ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sheila Nirenberg - Neuroscientist
Sheila Nirenberg studies how the brain encodes information -- possibly allowing us to decode it, and maybe develop prosthetic sensory devices.

Why you should listen

Sheila Nirenberg is a neuroscientist/professor at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, where she studies neural coding – that is, how the brain takes information from the outside world and encodes it in patterns of electrical activity. The idea is to be able to decode the activity, to look at a pattern of electrical pulses and know what an animal is seeing or thinking or feeling.  Recently, she’s been using this work to develop new kinds of prosthetic devices, particularly ones for treating blindness.


More profile about the speaker
Sheila Nirenberg | Speaker | TED.com
TEDMED 2011

Sheila Nirenberg: A prosthetic eye to treat blindness

希拉・尼伦伯格:用假体眼睛治疗失明

Filmed:
470,530 views

希拉・尼伦伯格在TEDMED年度大会上展示了一个全新大胆的想法来为有视觉障碍的人们带来影像。她的方法是把摄像头连接到视神经然后直接把信号送入大脑。
- Neuroscientist
Sheila Nirenberg studies how the brain encodes information -- possibly allowing us to decode it, and maybe develop prosthetic sensory devices. Full bio

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

00:15
I study研究 how the brain processes流程
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我研究的是大脑如何处理信息
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information信息. That is, how it takes
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也就是
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information信息 in from the outside world世界, and
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大脑如何接受外界信息
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converts转换 it into patterns模式 of electrical电动 activity活动,
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并把它转换成脑电活动模式
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and then how it uses使用 those patterns模式
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然后又如何利用那些模式
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to allow允许 you to do things --
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来控制行为-
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to see, hear, to reach达到 for an object目的.
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看,听,拿东西
00:29
So I'm really a basic基本 scientist科学家, not
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我是个理论基础科学家
00:31
a clinician临床医生, but in the last year and a half
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但在过去的一年半里
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I've started开始 to switch开关 over, to use what
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我开始转变方向
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we've我们已经 been learning学习 about these patterns模式
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利用对刚刚所说的模型的了解
00:37
of activity活动 to develop发展 prosthetic假肢 devices设备,
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来开发假体装置
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and what I wanted to do today今天 is show显示 you
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我今天想给各位展示
00:42
an example of this.
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其中一个例子
00:44
It's really our first foray突袭 into this.
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这是我们对此做的第一个尝试
00:46
It's the development发展 of a prosthetic假肢 device设备
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是一个用于治疗失明的
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for treating治疗 blindness失明.
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假体装置
00:50
So let me start开始 in on that problem问题.
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首先从失明这个问题谈起
00:52
There are 10 million百万 people in the U.S.
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由于视网膜病变
00:54
and many许多 more worldwide全世界 who are blind
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而全球失明的人数更多
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or are facing面对 blindness失明 due应有 to diseases疾病
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他们因为视网膜的疾病
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of the retina视网膜, diseases疾病 like
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或者黄斑部变性这样的问题失去视力
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macular黄斑 degeneration退化, and there's little
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然而,
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that can be doneDONE for them.
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人们对此却无能为力
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There are some drug药物 treatments治疗, but
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虽然有一些治疗性药物
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they're only effective有效 on a small fraction分数
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但它们只对很少一部分患者有效
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of the population人口. And so, for the vast广大
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而对于大部分病人来说
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majority多数 of patients耐心, their best最好 hope希望 for
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他们恢复视力的希望
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regaining恢复 sight视力 is through通过 prosthetic假肢 devices设备.
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就得寄托于假体设备
01:14
The problem问题 is that current当前 prosthetics假肢
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问题就是目前的假体效果并不好
01:16
don't work very well. They're still very
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这些假体仍然
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limited有限 in the vision视力 that they can provide提供.
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他们提供的视觉范围还是很有限
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And so, you know, for example, with these
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比如说
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devices设备, patients耐心 can see simple简单 things
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这些装置只能帮病人看到
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like bright lights灯火 and high contrast对比 edges边缘,
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亮光和高对比度的轮廓
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not very much more, so nothing close
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几乎没有其他影像
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to normal正常 vision视力 has been possible可能.
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所以它们没办法让病人看到正常视觉范围的影像
01:31
So what I'm going to tell you about today今天
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今天我想告诉诸位的是
01:33
is a device设备 that we've我们已经 been working加工 on
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我们正在研制的一个设备
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that I think has the potential潜在 to make
