I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine.

我是安德魯-休伯曼，斯坦福大學醫學院神經生物學和眼科學教授。

For today's podcast, we're going to talk about the parts list of the nervous system.

在今天的播客中，我們將討論神經系統的部件列表。

Now that might sound boring, but these are the bits and pieces that together make up everything about your experience of life, from what you think about to what you feel, what you imagine, and what you accomplish from the day you're born until the day you die.

現在聽起來可能很無聊，但這些點點滴滴共同構成了你生命體驗的一切，從你的所思所想到你的感受、你的想象，以及你從出生那天到死亡那天所完成的一切。

By the end of this podcast, I promise you're going to understand a lot more about how you work and how to apply that knowledge.

播客結束後，我保證你會更加了解自己是如何工作的，以及如何運用這些知識。

So let's talk about the nervous system.

下面我們來談談神經系統。

The reason I say your nervous system and not your brain is because your brain is actually just one piece of this larger, more important thing, frankly, that we call the nervous system.

我之所以說你的神經系統而不是你的大腦，是因為你的大腦實際上只是這個更大、更重要的東西的一部分，坦率地說，我們稱之為神經系統。

The nervous system includes your brain and your spinal cord, but also all the connections between your brain and your spinal cord and the organs of your body.

神經系統包括大腦和脊髓，以及大腦和脊髓與身體器官之間的所有連接。

It also includes, very importantly, all the connections between your organs back to your spinal cord and brain.

非常重要的是，它還包括你的器官與脊髓和大腦之間的所有連接。

So the way to think about how you function at every level from the moment you're born until the day you die, everything you think and remember and feel and imagine is that your nervous system is this continuous loop of communication between the brain, spinal cord, and body, and body, spinal cord, and brain.

是以，從你出生到死亡的每一個階段，從你思考、記憶、感覺到想象的每一件事，你的神經系統都是大腦、脊髓和身體，以及身體、脊髓和大腦之間溝通的連續迴路。

In fact, we really can't even separate them.

事實上，我們甚至無法將它們分開。

It's one continuous loop.

這是一個連續的循環。

The way to think about how the nervous system works is that our experiences, our memories, everything is sort of like the keys on a piano being played in a particular order, right?

思考神經系統工作原理的方法是，我們的經歷、記憶、一切就像鋼琴上的琴鍵，按照特定的順序彈奏，對嗎？

If I play the keys on a piano in a particular order and with a particular intensity, that's a given song.

如果我在鋼琴上以特定的順序和力度彈奏琴鍵，那就是一首既定的歌曲。

We can make that analogous to a given experience.

我們可以將其與特定的經驗進行類比。

Our brain is really a map of our experience.

我們的大腦其實就是我們的經驗地圖。

We come into the world and our brain has a kind of bias towards learning particular kinds of things.

我們來到這個世界，我們的大腦會偏向於學習特定種類的東西。

It's ready to receive information and learn that information, but the brain is really a map of experience.

它隨時準備接收資訊並學習這些資訊，但大腦實際上是一張經驗地圖。

So let's talk about what experience really is.

讓我們來談談什麼是真正的經驗。

What does it mean for your brain to work?

大腦工作意味著什麼？

Well, I think it's fair to say that the nervous system really does five things, maybe six.

好吧，我認為可以公平地說，神經系統確實能做五件事，也許是六件。

The first one is sensation.

第一個是感覺。

Sensation is a non-negotiable element of your nervous system.

感覺是神經系統不可或缺的元素。

You have neurons in your eye that perceive certain colors of light and certain directions of movement.

你眼睛裡的神經元能感知特定顏色的光線和特定的運動方向。

You have neurons in your skin that perceive particular kinds of touch, like light touch or firm touch or painful touch.

你皮膚上的神經元能感知特定類型的觸摸，如輕柔的觸摸、堅硬的觸摸或疼痛的觸摸。

You have neurons in your ears that perceive certain sounds.

你耳朵裡的神經元能感知特定的聲音。

Your entire experience of life is sort of filtered by these, what we call sensory receptors, if you want to know what the name is.

