ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Molly Crockett - Neuroscientist
Neuroscientist Molly Crockett studies altruism, morality and value-based decision-making in humans.

Why you should listen

Can what you eat influence your sense of justice? Will a simple drug make you more likely to help a stranger on the street? Neuroscientist Molly Crockett asks and answers these and many other fascinating questions about the influence of neurotransmitters, like dopamine and serotonin, on altruism and decision-making. Neuroscience may hold the answer, says Crockett, but there are still limits to our ability to draw conclusions from neural research. Crockett received her PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2011, and she is currently working with support from the four-year Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship studying human altruism in labratories worldwide.

More profile about the speaker
Molly Crockett | Speaker | TED.com
TEDSalon London Fall 2012

Molly Crockett: Beware neuro-bunk

Molly Crockett: Alerta coas neuroparvadas

Filmed:
1,295,218 views

O cerebro aparece na publicidade por todas partes. Os titulares proclaman que os bocadillos de queixo axudan a tomar decisións, hai unha "neurobebida" que afirma reducir o estrés. Só hai un problema, segundo a neurocientífica Molly Crocket: os beneficios destes "neuropotenciadores" non están cientificamente probados. No cerne da súa charla, Crockett explica os límites da interpretación dos datos científicos e por que debemos ser conscientes deles.
- Neuroscientist
Neuroscientist Molly Crockett studies altruism, morality and value-based decision-making in humans. Full bio

