brain now
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现在你真正地解放了大脑
07:54
because you are allowing允许 the brain to send发送 motor发动机 commands命令 to move移动 this avatar头像.
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因为可以让大脑发送运动命令来移动化身
07:58
And the feedback反馈 that comes from the avatar头像 is being存在 processed处理 directly by the brain
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同时来自化身的反馈可以直接通过大脑处理
08:03
without the interference干扰 of the skin皮肤.
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无需皮肤的参与
08:06
So what you see here is this is the design设计 of the task任务.
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这里看到的是设计的任务
08:08
You're going to see an animal动物 basically基本上 touching接触 these three targets目标.
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你将看到实验动物触摸这三个目标
08:12
And he has to select选择 one because only one carries携带 the reward奖励,
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但它只能选择其中一个,因为只有正确选中携带奖励的目标
08:17
the orange橙子 juice果汁 that they want to get.
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才能获得它们想要的橙汁
08:19
And he has to select选择 it by touch触摸 using运用 a virtual虚拟 arm, an arm that doesn't exist存在.
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它必须使用并不实际存在的一只虚拟手臂触摸和选择
08:24
And that's exactly究竟 what they do.
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它们就是这么做的
08:26
This is a complete完成 liberation解放 of the brain
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这是对大脑的彻底解放
08:30
from the physical物理 constraints限制 of the body身体 and the motor发动机 in a perceptual知觉的 task任务.
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从实际身体的限制中获得解放,完成知觉任务
08:34
The animal动物 is controlling控制 the avatar头像 to touch触摸 the targets目标.
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这只实验动物正控制化身去触摸目标
08:38
And he's sensing传感 the texture质地 by receiving接收 an electrical电动 message信息 directly in the brain.
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它通过大脑直接接收电信息来感觉纹理
08:44
And the brain is deciding决定 what is the texture质地 associated相关 with the reward奖励.
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大脑判断哪种纹理会带来奖励
08:48
The legends传说 that you see in the movie电影 don't appear出现 for the monkey.
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猴子看不见这个视频上的标示
08:52
And by the way, they don't read English英语 anyway无论如何,
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顺便说一句,反正它们也不懂英语
08:54
so they are here just for you to know that the correct正确 target目标 is shifting position位置.
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这里的标示只是为了显示,正确的目标始终在变换位置
08:59
And yet然而, they can find them by tactile discrimination区别,
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然而,动物仍然可以通过触感的区别
09:03
and they can press it and select选择 it.
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找到并选择它
09:06
So when we look at the brains大脑 of these animals动物,
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所以,当我们看看这些动物的大脑
09:09
on the top最佳 panel面板 you see the alignment对准 of 125 cells细胞
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上方的图像中,你可以看到125个神经细胞的排列
09:13
showing展示 what happens发生 with the brain activity活动, the electrical电动 storms风暴,
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显示当动物使用操纵杆时
09:17
of this sample样品 of neurons神经元 in the brain
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大脑的活动
09:19
when the animal动物 is using运用 a joystick操纵杆.
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产生的电风暴的情况
09:21
And that's a picture图片 that every一切 neurophysiologist神经生理学家 knows知道.
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这是每个神经生物学家都熟知的图像
09:24
The basic基本 alignment对准 shows节目 that these cells细胞 are coding编码 for all possible可能 directions方向.
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神经元的排列方式显示这些细胞正在编码所有的可能方向
09:29
The bottom底部 picture图片 is what happens发生 when the body身体 stops停止 moving移动
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下面的图像是在身体停止移动
09:35
and the animal动物 starts启动 controlling控制 either a robotic机器人 device设备 or a computational计算 avatar头像.
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实验动物开始控制机械设备或者计算化身时的情况
09:41
As fast快速 as we can reset重启 our computers电脑,
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就像我们重置电脑一样快
09:44
the brain activity活动 shifts转变 to start开始 representing代表 this new tool工具,
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大脑的活动发生变化,开始表达这个新工具
09:50
as if this too was a part部分 of that primate's灵长类动物的 body身体.
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就像新工具本来就是这个灵长类动物身体的一部分一样
09:55
The brain is assimilating同化 that too, as fast快速 as we can measure测量.
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大脑以最快速度同化了它
10:00
So that suggests提示 to us that our sense of self
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这说明,我们的感觉本身
10:03
does not end结束 at the last layer of the epithelium上皮 of our bodies身体,
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并不会中止于身体的最外层皮肤
10:07
but it ends结束 at the last layer of electrons电子 of the tools工具 that we're commanding司令 with our brains大脑.
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而是中止于我们大脑控制的,最终端的设备工具
10:13
Our violins小提琴, our cars汽车, our bicycles自行车, our soccer足球 balls, our clothing服装 --
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我们的小提琴、汽车、自行车、足球、衣服等等
10:18