你對生活的全部體驗都被這些我們稱之為感覺受體的東西所過濾，如果你想知道這個名字的話。

Perception is our ability to take what we're sensing and focus on it and make sense of it, to explore it, to remember it.

感知是我們的一種能力，它能將我們感知到的東西集中在一起，並使其有意義，探索它，記住它。

So really perceptions are just whichever sensations we happen to be paying attention to at any moment.

是以，真正的感知只是我們在任何時刻碰巧注意到的感覺。

Perception is under the control of your attention.

感知受注意力控制。

And the way to think about attention is it's like a spotlight, except it's not one spotlight.

關於注意力，可以這樣理解，它就像聚光燈，只不過它不是一個聚光燈。

You actually have two attentional spotlights.

實際上，你有兩個注意力焦點。

Anyone that tells you you can't multitask, tell them they're wrong.

如果有人告訴你不能同時處理多項任務，請告訴他們他們錯了。

And if they disagree with you, tell them to contact me.

如果他們不同意你的觀點，請讓他們聯繫我。

Because in old world primates, of which humans are, we are able to do what's called covert attention.

因為在舊世界的靈長類動物中，人類能夠做到所謂的隱蔽關注。

We can place a spotlight of attention on something, for instance, something we're reading or looking at or someone that we're listening to.

我們可以把注意力集中在某件事情上，比如，我們正在閱讀或觀看的東西，或者我們正在聆聽的某個人的聲音。

And we can place a second spotlight of attention on something we're eating and how it tastes or our child running around in the room or my dog.

我們可以把注意力的第二焦點放在我們正在吃的東西和它的味道上，或者我們的孩子在房間裡跑來跑去，或者我的狗。

You can split your attention into two locations, but of course you can also bring your attention, that is your perception, to one particular location.

你可以把注意力分散到兩個地方，當然，你也可以把注意力，也就是你的感知，帶到一個特定的地方。

You can dilate your attention, kind of like making a spotlight more diffuse, or you can make it more concentrated.

你可以分散注意力，就像讓聚光燈更分散，也可以讓注意力更集中。

This is very important to understand if you're going to think about tools to improve your nervous system.

如果你要考慮改善神經系統的工具，瞭解這一點非常重要。

Attention is something that is absolutely under your control.

注意力是絕對受你控制的東西。

The nervous system can be reflexive in its action or it can be deliberate.

神經系統的行動可以是反射性的，也可以是蓄意的。

Deliberate thoughts are top down.

深思熟慮是自上而下的。

They require some effort and some focus, but that's the point.

它們需要一些努力和專注，但這就是重點。

You can decide to focus your behavior in any way you want, but it will always feel like it requires some effort and some strain.

你可以決定以任何方式集中自己的行為，但總感覺需要付出一些努力，承受一些壓力。

Whereas when you're in reflexive mode, just walking and talking and eating and doing your thing, it's going to feel very easy.

而當你處於條件反射模式，只是走路、說話、吃飯、做自己的事情時，你會感覺非常輕鬆。

And that's because your nervous system basically wired up to be able to do most things easily without much metabolic demand, without consuming much energy.

這是因為你的神經系統的基本構造使其能夠在不需要太多新陳代謝、不消耗太多能量的情況下輕鬆完成大多數事情。

But the moment you try and do something very specific, you're going to feel a sort of mental friction.

但當你嘗試做一些非常具體的事情時，你就會感到一種心理摩擦。

It's going to be challenging.

這將是一個挑戰。

So we've got sensations, perceptions, and then we've got things that we call feelings slash emotions.

是以，我們有感覺、知覺，還有我們稱之為情感的東西。

And these get a little complicated because almost all of us, I would hope all of us, are familiar with things like happiness and sadness, or boredom or frustration.

這就有點複雜了，因為幾乎我們所有人，我希望我們所有人，都熟悉快樂和悲傷、無聊或沮喪等事情。

Certainly emotions and feelings are the product of the nervous system.

當然，情緒和情感是神經系統的產物。

They involve the activity of neurons.

它們涉及神經元的活動。

But as I mentioned earlier, neurons are electrically active, but they also release chemicals.