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

00:16
I'm a neuroscientist, and I study decision-making.
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Son unha neurocientífica,
e estudo a toma de decisións.
00:20
I do experiments to test how different chemicals
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Estudo como as substancias
químicas do cerebro
00:22
in the brain influence the choices we make.
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inflúen nas decisións que tomamos.
00:26
I'm here to tell you the secret to successful decision-making:
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E veño contarvos o segredo
dunha boa toma de decisións:
00:33
a cheese sandwich.
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un bocadillo de queixo.
00:35
That's right. According to scientists, a cheese sandwich
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Así é. Segundo os científicos,
un bocadillo de queixo
00:39
is the solution to all your tough decisions.
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é a solución para todas
as túas decisións complicadas.
00:42
How do I know? I'm the scientist who did the study.
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Que por que o sei?
Son a científica que fixo ese estudo.
00:47
A few years ago, my colleagues and I were interested
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Hai uns anos, os meus colegas
e mais eu estabamos interesados
00:50
in how a brain chemical called serotonin
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en como unha substancia química do cerebro
00:52
would influence people's decisions in social situations.
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chamada serotonina inflúe
na toma de decisións en contextos sociais.
00:55
Specifically, we wanted to know how serotonin would affect
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En concreto, queriamos saber como
afecta a serotonina
00:58
the way people react when they're treated unfairly.
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ao xeito en que reacciona a xente
cando recibe un trato inxusto.
01:02
So we did an experiment.
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Así que fixemos un experimento.
01:04
We manipulated people's serotonin levels by giving them
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Manipulamos os niveis de serotonina
dos participantes
dándolles a beber esta limoada
artificial de sabor noxento,
01:07
this really disgusting-tasting artificial lemon-flavored drink
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01:11
that works by taking away the raw ingredient for serotonin
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que extrae do cerebro o precursor
da serotonina,
01:15
in the brain.
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01:16
This is the amino acid tryptophan.
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un aminoácido chamado triptófano.
01:19
So what we found was, when tryptophan was low,
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E atopamos que, cando o nivel
de triptófano estaba baixo,
01:22
people were more likely to take revenge
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a xente tiña máis tendencia a desquitarse
01:24
when they're treated unfairly.
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cando era tratada inxustamente.
Este foi o estudo que fixemos,
01:28
That's the study we did, and here are some of the headlines
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e aquí tedes algúns titulares
01:31
that came out afterwards.
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que apareceron a continuación.
[Só precisas un bocadillo de queixo
para tomar decisións adecuadas]
01:34
("A cheese sandwich is all you need for strong decision-making")
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01:37
("What a friend we have in cheeses")
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["O queixo: o noso mellor amigo"]
01:39
("Eating Cheese and Meat May Boost Self-Control") At this point, you might be wondering, did I miss something?
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Agora estarédesvos preguntando
"que me perdín?"
01:42
("Official! Chocolate stops you being grumpy") Cheese? Chocolate? Where did that come from?
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[Oficial: o chocolate sácache o cabreo ]
Queixo? Chocolate?
De onde sae todo isto?
01:47
And I thought the same thing myself when these came out,
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Iso pensei eu cando apareceron,
01:49
because our study had nothing to do with cheese or chocolate.
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porque o noso estudo nada tiña que ver
co queixo nin co chocolate.
01:54
We gave people this horrible-tasting drink
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Dabámoslle á xente unha bebida noxenta
01:56
that affected their tryptophan levels.
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que afectaba os niveis de triptófano.
01:59
But it turns out that tryptophan also happens to be found
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Pero resulta que tamén hai triptófano
02:03
in cheese and chocolate.
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no queixo e no chocolate.
E, por suposto, se a ciencia di
que o queixo e o chocolate
02:06
And of course when science says cheese and chocolate
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02:08
help you make better decisions, well, that's sure to grab people's attention.
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axudan a tomar mellores decisións,
seguro que captamos a atención do público.
02:12
So there you have it:
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Así que aquí o tedes:
02:14
the evolution of a headline.
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A evolución dun titular.
02:18
When this happened, a part of me thought, well,
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Cando pasou isto, por un lado pensei,
02:20
what's the big deal?
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vaites, que máis ten?
02:22
So the media oversimplified a few things, but in the end,
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Os medios simplifican algo as cousas,
pero total,
02:26
it's just a news story.
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só e cousa das noticias.
02:28
And I think a lot of scientists have this attitude.
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E penso que así o ven moitos científicos.
02:31
But the problem is that this kind of thing happens all the time,
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Pero o problema é que este tipo de cousas
pasan continuamente,
02:35
and it affects not just the stories you read in the news
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e non só coas historias
que les nas noticias
02:38
but also the products you see on the shelves.
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tamén cos produtos que ves nos andeis.
02:41
When the headlines rolled, what happened was,
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Cando se espallaron estes titulares,
02:44
the marketers came calling.
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empezaron a chamar os publicistas.
02:47
Would I be willing to provide a scientific endorsement
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Estaría disposta a proporcionarlle
soporte científico
02:50
of a mood-boosting bottled water?
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a unha botella de auga
que levante o ánimo?
02:53
Or would I go on television to demonstrate,
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Podería ir a un programa de TV amosarlle
02:55
in front of a live audience,