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将有可能改变这一切
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a difference区别, to be much more effective有效,
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这个设备将会更加有效
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and what I wanted to do is show显示 you
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我想在这里展示一下它的工作原理
01:41
how it works作品. Okay, so let me back up a
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首先我会讲一点背景知识
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little bit and show显示 you how a normal正常 retina视网膜
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让大家了解一下正常视网膜的工作原理
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works作品 first so you can see the problem问题
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这样你就可以明白
01:47
that we were trying to solve解决.
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我们要解决的问题是什么
01:49
Here you have a retina视网膜.
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这是一个视网膜
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So you have an image图片, a retina视网膜, and a brain.
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现在你可以看到一张图片,一个视网膜和大脑
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So when you look at something, like this image图片
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当你看着面前的事物
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of this baby's宝宝 face面对, it goes into your eye
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比如这张婴儿的脸的图片
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and it lands土地 on your retina视网膜, on the front-end前端
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图像进入你的眼睛并停留在你的视网膜上,
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cells细胞 here, the photoreceptors感光.
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它停留在视网膜的前端细胞上,也叫感光器
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Then what happens发生 is the retinal视网膜 circuitry电路,
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然后视网膜的中间部分,即它的电路系统
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the middle中间 part部分, goes to work on it,
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就开始处理这个图像
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and what it does is it performs施行 operations操作
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它开始对图像进行操作,
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on it, it extracts提取物 information信息 from it, and it
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从图像中提取信息
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converts转换 that information信息 into a code.
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然后把信息转换成代码
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And the code is in the form形成 of these patterns模式
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代码以电脉冲的形式
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of electrical电动 pulses脉冲 that get sent发送
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送入大脑
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up to the brain, and so the key thing is
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所以关键环节就是
02:17
that the image图片 ultimately最终 gets得到 converted转换
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把图像转换成代码
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into a code. And when I say code,
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我所说的代码
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I do literally按照字面 mean code.
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就是字面意思的代码
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Like this pattern模式 of pulses脉冲 here actually其实 means手段 "baby's宝宝 face面对,"
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就像这里的脉冲就是“婴儿脸”的意思
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and so when the brain gets得到 this pattern模式
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所以当大脑得到脉冲的模型
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of pulses脉冲, it knows知道 that what was out there
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就知道了
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was a baby's宝宝 face面对, and if it
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这是个婴儿的脸
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got a different不同 pattern模式 it would know
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如果是不同的模型
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that what was out there was, say, a dog,
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那它就知道是别的,比如一条狗
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or another另一个 pattern模式 would be a house.
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或者房子
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Anyway无论如何, you get the idea理念.
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总之 就是这个意思
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And, of course课程, in real真实 life, it's all dynamic动态,
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当然现实生活是动态的
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meaning含义 that it's changing改变 all the time,
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物体总是变化的
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so the patterns模式 of pulses脉冲 are changing改变
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所以脉冲模型也一直变化
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all the time because the world世界 you're
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因为你看到的世界
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looking at is changing改变 all the time too.
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是一直在变化的
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So, you know, it's sort分类 of a complicated复杂
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所以这就有点复杂了
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thing. You have these patterns模式 of pulses脉冲
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你的眼睛每一毫秒
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coming未来 out of your eye every一切 millisecond毫秒
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都会发送不同的脉冲模型
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telling告诉 your brain what it is that you're seeing眼看.
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告诉大脑你看到的事物
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So what happens发生 when a person
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如果一个人
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gets得到 a retinal视网膜 degenerative退行性 disease疾病 like
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的视网膜变性
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macular黄斑 degeneration退化? What happens发生 is
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比如患上黄斑部变性,情况会怎么样呢?