但是，正如我之前提到的，神經元在通電的同時也會釋放化學物質。

And there's a certain category of chemicals that has a very profound influence on our emotional states.

有一類化學物質會對我們的情緒狀態產生深遠的影響。

They're called neuromodulators.

它們被稱為神經調節劑。

And those neuromodulators have names that probably you've heard of before, things like dopamine and serotonin and acetylcholine, epinephrine.

這些神經調節劑的名字你可能聽說過，比如多巴胺、血清素、乙酰膽鹼、腎上腺素。

Neuromodulators are really interesting because they bias which neurons are likely to be active and which ones are likely to be inactive.

神經調節劑非常有趣，因為它們會影響哪些神經元可能活躍，哪些神經元可能不活躍。

A simple way to think about neuromodulators is they are sort of like playlists that you would have on any kind of device where you're going to play particular categories of music.

關於神經調節器，一個簡單的思路是，它們有點像播放列表，你可以在任何一種設備上播放特定類別的音樂。

So for instance, dopamine, which is often discussed as the molecule of reward or joy, is involved in reward.

舉例來說，多巴胺經常被討論為獎勵或快樂的分子，它與獎勵有關。

And it does tend to create a sort of a upbeat mood when released in appropriate amounts in the brain.

當它在大腦中適量釋放時，確實會讓人產生一種歡快的情緒。

But the reason it does that is because it makes certain neurons and neural circuits, as we call them, more active and others less active, okay?

但它之所以能做到這一點，是因為它能讓我們所說的某些神經元和神經迴路變得更加活躍，而讓其他神經元和神經迴路變得不那麼活躍，明白嗎？

So serotonin, for instance, is a molecule that when released tends to make us feel really good with what we have, our sort of internal landscape and the resources that we have.

例如，血清素是一種分子，當它被釋放出來時，往往會讓我們對自己所擁有的一切、我們的內部環境和資源感到非常滿意。

Whereas dopamine, more than being a molecule of reward, is really more a molecule of motivation toward things that are outside us and that we want to pursue.

而多巴胺不僅是一種獎賞分子，實際上更是一種對我們想要追求的外界事物的動力分子。

And we can look at healthy conditions or situations like being in pursuit of a goal where every time we accomplish something in route to that goal, a little bit of dopamine is released and we feel more motivation, that happens.

我們可以看看健康的條件或情況，比如在追求目標的過程中，每當我們在實現目標的過程中完成了一些事情，就會釋放出一點多巴胺，我們就會感到更有動力，這種情況就會發生。

We can also look at the extreme example of something like mania, where somebody is so relentlessly in pursuit of external things like money and relationships that they're sort of in this delusional state of thinking that they have the resources that they need in order to pursue all these things when in fact they don't.

我們還可以看看躁狂症這種極端的例子，在這種情況下，某人對金錢和人際關係等外在事物窮追不捨，以至於陷入一種妄想狀態，以為自己擁有追求這些事物所需的資源，但事實上他們並不擁有。

I want to emphasize also that emotions are something that we generally feel are not under our control.

我還想強調的是，情緒是我們通常感覺無法控制的東西。

We feel like they kind of geyser up within us and they just kind of happen to us.

我們覺得它們就像在我們體內噴湧而出，就像發生在我們身上一樣。

And that's because they are somewhat reflexive.

這是因為它們具有一定的反射性。

We don't really set out with a deliberate thought to be happy or deliberate thought to be sad.

我們並沒有刻意去想快樂，也沒有刻意去想悲傷。

We tend to experience them in kind of a passive reflexive way.

我們往往以一種被動的反射方式來體驗它們。

And that brings us to the next thing, which are thoughts.

這就引出了下一件事，那就是思想。

Thoughts are really interesting because in many ways they're like perceptions, except that they draw on not just what's happening in the present, but also things we remember from the past and things that we anticipate about the future.

思維非常有趣，因為在很多方面，它們就像感知，只不過它們不僅借鏡了當前發生的事情，還借鏡了我們對過去的記憶和對未來的預期。

The other thing about thoughts that's really interesting is that thoughts can be both reflexive, they can just be occurring all the time, sort of like pop-up windows on a poorly filtered web browser, or they can be deliberate.

