a detailed, realistic

我們的任務是建造

computer model of the human brain.

一個詳細而真實的

And we've done, in the past four years,

人類大腦的計算機模型。

a proof of concept

在過去幾年里，我們在一小塊嚙齒類動物

on a small part of the rodent brain,

的腦上做了一個

and with this proof of concept we are now scaling the project up

用來驗證這個概念的測試，

to reach the human brain.

現在根據這個試驗我們要把項目的規模擴展到

Why are we doing this?

人類大腦的規模。

There are three important reasons.

為甚麼我們要做這項工作？

The first is, it's essential for us to understand the human brain

有三個重要的原因。

if we do want to get along in society,

首先，是理解人類大腦對我們來將是非常重要的

and I think that it is a key step in evolution.

如果我們想在社會中繼續前進

The second reason is,

我認為這是進化過程中非常關鍵的一步

we cannot keep doing animal experimentation forever,

第二個原因是

and we have to embody all our data and all our knowledge

我們不能總是繼續拿動物做試驗

into a working model.

還有我們必須要把我們所有的數據和知識收錄進

It's like a Noah's Ark. It's like an archive.

一個有效的模型當中。

And the third reason is that there are two billion people on the planet

就好像諾亞的方舟。好像是一个文庫。

that are affected by mental disorder,

第三個原因是地球上有20億人

and the drugs that are used today

的生活被精神障礙所影響。

are largely empirical.

而目前所廣泛使用的藥物

I think that we can come up with very concrete solutions on

都是經驗性的

how to treat disorders.

我認為我們能夠對治療精神障礙

Now, even at this stage,

提出非常堅實的方案。

we can use the brain model

即使是在現階段

to explore some fundamental questions

我們可以使用大腦模型

about how the brain works.

來探究一些關於大腦

And here, at TED, for the first time,

如何運作的根本的問題

I'd like to share with you how we're addressing

在這裡，TED大會上，第一次

one theory -- there are many theories --

我想與大家分享我們如何來解決這個理論

one theory of how the brain works.

有許多的理論

So, this theory is that the brain

其中的一個關於大腦如何工作的理論是

creates, builds, a version of the universe,

所以，這個理論是大腦如何

and projects this version of the universe,

創造、建立一個宇宙版本

like a bubble, all around us.

並將這個宇宙版本像泡泡一樣

Now, this is of course a topic of philosophical debate for centuries.

映射在我們的周圍。

But, for the first time, we can actually address this,

當然這是一個經過許多個世紀爭論的話題

with brain simulation,

但是，這是歷史上第一次我們可以實際地利用

and ask very systematic and rigorous questions,

大腦模擬來解決它，

whether this theory could possibly be true.

並提出非常系統性，非常嚴謹的問題

The reason why the moon is huge on the horizon

這個理論是是不是正確的

is simply because our perceptual bubble

我們感覺地平線上的月亮非常大的原因

does not stretch out 380,000 kilometers.

正是因為我們的感知泡泡

It runs out of space.

並沒有延伸到三十八萬公里之外

And so what we do is we compare the buildings

這真是太遠了

within our perceptual bubble,

我們所做的是在我們的感知泡泡中

and we make a decision.

將其與附近的建築做比較，

We make a decision it's that big,

接著我們做出了一個判斷

even though it's not that big.

我們判斷它是那麼大的

And what that illustrates

即使在我們眼裡它並不大

is that decisions are the key things

這個例子說明的是

that support our perceptual bubble. It keeps it alive.

判斷是讓我們的感知泡泡成立

Without decisions you cannot see, you cannot think,

並保證它活躍的關鍵因素。

you cannot feel.

失去了判斷，你既看不見東西，也不能思考

And you may think that anesthetics work

甚麼都感覺不到

by sending you into some deep sleep,

你可能以為麻醉劑的工作方式是

or by blocking your receptors so that you don't feel pain,

讓你進入酣睡的狀態

but in fact most anesthetics don't work that way.

或者阻撓神經受體的運作來讓你感覺不到疼痛

What they do is they introduce a noise

但事實上大多數麻醉劑並不是這樣生效的

into the brain so that the neurons cannot understand each other.

它們所做的是在大腦中產生一種噪音來

They are confused,

讓神經元細胞互相之間無法理解

and you cannot make a decision.

它們被搞糊塗了

So, while you're trying to make up your mind

這樣你就不能做出判斷

what the doctor, the surgeon, is doing

所以，當你還在努力着集中注意力

while he's hacking away at your body, he's long gone.

要搞清楚醫生在你身上動手動腳的時候

He's at home having tea.