they all become成为 assimilated同化 by this voracious贪心, amazing惊人, dynamic动态 system系统 called the brain.
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它们都被这个称作大脑的,贪婪而令人惊叹的动态系统同化了
10:25
How far can we take it?
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我们还能走得更远么?
10:26
Well, in an experiment实验 that we ran a few少数 years年份 ago, we took this to the limit限制.
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在前几年的实验中,我们达到了新的高度
10:31
We had an animal动物 running赛跑 on a treadmill跑步机
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我们曾让一只实验动物
10:33
at Duke公爵 University大学 on the East Coast of the United联合的 States状态,
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在美国东海岸杜克大学的跑步机上运动
10:35
producing生产 the brainstorms奇思妙想 necessary必要 to move移动.
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产生运动所需要的头脑风暴
10:38
And we had a robotic机器人 device设备, a humanoid人形 robot机器人,
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同时,我们有了人形机器人设备
10:42
in Kyoto京都, Japan日本 at ATRATR Laboratories实验室
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放置在日本京都 ATR 实验室
10:44
that was dreaming做梦 its entire整个 life to be controlled受控 by a brain,
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机器人一生的梦想就是
10:51
a human人的 brain, or a primate灵长类动物 brain.
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获得一个人类或其它灵长类动物的大脑指令
10:54
What happens发生 here is that the brain activity活动 that generated产生 the movements运动 in the monkey
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猴子大脑的活动发出运动指令
10:58
was transmitted发送 to Japan日本 and made制作 this robot机器人 walk步行
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传到日本,并且控制这个机器人的行走
11:02
while footage镜头 of this walking步行 was sent发送 back to Duke公爵,
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行走的镜头被发送回杜克
11:06
so that the monkey could see the legs of this robot机器人 walking步行 in front面前 of her.
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所以,猴子能看到机器人的双腿就在眼前行走
11:11
So she could be rewarded奖励, not by what her body身体 was doing
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它因此获得奖励,但并不是因为它自己身体的动作
11:15
but for every一切 correct正确 step of the robot机器人 on the other side of the planet行星
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而是来源于地球另一端的机器人
11:20
controlled受控 by her brain activity活动.
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在它大脑活动控制下正确走的每一步
11:23
Funny滑稽 thing, that round回合 trip around the globe地球 took 20 milliseconds毫秒 less
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有趣的是,这个环绕地球的往返行程
11:30
than it takes for that brainstorm头脑风暴 to leave离开 its head, the head of the monkey,
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比猴子的头脑风暴离开大脑
11:34
and reach达到 its own拥有 muscle肌肉.
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达到其本身的肌肉所花的时间还要短20毫秒
11:38
The monkey was moving移动 a robot机器人 that was six times bigger, across横过 the planet行星.
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这只猴子正在移动地球另一端一个六倍于它身体的机器人
11:44
This is one of the experiments实验 in which哪一个 that robot机器人 was able能够 to walk步行 autonomously自主.
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这就是机器人自主行走的实验之一
11:50
This is CBCB1 fulfilling履行 its dream梦想 in Japan日本
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这是 CB1 正在在日本
11:56
under the control控制 of the brain activity活动 of a primate灵长类动物.
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在灵长类动物大脑活动的控制下,完成自己的梦想
11:59
So where are we taking服用 all this?
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我们所谈的所有这一切是为了什么?
12:01
What are we going to do with all this research研究,
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除了学习我们双耳间的这个动态宇宙,
12:04
besides除了 studying研究 the properties性能 of this dynamic动态 universe宇宙 that we have between之间 our ears耳朵?
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这项研究还可以用来做什么?
12:09
Well the idea理念 is to take all this knowledge知识 and technology技术
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我们的想法是,使用所有的这些知识和技术
12:14
and try to restore恢复 one of the most severe严重 neurological神经 problems问题 that we have in the world世界.
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尝试解决世界上最严重的神经问题。
12:20
Millions百万 of people have lost丢失 the ability能力 to translate翻译 these brainstorms奇思妙想
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数以百万计的人失去了将头脑风暴
12:24
into action行动, into movement运动.
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翻译成动作,翻译成运动的能力。
12:26
Although虽然 their brains大脑 continue继续 to produce生产 those storms风暴 and code for movements运动,
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虽然他们的大脑还在产生这些风暴,为运动编码,
12:32
they cannot不能 cross交叉 a barrier屏障 that was created创建 by a lesion病变 on the spinal cord.
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但他们无法跨越脊髓病变所制造的障碍。
12:37
So our idea理念 is to create创建 a bypass旁路,
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所以我们的理念是绕道而行,
12:39
is to use these brain-machine脑机 interfaces接口 to read these signals信号,
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用 脑-机 介面来读取这些信号,
12:43
larger-scale较大规模 brainstorms奇思妙想 that contain包含 the desire欲望 to move移动 again,
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放大这些携带重新运动愿望的头脑风暴,
12:47
bypass旁路 the lesion病变 using运用 computational计算 microengineering微型工程
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利用计算机微工程绕过病变
12:51
and send发送 it to a new body身体, a whole整个 body身体 called an exoskeleton外骨骼,