關於思想的另一個非常有趣的現象是，思想既可以是反射性的，可以是無時無刻不在發生的，有點像過濾不好的網絡瀏覽器上的彈出窗口，也可以是刻意為之的。

We can decide to have a thought.

我們可以決定進行思考。

And a lot of people don't understand or at least appreciate that the thought patterns and the neural circuits that underlie thoughts can actually be controlled in this deliberate way.

很多人都不明白，或者至少不了解，思維模式和作為思維基礎的神經迴路，其實是可以通過這種刻意的方式來控制的。

And then finally, there are actions.

最後是行動。

Actions or behaviors are perhaps the most important aspect to our nervous system.

行動或行為可能是我們神經系統最重要的方面。

Because first of all, our behaviors are actually the only thing that are going to create any fossil record of our existence.

因為首先，我們的行為實際上是唯一能為我們的存在創造化石記錄的東西。

After we die, the nervous system deteriorates, our skeleton will remain, but in the moment of experiencing something very joyful or something very sad, it can feel so all-encompassing that we actually think that it has some meaning beyond that moment.

我們死後，神經系統會退化，骨架會保留，但在經歷非常快樂或非常悲傷的事情的那一刻，我們會覺得它是如此包羅萬象，以至於我們實際上認為它具有超越那一刻的意義。

But actually for humans, and I think for all species, the sensations, the perceptions, and the thoughts and the feelings that we have in our lifespan, none of that is actually carried forward except the ones that we take and we convert into actions such as writing, actions such as words, actions such as engineering new things.

但實際上，對人類來說，我認為對所有物種來說，我們在一生中所擁有的感覺、知覺、思想和情感，除了我們將其轉化為寫作等行動、文字等行動、工程等新事物的行動之外，都不會被傳承下去。

And so the fossil record of our species and of each one of us is really through action.

是以，我們這個物種和我們每個人的化石記錄實際上都是通過行動來實現的。

And that in part is why so much of our nervous system is devoted to converting sensation, perceptions, feelings, and thoughts into actions.

這在一定程度上就是為什麼我們的神經系統如此之多地致力於將感覺、知覺、情感和思想轉化為行動。

The other way to think about it is that one of the reasons that our central nervous system, our brain and spinal cord include this stuff in our skull, but also connect so heavily to the body is because most everything that we experience, including our thoughts and feelings, was really designed to either impact our behavior or not.

另一種思考方式是，我們的中樞神經系統、大腦和脊髓包括頭骨中的這些東西，同時又與身體有如此緊密的聯繫，其中一個原因就是我們經歷的大多數事情，包括我們的想法和感受，其實都是為了影響我們的行為或不影響我們的行為而設計的。

And the fact that thoughts allow us to reach into the past and anticipate the future and not just experience what's happening in the moment gave rise to an incredible capacity for us to engage in behaviors that are not just for the moment.

而事實上，思想能讓我們觸及過去，預見未來，而不僅僅是體驗當下發生的事情，這讓我們有能力做出不只是為了當下的行為。

They're based on things that we know from the past and that we would like to see in the future.

它們的基礎是我們從過去了解到的，以及我們希望在未來看到的。

And this aspect to our nervous system of creating movement occurs through some very simple pathways that reflexive pathway basically includes areas of the brainstem we call central pattern generators.

我們的神經系統通過一些非常簡單的途徑來創造運動，反射途徑基本上包括我們稱之為中樞模式發生器的腦幹區域。

When you walk, provided you already know how to walk, you are basically walking because you have these central pattern generators, groups of neurons that generate right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot kind of movement.

當你走路時，如果你已經知道如何走路，你基本上就是在走路，因為你有這些中樞模式發生器，即產生右腳、左腳、右腳、左腳運動的神經元群。

However, when you decide to move in a particular deliberate way that requires a little more attention, you start to engage areas of your brain for top-down processing where your forebrain works from the top down to control those central pattern generators so that maybe it's right foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, right foot, left foot if maybe you're hiking along some rocks or something and you have to engage in that kind of movement.