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is that, the front-end前端 cells细胞 die,
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这时前端细胞就会死亡
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the photoreceptors感光 die, and over time,
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感光器死亡
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all the cells细胞 and the circuits电路 that are
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接着所有的细胞和联结这些细胞的组织
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connected连接的 to them, they die too.
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都会死亡
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Until直到 the only things that you have left
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最后剩下的只有
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are these cells细胞 here, the output产量 cells细胞,
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那些输出细胞
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the ones那些 that send发送 the signals信号 to the brain,
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就是那些把信号送入大脑的细胞
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but because of all that degeneration退化
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但是因为这些变性
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they aren't sending发出 any signals信号 anymore.
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那些细胞就没有信号可输出了
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They aren't getting得到 any input输入, so
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没有信号输入它们
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the person's人的 brain no longer gets得到
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人的大脑就失去了
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any visual视觉 information信息 --
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视觉信息
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that is, he or she is blind.
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这样他就失明了
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So, a solution to the problem问题, then,
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一个解决方案就是
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would be to build建立 a device设备 that could mimic模仿者
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制造一个设备来模仿
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the actions行动 of that front-end前端 circuitry电路
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前端细胞电路系统的功能
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and send发送 signals信号 to the retina's视网膜的 output产量 cells细胞,
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把信号传给视网膜的输出细胞
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and they can go back to doing their
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这样它们就能重新开始正常工作,
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normal正常 job工作 of sending发出 signals信号 to the brain.
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把信号输入大脑
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So this is what we've我们已经 been working加工 on,
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这是我们的研究
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and this is what our prosthetic假肢 does.
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这就是我们制作的假体的功能
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So it consists of two parts部分, what we call
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它由两部分组成
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an encoder编码器 and a transducer传感器.
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我们称为编码器和传感器
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And so the encoder编码器 does just
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就像我之前提到的,编码器
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what I was saying: it mimics模仿 the actions行动
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模仿前段细胞的功能-
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of the front-end前端 circuitry电路 -- so it takes images图片
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接受图像,并把它转换成
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in and converts转换 them into the retina's视网膜的 code.
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视网膜能接受的编码
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And then the transducer传感器 then makes品牌 the
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然后传感器使
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output产量 cells细胞 send发送 the code on up
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输出细胞把编码
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to the brain, and the result结果 is
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送进大脑
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a retinal视网膜 prosthetic假肢 that can produce生产
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这样视网膜假体就能产生
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normal正常 retinal视网膜 output产量.
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正常的视网膜输出
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So a completely全然 blind retina视网膜,
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因此一个完全失明的视网膜
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even one with no front-end前端 circuitry电路 at all,
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即使前端细胞完全不能工作
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no photoreceptors感光,
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没有感光器
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can now send发送 out normal正常 signals信号,
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也能够输出正常信号
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signals信号 that the brain can understand理解.
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并且大脑能理解这些信号
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So no other device设备 has been able能够
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还没有其他的设备能
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to do this.
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做到这点
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Okay, so I just want to take
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下面
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a sentence句子 or two to say something about
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我简略说一下
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the encoder编码器 and what it's doing, because
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编码器的功能
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it's really the key part部分 and it's
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因为这真的是个关键部分
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sort分类 of interesting有趣 and kind of cool.
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很有意思也很酷
04:36
I'm not sure "cool" is really the right word, but