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将它发送到一个新身体,一个可以称为外骨骼的完整身体
12:58
a whole整个 robotic机器人 suit适合 that will become成为 the new body身体 of these patients耐心.
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这个完整的机器人设备,将成为这些患者的全新躯体。
13:04
And you can see an image图片 produced生成 by this consortium财团.
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你们眼前的这个图景
13:08
This is a nonprofit非营利性 consortium财团 called the Walk步行 Again Project项目
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由一个叫做“再次行走项目”的非营利组织制作
13:12
that is putting together一起 scientists科学家们 from Europe欧洲,
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这个组织聚集了来自欧洲,
13:15
from here in the United联合的 States状态, and in Brazil巴西
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美国和巴西的科学家,
13:17
together一起 to work to actually其实 get this new body身体 built内置 --
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为构建这个全新躯体而共同努力。
13:21
a body身体 that we believe, through通过 the same相同 plastic塑料 mechanisms机制
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我们相信,与Aurora和其它猴子在 脑-机 介面中
13:25
that allow允许 Aurora极光 and other monkeys猴子 to use these tools工具 through通过 a brain-machine脑机 interface接口
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所使用的相同的合成设备
13:30
and that allows允许 us to incorporate合并 the tools工具 that we produce生产 and use in our daily日常 life.
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我们可以把它们整合并应用于日常生活
13:36
This same相同 mechanism机制, we hope希望, will allow允许 these patients耐心,
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通过同样的合成设备,我们希望,能让这些病人
13:40
not only to imagine想像 again the movements运动 that they want to make
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不仅能够把他们想要做的动作
13:44
and translate翻译 them into movements运动 of this new body身体,
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翻译成新身体的动作
13:47
but for this body身体 to be assimilated同化 as the new body身体 that the brain controls控制.
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同时还可以与这个大脑控制的新身体完美融合
13:54
So I was told about 10 years年份 ago
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10 年前,别人告诉我
13:57
that this would never happen发生, that this was close to impossible不可能.
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这是痴人说梦,几乎是不可能的。
14:02
And I can only tell you that as a scientist科学家,
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作为一个科学家,我只能告诉你
14:05
I grew成长 up in southern南部的 Brazil巴西 in the mid-'中-'60s
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60年代中期,我在巴西南部长大
14:08
watching观看 a few少数 crazy guys telling告诉 [us] that they would go to the Moon月亮.
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看着几个疯狂的家伙告诉 [我们] 说他们会去月球。
14:13
And I was five years年份 old,
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那时我五岁
14:14
and I never understood了解 why NASANASA didn't hire聘请 Captain队长 Kirk柯克 and Spock斯波克 to do the job工作;
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我想不通美国国家航空航天局(NASA)为什么不雇柯克船长和斯波克(电影《星际迷航》中的两个著名角色)去登月。
14:19
after all, they were very proficient精通 --
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毕竟,这方面他们才是专家。
14:21
but just seeing眼看 that as a kid孩子
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但儿时所见的这一切
14:25
made制作 me believe, as my grandmother祖母 used to tell me,
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令我相信,我祖母曾经告诉过我的话
14:27
that "impossible不可能 is just the possible可能
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"所有不可能其实都是可能的,
14:29
that someone有人 has not put in enough足够 effort功夫 to make it come true真正."
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只是人们还没有付出足够的努力让它们成真。"
14:33
So they told me that it's impossible不可能 to make someone有人 walk步行.
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所以,当有人告诉我,让一个人恢复行走能力是不可能的时候。
14:37
I think I'm going to follow跟随 my grandmother's祖母 advice忠告.
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我觉得我还是会相信我祖母的建议。
14:40
Thank you.
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谢谢。
14:42
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by Shibin Li
Reviewed by Cho Lena

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Miguel Nicolelis - Neuroscientist
Miguel Nicolelis explores the limits of the brain-machine interface.

Why you should listen

At the Nicolelis Laboratory at Duke University, Miguel Nicolelis is best known for pioneering studies in neuronal population coding, Brain Machine Interfaces (BMI) and neuroprosthetics in human patients and non-human primates.His lab's work was seen, famously though a bit too briefly, when a brain-controlled exoskeleton from his lab helped Juliano Pinto, a paraplegic man, kick the first ball at the 2014 World Cup.

But his lab is thinking even bigger. They've developed an integrative approach to studying neurological disorders, including Parkinsons disease and epilepsy. The approach, they hope, will allow the integration of molecular, cellular, systems and behavioral data in the same animal, producing a more complete understanding of the nature of the neurophysiological alterations associated with these disorders. He's the author of the books Beyond Boundaries and The Relativistic Brain.

Miguel was honored as one of Foreign Policy's 2015 Global Thinkers.

More profile about the speaker
Miguel Nicolelis | Speaker | TED.com