然而，當你決定以一種需要更多注意力的特定方式進行運動時，你就會開始調動大腦中自上而下的處理區域，你的前腦會自上而下地控制那些中樞模式發生器，是以，如果你正在沿著岩石或其他東西徒步旅行，你就必須進行這種運動，也許是右腳、右腳、左腳、右腳、右腳、左腳。

So movement is just like thoughts, can be either reflexive or deliberate.

是以，運動就像思想一樣，可以是反射性的，也可以是蓄意的。

And when we talk about deliberate, I want to be very specific about how your brain works in the deliberate way because it gives rise to a very important feature of the nervous system that we're going to talk about next, which is your ability to change your nervous system.

當我們談到 "刻意 "時，我想非常具體地說明你的大腦是如何以 "刻意 "的方式工作的，因為它產生了我們接下來要談的神經系統的一個非常重要的特徵，那就是你改變神經系統的能力。

And what I'd like to center on for a second is this notion of what does it mean for the nervous system to do something deliberately?

我想說的是，神經系統刻意做某事意味著什麼？

Well, when you do something deliberately, you pay attention, you are bringing your perception to an analysis of three things, duration, how long something is going to take or should be done, path, what you should be doing, and outcome, if you do something for a given length of time, what's going to happen.

好吧，當你刻意去做某件事時，你會注意，你會把你的感知帶到對三件事的分析中，持續時間，即某件事要花多長時間或應該做多長時間；路徑，即你應該做什麼；結果，即如果你做了某件事一段時間，會發生什麼。

Now, when you're walking down the street or you're eating or you're just talking reflexively, you're not doing this, what I call DPO, duration, path, outcome, type of deliberate function in your brain and nervous system.

現在，當你走在街上、吃東西或只是條件反射地說話時，你並沒有在大腦和神經系統中發揮這種我稱之為 DPO（持續時間、路徑、結果）的刻意功能。

Let's give an example where perhaps somebody says something that's triggering to you, you don't like it, and you know you shouldn't respond.

讓我們舉個例子，也許有人說了一些對你有刺激性的話，你不喜歡，你知道你不應該回應。

You feel like, oh, I shouldn't respond, I shouldn't respond, I shouldn't respond.

你會覺得，哦，我不應該回應，我不應該回應，我不應該回應。

You're actively suppressing your behavior through top-down processing.

你在通過自上而下的處理方式積極壓制自己的行為。

Your forebrain is actually preventing you from saying the thing that you know you shouldn't say or that maybe you should wait to say or say in a different form.

你的前腦實際上是在阻止你說出你知道不該說的話，或者你應該等一下再說或者以另一種形式說的話。

This feels like agitation and stress because you're actually suppressing a circuit.

這種感覺就像焦躁和壓力，因為你實際上是在抑制迴路。

We actually can see examples of what happens when you're not doing this well.

實際上，我們可以看到一些例子，說明如果做不好會發生什麼。

Some of the examples come from children.

其中一些例子來自兒童。

If you look at young children, they don't have the forebrain circuitry to engage in this top-down processing until they reach age 22, even 25.

如果你觀察一下幼兒，他們在 22 歲甚至 25 歲之前還沒有前腦回路來進行這種自上而下的處理。

But in young children, you see this in a really robust way.

但在年幼的孩子身上，你會發現這種現象非常普遍。

A kid sees a piece of candy that it wants and will just reach out and grab it, whereas an adult probably would ask if they could have a piece or wait until they were offered a piece in most cases.

孩子看到想要的糖果，會直接伸手去搶，而成年人在大多數情況下可能會問自己能不能吃一塊，或者等別人給他們一塊。

People that have damage to the certain areas of the frontal lobes don't have this kind of restriction.

額葉某些區域受損的人則沒有這種限制。

They'll just blurt things out.

他們會直接把事情說出來。

They'll just say things.

他們只是說說而已。

Impulsivity is a lack of top-down control, a lack of top-down processing.

衝動是缺乏自上而下的控制，缺乏自上而下的處理。

So a lot of the motor system is designed to just work in a reflexive way.