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我也不知道该不该用“酷”形容
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you know what I mean.
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不过就是那个意思
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So what it's doing is, it's replacing更换
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它的功能就是
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the retinal视网膜 circuitry电路, really the guts胆量 of
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用一套方程式来替代视网膜电路系统
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the retinal视网膜 circuitry电路, with a set of equations方程,
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而且是它最重要的部分
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a set of equations方程 that we can implement实行
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我们可以把这些方程式植入芯片中
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on a chip芯片. So it's just math数学.
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所以这其实就是数学
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In other words, we're not literally按照字面 replacing更换
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也就是说我们没有
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the components组件 of the retina视网膜.
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真的换掉视网膜的构成部分
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It's not like we're making制造 a little mini-device微型设备
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不是说我们做了个迷你设备
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for each of the different不同 cell细胞 types类型.
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来替代每一个不同的细胞
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We've我们已经 just abstracted抽象 what the
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我们只是用方程式
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retina's视网膜的 doing with a set of equations方程.
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来提取视网膜的工作原理
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And so, in a way, the equations方程 are serving服务
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这样,这些方程式的功能就
05:05
as sort分类 of a codebook码本. An image图片 comes in,
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类似于密码本
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goes through通过 the set of equations方程,
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一个图像穿过方程式
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and out comes streams of electrical电动 pulses脉冲,
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变成一串电脉冲
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just like a normal正常 retina视网膜 would produce生产.
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就像正常视网膜所产生的效果一样
05:16
Now let me put my money
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下面我就来用
05:18
where my mouth is and show显示 you that
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实际行动展示一下
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we can actually其实 produce生产 normal正常 output产量,
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证明我们确实能够产生输出信号
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and what the implications启示 of this are.
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以及这么做的意义
05:24
Here are three sets of
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这是三个放电模型
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firing射击 patterns模式. The top最佳 one is from
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最上面的来自
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a normal正常 animal动物, the middle中间 one is from
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一个正常动物
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a blind animal动物 that's been treated治疗 with
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中间的来自一支使用编码传感设备的
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this encoder-transducer编码器,传感器 device设备, and the
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失明的动物
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bottom底部 one is from a blind animal动物 treated治疗
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最下面的来自一个使用标准假体的
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with a standard标准 prosthetic假肢.
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失明动物
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So the bottom底部 one is the state-of-the-art最先进的
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最下面是目前能找到的
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device设备 that's out there right now, which哪一个 is
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最尖端的科技设备
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basically基本上 made制作 up of light detectors探测器,
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主要就是由光探测器组成的
05:44
but no encoder编码器. So what we did was we
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但是没有编码器
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presented呈现 movies电影 of everyday每天 things --
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我们做的就是把日常事物-
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people, babies婴儿, park公园 benches长椅,
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人,婴儿,公园座椅等
05:50
you know, regular定期 things happening事件 -- and
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这些日常生活中的东西给它们看
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we recorded记录 the responses回复 from the retinas视网膜
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然后记录下三组动物视网膜
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of these three groups of animals动物.
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的不同反应
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Now just to orient东方 you, each box is showing展示
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首先要说明的是,每个长方形都表示
05:58
the firing射击 patterns模式 of several一些 cells细胞,
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几个细胞的放电模型
06:00
and just as in the previous以前 slides幻灯片,
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和前几张幻灯片中一样
06:02
each row is a different不同 cell细胞,
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每一行是一个不同的细胞
06:04
and I just made制作 the pulses脉冲 a little bit smaller
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我把脉冲做得更小更细
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and thinner更薄 so I could show显示 you
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这样你可以看到
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a long stretch伸展 of data数据.
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更详细的数据
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So as you can see, the firing射击 patterns模式
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如图所示
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from the blind animal动物 treated治疗 with