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á audiencia, en directo,
02:56
that comfort foods really do make you feel better?
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que alimentos axudan a sentirse mellor?
03:00
I think these folks meant well, but had I taken them up on their offers,
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Creo que estes tipos entenderon ben;
pero se aceptase as súas propostas,
03:04
I would have been going beyond the science,
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estaría indo alén da ciencia,
03:06
and good scientists are careful not to do this.
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e os bos científicos
cóidanse de facer tal.
03:09
But nevertheless, neuroscience is turning up more and more in marketing.
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No entanto, a neurociencia está
cada vez máis presente nos mercados.
03:14
Here's one example: Neuro drinks,
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Aquí tedes un exemplo: as neurobebidas,
03:16
a line of products, including Nuero Bliss here,
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unha liña de produtos,
que inclúe este Neuro Bliss,
03:20
which according to its label helps reduce stress,
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que segundo a etiqueta reduce o estrés,
03:22
enhances mood, provides focused concentration,
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levanta o ánimo, axuda a concentrarse,
03:26
and promotes a positive outlook.
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e promove o optimismo.
03:29
I have to say, this sounds awesome. (Laughter)
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Teño que dicir que soa estupendo.
(Risas)
03:33
I could totally have used this 10 minutes ago.
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Puiden tomado hai 10 minutos.
03:37
So when this came up in my local shop, naturally I was
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Cando vin isto na tenda do meu barrio,
03:40
curious about some of the research backing these claims.
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pregunteime pola investigación
que sustentaba esas afirmacións.
03:44
So I went to the company's website looking to find
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Así que entrei na web
da empresa na procura
03:47
some controlled trials of their products.
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dalgún ensaio controlado
con estes produtos.
03:50
But I didn't find any.
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Pero non atopei nada.
03:52
Trial or no trial, these claims are front and center
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Con ou sen ensaios,
as afirmacións aparecían
03:56
on their label right next to a picture of a brain.
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no centro da etiqueta,
ao lado do debuxo dun cerebro.
04:00
And it turns out that pictures of brains have special properties.
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E resulta que as imaxes de cerebros teñen
propiedades especiais.
04:05
A couple of researchers asked a few hundred people
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Un par de investigadores pedíronlles
a uns centos de persoas
04:08
to read a scientific article.
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que lesen un artigo científico.
04:11
For half the people, the article included a brain image,
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Para a metade deles, o artigo incluía
unha imaxe cerebral,
04:14
and for the other half, it was the same article
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A outra metade leu o mesmo artigo
04:16
but it didn't have a brain image.
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pero sen imaxe do cerebro.
04:18
At the end — you see where this is going —
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Ao rematar, xa supoñedes por onde vou,
04:20
people were asked whether they agreed
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preguntábanlles se estaban de acordo
04:22
with the conclusions of the article.
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coas conclusións do artigo.
04:26
So this is how much people agree with the conclusions
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Este é o grao de acordo coas conclusións
04:28
with no image.
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sen imaxe.
04:30
And this is how much they agree with the same article
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E este o acordo co mesmo artigo
04:33
that did include a brain image.
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cando incluía unha imaxe cerebral.
04:36
So the take-home message here is,
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Así que a conclusión é
04:38
do you want to sell it? Put a brain on it.
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Queres vender algo? Ponlle un cerebro.
04:43
Now let me pause here and take a moment to say that
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Deixádeme agora parar un pouco,
para dicirvos
04:45
neuroscience has advanced a lot in the last few decades,
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que a neurociencia leva avanzado
moito nas últimas décadas,
04:49
and we're constantly discovering amazing things
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estamos constantemente
descubrindo cousas sorprendentes
04:51
about the brain.
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sobre o cerebro.
04:53
Like, just a couple of weeks ago, neuroscientists at MIT
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Por exemplo, hai un par de semanas,
uns neurocientíficos do MIT
04:56
figured out how to break habits in rats
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descubriron como eliminar
hábitos nas ratas
04:58
just by controlling neural activity in a specific part of their brain.
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controlando a actividade neural
nunha parte concreta do seu cerebro.
05:02
Really cool stuff.
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Realmente interesante!
05:04
But the promise of neuroscience has led to some really
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Pero a promesa da neurociencia
está a dar lugar
05:07
high expectations and some overblown, unproven claims.
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a expectativas algo infladas e
a afirmacións esaxeradas e sen contrastar.
05:13
So what I'm going to do is show you how to spot
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Así que vos vou amosar como identificar
05:16
a couple of classic moves, dead giveaways, really,
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un par de clásicos,
evidentes, en realidade,
05:19
for what's variously been called neuro-bunk,
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do que se vén chamando neuroparvadas,
05:22
neuro-bollocks, or, my personal favorite, neuro-flapdoodle.
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neurocaralladas ou, o meu favorito,
neurobabecadas.
05:28
So the first unproven claim is that you can use brain scans
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A primeira afirmación non probada é a que
di que se poden usar as imaxes cerebrais
05:32
to read people's thoughts and emotions.
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para ler os pensamentos e as emocións.
05:36
Here's a study published by a team of researchers
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Aquí tedes un estudo publicado por
un grupo de investigación
05:39
as an op-ed in The New York Times.
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na sección de opinión do New York Times.
05:42