是以，很多運動系統都是以反射方式工作的。

And then when we decide we want to learn something or do something or not do something, we have to engage in this top-down restriction.

然後，當我們決定要學什麼、做什麼或不做什麼時，我們就必須受到這種自上而下的限制。

And it feels like agitation because it's accompanied by the release of a neuromodulator called norepinephrine, which in the body we call adrenaline, and it actually makes us feel agitated.

這種感覺就像躁動，因為它伴隨著一種叫做去甲腎上腺素的神經調節劑的釋放，在人體內我們稱之為腎上腺素，它實際上會讓我們感到躁動。

So for those of you that are trying to learn something new or to learn to suppress your responses or be more deliberate and careful in your responses, that is going to feel challenging for a particular reason.

是以，對於那些正在努力學習新知識或學習抑制自己的反應，或在反應中更加深思熟慮、小心謹慎的人來說，由於某種特殊的原因，這將會讓他們感到具有挑戰性。

It's going to feel challenging because the chemicals in your body that are released in association with that effort are designed to make you feel kind of agitated.

這會讓你感覺很有挑戰性，因為你體內的化學物質會隨著這種努力而釋放出來，讓你感覺有點激動。

And so this is really important to understand because if you want to understand neuroplasticity, you want to understand how to shape your behavior, how to shape your thinking, how to change how you're able to perform in any context.

是以，瞭解這一點非常重要，因為如果你想了解神經可塑性，你就想了解如何塑造你的行為，如何塑造你的思維，如何改變你在任何情況下的表現。

The most important thing to understand is that it requires top-down processing.

最重要的一點是，它需要自上而下的處理。

It requires this feeling of agitation.

它需要這種激動的感覺。

In fact, I would say that agitation and strain is the entry point to neuroplasticity.

事實上，我想說的是，激動和緊張是神經可塑性的切入點。

So let's take a look at what neuroplasticity is.

讓我們來看看什麼是神經可塑性。

Neuroplasticity is the ability for these connections in the brain and body to change in response to experience.

神經可塑性是指大腦和身體中的這些連接能夠根據經驗發生變化。

And what's so incredible about the human nervous system in particular is that we can direct our own neural changes.

尤其是人類神經系統的不可思議之處在於，我們可以引導自己的神經變化。

We can decide that we want to change our brain.

我們可以決定要改變自己的大腦。

In other words, our brain can change itself and our nervous system can change itself.

換句話說，我們的大腦可以改變自己，我們的神經系統可以改變自己。

For a long time, it was thought that neuroplasticity was the unique gift of young animals and humans, that it could only occur when we're young.

長期以來，人們認為神經可塑性是年輕動物和人類的獨特天賦，只有在年輕時才會發生。

And in fact, the young brain is incredibly plastic.

事實上，幼兒大腦的可塑性非常強。

Children can learn three languages without an accent, reflexively, whereas adults, it's very challenging.

兒童可以不帶口音、條件反射式地學習三種語言，而成人則非常具有挑戰性。

It takes a lot more effort and strain, a lot more of that duration path outcome kind of thinking in order to achieve those plastic changes.

要實現這些可塑的變化，需要付出更多的努力和壓力，更多的持續時間和結果的思考。

We now know, however, that the adult brain can change in response to experience.

然而，我們現在知道，成年人的大腦會隨著經驗的變化而變化。

In order to understand that process, we really have to understand something that might at first seem totally divorced from neuroplasticity, but actually lies at the center of neuroplasticity.

為了理解這一過程，我們必須真正理解一些東西，這些東西乍看起來可能與神經可塑性完全脫節，但實際上卻處於神經可塑性的中心。

And for any of you that are interested in changing your nervous system so that something that you want can go from being very hard or seem almost impossible and out of reach to being very reflexive, this is especially important to pay attention to.

如果你們有興趣改變自己的神經系統，讓自己想要的東西從非常困難或看似幾乎不可能、遙不可及變成條件反射式的，這一點尤其需要注意。

Plasticity in the adult human nervous system is gated, meaning it is controlled by neuromodulators.