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使用编码传感器设备的
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the encoder-transducer编码器,传感器 really do very
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失明动物的模型能够
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closely密切 match比赛 the normal正常 firing射击 patterns模式 --
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很好地与正常模型吻合-
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and it's not perfect完善, but it's pretty漂亮 good --
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虽不完美但已经很好了-
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and the blind animal动物 treated治疗 with
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而使用普通假体的
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the standard标准 prosthetic假肢,
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失明动物的模型
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the responses回复 really don't.
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效果就不行
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And so with the standard标准 method方法,
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用普通假体的时候
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the cells细胞 do fire, they just don't fire
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细胞的确可以放电
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in the normal正常 firing射击 patterns模式 because
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但是并不是以正常的放电方式进行
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they don't have the right code.
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因为它们没有正确的编码
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How important重要 is this?
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编码有多重要呢?
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What's the potential潜在 impact碰撞
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它对病人的视力
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on a patient's耐心 ability能力 to see?
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有多大潜在影响?
06:43
So I'm just going to show显示 you one
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我会向各位展示一个
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bottom-line底线 experiment实验 that answers答案 this,
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基础实验来回来这个问题
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and of course课程 I've got a lot of other data数据,
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当然我还有别的数据
06:49
so if you're interested有兴趣 I'm happy快乐
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如果你有兴趣
06:51
to show显示 more. So the experiment实验
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我可以展示更多
06:53
is called a reconstruction重建 experiment实验.
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这实验被称作重建实验
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So what we did is we took a moment时刻
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我们从记录里
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in time from these recordings录音 and asked,
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截取某一刻
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what was the retina视网膜 seeing眼看 at that moment时刻?
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看看那一刻视网膜都看到了什么?
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Can we reconstruct重建 what the retina视网膜
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我们能不能重建
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was seeing眼看 from the responses回复
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视网膜从那三种放电模型中
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from the firing射击 patterns模式?
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看到的东西?
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So, when we did this for responses回复
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我们对普通假体
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from the standard标准 method方法 and from
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和编码传感器的反应
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our encoder编码器 and transducer传感器.
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各做了实验
07:16
So let me show显示 you, and I'm going to
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首先我来说明
07:18
start开始 with the standard标准 method方法 first.
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普通假体的实验结果
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So you can see that it's pretty漂亮 limited有限,
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可以看出效果很有限
07:22
and because the firing射击 patterns模式 aren't
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因为放电模型没有正确编码
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in the right code, they're very limited有限 in
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所以它很难看出来
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what they can tell you about
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究竟是什么图像
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what's out there. So you can see that
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你可以看到
07:30
there's something there, but it's not so clear明确
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那里是有些什么东西,但是不清楚到底是什么
07:32
what that something is, and this just sort分类 of
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这又回到了
07:34
circles back to what I was saying in the
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我在开头的时候说的
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beginning开始, that with the standard标准 method方法,
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关于普通假体的问题
07:38
patients耐心 can see high-contrast高对比度 edges边缘, they
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安装普通假体的病人可以看到高对比度的轮廓
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can see light, but it doesn't easily容易 go
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他们能看见亮光
07:42
further进一步 than that. So what was
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但是仅此而已
07:44
the image图片? It was a baby's宝宝 face面对.
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到底是什么图像?是婴儿的脸
07:47
So what about with our approach途径,
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我们加入了编码后的方法
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adding加入 the code? And you can see
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是什么效果呢?
07:51
that it's much better. Not only can you
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你可以看出来,效果好多了
07:53
tell that it's a baby's宝宝 face面对, but you can
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你不仅能看出是婴儿的脸
07:55
tell that it's this baby's宝宝 face面对, which哪一个 is a
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而且还能看清是这样一个孩子的脸
07:57
really challenging具有挑战性的 task任务.
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这真是个很具挑战性的任务
07:59
So on the left is the encoder编码器