The headline? "You Love Your iPhone. Literally."
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O titular?
"Amas ao teu iPhone. Literalmente".
05:46
It quickly became the most emailed article on the site.
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Converteuse decontado no artigo do xornal
máis difundido nas redes.
05:51
So how'd they figure this out?
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Como descubriron isto?
05:53
They put 16 people inside a brain scanner
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Pasaron a 16 persoas por un escáner
05:56
and showed them videos of ringing iPhones.
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e amosáronlles vídeos de iPhones soando.
05:59
The brain scans showed activation in a part of the brain
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O escáner amosou activación
nunha parte do cerebro
06:02
called the insula, a region they say
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chamada a ínsula, unha rexión que,
segundo explican,
06:05
is linked to feelings of love and compassion.
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está asociada cos sentimentos de
amor e compaixón.
06:09
So they concluded that because they saw activation in the insula,
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Así que concluíron que
a activación na ínsula
06:13
this meant the subjects loved their iPhones.
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implica que os participantes
amaban os seus iPhones.
06:17
Now there's just one problem with this line of reasoning,
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O caso é que este razoamento
ten un problema,
06:19
and that's that the insula does a lot.
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e vén sendo que a ínsula
fai moitas cousas.
06:22
Sure, it is involved in positive emotions
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Certo, está implicada nas
emocións positivas
06:25
like love and compassion,
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como o amor ou a compaixón,
06:27
but it's also involved in tons of other processes,
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pero tamén nunha chea doutros procesos.
06:30
like memory, language, attention,
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como a memoria, a linguaxe, a atención,
06:33
even anger, disgust and pain.
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mesmo a ira, o noxo ou a dor.
06:37
So based on the same logic, I could equally conclude
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Así que, coa mesma lóxica,
eu podería dicir
06:41
you hate your iPhone.
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que odias ao teu iPhone.
06:44
The point here is, when you see activation in the insula,
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O asunto nisto é que cando ves
activación na ínsula,
06:47
you can't just pick and choose your favorite explanation
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podes escoller a explicación
que prefiras desta lista.
06:50
from off this list, and it's a really long list.
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E é unha lista ben longa.
06:54
My colleagues Tal Yarkoni and Russ Poldrack
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Os meus colegas Tal Yarkoni
e Russ Poldrack
06:57
have shown that the insula pops up in almost a third
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amosaron que a ínsula se activa
en case un terzo
07:00
of all brain imaging studies that have ever been published.
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dos estudos con imaxes cerebrais
que hai publicados.
07:05
So chances are really, really good
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Así que hai moitas, moitas probabilidades
07:06
that your insula is going off right now,
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de que a vosa ínsula estea activa
neste momento,
07:09
but I won't kid myself
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pero non me vou enganar
07:11
to think this means you love me.
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pensando que é porque me amades.
07:15
So speaking of love and the brain,
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E falando de amor e cerebro,
07:17
there's a researcher, known to some as Dr. Love,
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hai un investigador,
coñecido como o Dr. Amor,
07:21
who claims that scientists have found the glue
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que afirma que os científicos
deron co pegamento
07:25
that holds society together,
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para manter a sociedade unida,
07:27
the source of love and prosperity.
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a fonte do amor e da prosperidade.
07:31
This time it's not a cheese sandwich.
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Desta volta non é un bocadillo de queixo.
07:33
No, it's a hormone called oxytocin.
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Non, é unha hormona chamada oxitocina.
07:37
You've probably heard of it.
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Seguro que xa oístes falar dela.
07:39
So, Dr. Love bases his argument on studies showing
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O Dr. Amor baséase en estudos que amosan
07:42
that when you boost people's oxytocin,
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que cando lle xutas oxitocina á xente,
07:45
this increases their trust, empathy and cooperation.
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aumentan a súa confianza,
empatía e cooperación.
07:49
So he's calling oxytocin "the moral molecule."
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Así que lle chama á oxitocina
"a molécula moral".
07:53
Now these studies are scientifically valid,
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Agora ben, estes estudos son
cientificamente válidos,
07:56
and they've been replicated, but they're not the whole story.
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e foron replicados,
pero non contan toda a historia.
08:00
Other studies have shown that boosting oxytocin
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Outros estudos amosan
que o xute de oxitocina
08:03
increases envy. It increases gloating.
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aumenta a envexa. Aumenta a vaidade.
08:08
Oxytocin can bias people to favor their own group
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A oxitocina pode nesgar á xente
en favor dos seus
08:11
at the expense of other groups.
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a expensas dos outros.
08:14
And in some cases, oxytocin can even decrease cooperation.
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E nalgúns casos, a oxitocina mesmo
diminúe a cooperación.
08:18
So based on these studies, I could say oxytocin
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Así que, de acordo con estes estudos,
eu podería afirmar que a oxitocina
08:22
is an immoral molecule, and call myself Dr. Strangelove.
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é unha molécula inmoral, e autoproclamarme
a Dra. Antiamor.
08:27
(Laughter)
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08:30
So we've seen neuro-flapdoodle all over the headlines.
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Así que vemos neurobabecadas
nos titulares,
08:34
We see it in supermarkets, on book covers.
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nos supermercados,
nas cubertas dos libros.
08:37
What about the clinic?
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E que pasa coa clínica?
08:40
SPECT imaging is a brain-scanning technology