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左边是单用编码器的结果
08:01
alone单独, and on the right is from an actual实际
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右边是一个实际的失明视网膜
08:03
blind retina视网膜, so the encoder编码器 and the transducer传感器.
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和编码传感器™
08:05
But the key one really is the encoder编码器 alone单独,
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但是最关键的就是编码器
08:07
because we can team球队 up the encoder编码器 with
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因为我们可以把不同的传感器和
08:09
the different不同 transducer传感器.
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编码器结合起来
08:11
This is just actually其实 the first one that we tried试着.
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这是仅仅是我们尝试的头一个
08:13
I just wanted to say something about the standard标准 method方法.
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我想说一些关于普通假体的问题
08:15
When this first came来了 out, it was just a really
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它刚刚面世的时候
08:17
exciting扣人心弦 thing, the idea理念 that you
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确实令人振奋
08:19
even make a blind retina视网膜 respond响应 at all.
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因为这能让一个失明的视网膜有反应
08:22
But there was this limiting限制 factor因子,
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但是缺陷就
08:25
the issue问题 of the code, and how to make
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在于编码
08:27
the cells细胞 respond响应 better,
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怎样才能让细胞更好地反应
08:29
produce生产 normal正常 responses回复,
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产生正常的反应
08:31
and so this was our contribution贡献.
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这就是我们作出的贡献
08:33
Now I just want to wrap up,
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现在我总结一下
08:35
and as I was mentioning earlier
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就像我之前说的那样
08:37
of course课程 I have a lot of other data数据
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如果你感兴趣的话
08:39
if you're interested有兴趣, but I just wanted to give
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我还有很多其他数据
08:41
this sort分类 of basic基本 idea理念
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这里我只简单地说一下
08:43
of being存在 able能够 to communicate通信
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这种可以用自己的语言
08:46
with the brain in its language语言, and
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和大脑交流的方法
08:48
the potential潜在 power功率 of being存在 able能够 to do that.
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以及这个方法的潜在力量
08:51
So it's different不同 from the motor发动机 prosthetics假肢
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这跟运动修复术不同
08:53
where you're communicating通信 from the brain
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运动修复术是把大脑的指令
08:55
to a device设备. Here we have to communicate通信
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传递给一个设备
08:57
from the outside world世界
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而我们是要把外界信息
08:59
into the brain and be understood了解,
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输入大脑
09:01
and be understood了解 by the brain.
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并且要使其被大脑理解
09:03
And then the last thing I wanted
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最后我想
09:05
to say, really, is to emphasize注重
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强调一下的
09:07
that the idea理念 generalizes推广.
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是这个方法是广泛适用的
09:09
So the same相同 strategy战略 that we used
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我们用来研究视网膜编码的技术
09:11
to find the code for the retina视网膜 we can also
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同样也可以
09:13
use to find the code for other areas,
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用于研究其他领域
09:15
for example, the auditory听觉 system系统 and
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比如听觉系统
09:17
the motor发动机 system系统, so for treating治疗 deafness
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和运动系统,已解决听力障碍
09:19
and for motor发动机 disorders障碍.
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和四肢运动障碍
09:21
So just the same相同 way that we were able能够 to
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其原理跟我们
09:23
jump over the damaged破损
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绕过受损的视网膜电路系统
09:25
circuitry电路 in the retina视网膜 to get to the retina's视网膜的
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直接进入视网膜输出细胞一样
09:27
output产量 cells细胞, we can jump over the
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我们也可以绕过
09:29
damaged破损 circuitry电路 in the cochlea耳蜗
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损坏的耳蜗电路系统
09:31
to get the auditory听觉 nerve神经,
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直达听神经
09:33
or jump over damaged破损 areas in the cortex皮质,
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或者绕开运动皮质里坏死的区域
09:35
in the motor发动机 cortex皮质, to bridge the gap间隙
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来消除中风带来的
09:38
produced生成 by a stroke行程.
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损害
09:40
I just want to end结束 with a simple简单
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最后
09:42
message信息 that understanding理解 the code
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我想说掌握代码
09:44
is really, really important重要, and if we
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非常非常重要
09:46
can understand理解 the code,
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如果我们能掌握代码
09:48
the language语言 of the brain, things become成为
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也就是大脑的语言
09:50
possible可能 that didn't seem似乎 obviously明显
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一切都豁然开朗
09:52
possible可能 before. Thank you.
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谢谢
09:54
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by Chunxiang Qian
Reviewed by Ting Huang

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sheila Nirenberg - Neuroscientist
Sheila Nirenberg studies how the brain encodes information -- possibly allowing us to decode it, and maybe develop prosthetic sensory devices.

Why you should listen

Sheila Nirenberg is a neuroscientist/professor at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, where she studies neural coding – that is, how the brain takes information from the outside world and encodes it in patterns of electrical activity. The idea is to be able to decode the activity, to look at a pattern of electrical pulses and know what an animal is seeing or thinking or feeling.  Recently, she’s been using this work to develop new kinds of prosthetic devices, particularly ones for treating blindness.


More profile about the speaker
Sheila Nirenberg | Speaker | TED.com