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O SPECT é unha tecnoloxía
de imaxe cerebral
08:43
that uses a radioactive tracer
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que usa marcadores radioactivos
08:45
to track blood flow in the brain.
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para rastrexar o fluxo sanguíneo
no cerebro.
08:48
For the bargain price of a few thousand dollars,
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Por unha ganga
duns poucos miles de dólares
08:51
there are clinics in the U.S. that will give you
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hai clínicas nos EEUU
que che fan un SPECT
08:55
one of these SPECT scans and use the image
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e usan a imaxe para
diagnosticar os teus problemas.
08:59
to help diagnose your problems.
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09:02
These scans, the clinics say, can help
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Din que estas imaxes poden axudar
09:04
prevent Alzheimer's disease,
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a previr o alzhéimer,
09:07
solve weight and addiction issues,
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solucionar os problemas
de peso e de adiccións,
09:09
overcome marital conflicts,
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superar os conflitos de parella
09:12
and treat, of course, a variety of mental illnesses
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e, por suposto, tratar todo tipo
de trastornos mentais
09:15
ranging from depression to anxiety to ADHD.
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desde a depresión á ansiedade
ou a hiperactividade
09:19
This sounds great. A lot of people agree.
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Isto soa xenial. A moita xente llo parece.
09:21
Some of these clinics are pulling in tens of millions
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Algunhas clínicas destas
moven decenas de millóns
de dólares de negocio ao ano.
09:24
of dollars a year in business.
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09:27
There's just one problem.
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Só hai un problema.
09:29
The broad consensus in neuroscience
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Na neurociencia hai amplo consenso
09:32
is that we can't yet diagnose mental illness
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en que aínda non podemos diagnosticar
os trastornos mentais
09:35
from a single brain scan.
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cunha simple imaxe cerebral.
09:38
But these clinics have treated
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Pero estas clínicas teñen tratado
09:40
tens of thousands of patients to date,
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a decenas de miles de pacientes
09:42
many of them children,
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1762
moitos deles nenos,
09:44
and SPECT imaging involves a radioactive injection,
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3478
e a imaxe por SPECT require
inxeccións radioactivas
09:48
so exposing people to radiation, potentially harmful.
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por tanto, expoñer á xente a radiación,
potencialmente nociva.
09:54
I am more excited than most people, as a neuroscientist,
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Eu estou máis entusiamada cá maioría
da xente, como neurocientífica,
09:57
about the potential for neuroscience to treat mental illness
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co potencial da neurociencia para tratar
os trastornos mentais
10:01
and even maybe to make us better and smarter.
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e mesmo, tal vez, para facernos mellores
e máis intelixentes.
10:06
And if one day we can say that cheese and chocolate
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E se algún día podo dicir que o queixo
e o chocolate
10:08
help us make better decisions, count me in.
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4304
nos axudan a tomar decisións,
contade comigo.
10:13
But we're not there yet.
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Pero aínda non chegamos aí.
10:15
We haven't found a "buy" button inside the brain,
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Aínda non atopamos un botón de “comprar”
no cerebro,
10:19
we can't tell whether someone is lying or in love
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non podemos dicir se alguén está mentindo
ou está namorado
10:23
just by looking at their brain scans,
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3383
só mirando as súas imaxes cerebrais,
10:26
and we can't turn sinners into saints with hormones.
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e non podemos converter aos pecadentos
en santos dándolles hormonas
10:30
Maybe someday we will, but until then,
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Se cadra algún día poderemos,
pero até daquela,
10:33
we have to be careful that we don't let overblown claims
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temos que ter coidado
de non deixar que as esaxeracións
10:35
detract resources and attention away from the real science
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resten recursos e atención da ciencia real
10:39
that's playing a much longer game.
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que xoga un partido moito máis longo.
10:43
So here's where you come in.
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Así que aquí chegamos.
10:45
If someone tries to sell you something with a brain on it,
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Se alguén trata de vendervos algo
cun cerebro
10:48
don't just take them at their word.
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2879
non vos confiedes.
10:51
Ask the tough questions. Ask to see the evidence.
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Preguntádelle o que hai que preguntar.
Preguntádelle polas probas,
10:54
Ask for the part of the story that's not being told.
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preguntádelle pola parte da historia
que non vos está a contar.
10:58
The answers shouldn't be simple, because the brain isn't simple.
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As respostas non deberían ser simples,
porque o cerebro non é sinxelo.
11:03
But that's not stopping us from trying to figure it out anyway.
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Pero isto non nos frea para seguir
tratando de comprendelo.
11:08
Thank you. (Applause)
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Grazas.
Translated by Socorro Rodríguez
Reviewed by Servizo de Normalización Lingüística

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Molly Crockett - Neuroscientist
Neuroscientist Molly Crockett studies altruism, morality and value-based decision-making in humans.

Why you should listen

Can what you eat influence your sense of justice? Will a simple drug make you more likely to help a stranger on the street? Neuroscientist Molly Crockett asks and answers these and many other fascinating questions about the influence of neurotransmitters, like dopamine and serotonin, on altruism and decision-making. Neuroscience may hold the answer, says Crockett, but there are still limits to our ability to draw conclusions from neural research. Crockett received her PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2011, and she is currently working with support from the four-year Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship studying human altruism in labratories worldwide.

More profile about the speaker
Molly Crockett | Speaker | TED.com
THE ORIGINAL VIDEO ON TED.COM