對你的身體做了些甚麼，他早已經走人了。

(Laughter)

他已經在家喝茶了

So, when you walk up to a door and you open it,

笑聲

what you compulsively have to do to perceive

當你走到一扇門前並打開它的時候

is to make decisions,

為了理解周圍環境，

thousands of decisions about the size of the room,

你不得不做出判斷，

the walls, the height, the objects in this room.

無數的關於房間與牆壁的大小，高度

99 percent of what you see

以及房間里放的是甚麼東西的判斷。

is not what comes in through the eyes.

99％你所看見的東西

It is what you infer about that room.

並不是通過眼睛觀察到的

So I can say, with some certainty,

而是你對房間所做出的推斷

"I think, therefore I am."

所以我一定程度上同意

But I cannot say, "You think, therefore you are,"

‘我思故我在’

because "you" are within my perceptual bubble.

但是我卻不能說“你思故你在”

Now, we can speculate and philosophize this,

因為“你”這個概念是存在與我的感知泡泡之中

but we don't actually have to for the next hundred years.

目前我們能推測並進行在哲理層面上研究這個理論

We can ask a very concrete question.

不過不用再這樣繼續幾百年了

"Can the brain build such a perception?"

我們可以問這樣一個具體的問題

Is it capable of doing it?

大腦本身可以映射出這些感覺嗎？

Does it have the substance to do it?

它是否有這種能力做到這一點？

And that's what I'm going to describe to you today.

它有沒有足夠的物質來產生感覺？

So, it took the universe 11 billion years to build the brain.

這就是我今天想要向你們描述的主題

It had to improve it a little bit.

在這個宇宙中經過了110億年的進化出了大腦

It had to add to the frontal part, so that you would have instincts,

它需要不斷地改進

because they had to cope on land.

需要加上一個額部以讓你能夠擁有本能

But the real big step was the neocortex.

因為生物需要應付地面上的環境

It's a new brain. You needed it.

真正的巨大進步是大腦新皮質

The mammals needed it

這是一個新的大腦，你需要它

because they had to cope with parenthood,

哺乳動物需要它

social interactions,

因為它們需要撫養幼崽

complex cognitive functions.

互相交流

So, you can think of the neocortex

並使用複雜的識別功能

actually as the ultimate solution today,

所以你可以把大腦新皮質看成是

of the universe as we know it.

到目前為止我們所知的

It's the pinnacle, it's the final product

宇宙中的終極產品。

that the universe has produced.

它是一個巔峰，是宇宙

It was so successful in evolution

所製造的最後產品。

that from mouse to man it expanded

它在進化史中是如此的成功

about a thousandfold in terms of the numbers of neurons,

從老鼠到人類，大腦中神經元

to produce this almost frightening

的數量擴展了大約一千倍，

organ, structure.

來構成這個幾乎是嚇人的

And it has not stopped its evolutionary path.

器官，結構。

In fact, the neocortex in the human brain

它也沒有停止進化的步伐

is evolving at an enormous speed.

實際上人類大腦中的新皮質層

If you zoom into the surface of the neocortex,

一直在以驚人的速度進化。

you discover that it's made up of little modules,

如果你深入新皮質的表面

G5 processors, like in a computer.

你會發現它是由微小的模塊組成

But there are about a million of them.

就好像電腦里的G5處理器

They were so successful in evolution

但大腦中有大約100萬個模塊

that what we did was to duplicate them

它們進化的如此成功

over and over and add more and more of them to the brain

因此我們就不斷地複製它們

until we ran out of space in the skull.

不斷地在大腦中加入更多的模塊

And the brain started to fold in on itself,

直到用盡所有頭顱中的空間

and that's why the neocortex is so highly convoluted.

大腦自身開始摺疊起來

We're just packing in columns,

這就是為甚麼新皮質是非常的捲曲的

so that we'd have more neocortical columns

它們不斷的往縱深發展形成功能住

to perform more complex functions.

這樣我們就有更多的皮質功能住

So you can think of the neocortex actually as

來執行更複雜的機能

a massive grand piano,

你也可以將大腦新皮質

a million-key grand piano.

看成一架巨大的鋼琴。

Each of these neocortical columns

一部有一百萬個琴鍵的大鋼琴

would produce a note.

其中的每一個皮質功能住

You stimulate it; it produces a symphony.

會奏出一個音符

But it's not just a symphony of perception.

你對它施加刺激，它奏出一部交響曲

It's a symphony of your universe, your reality.

不過這不僅僅是感覺的交響曲

Now, of course it takes years to learn how

是你的宇宙的交響曲，你的現實世界

to master a grand piano with a million keys.

當然一個人需要花費很多年來學習如何彈奏

That's why you have to send your kids to good schools,

一架有着一百萬個琴鍵的鋼琴

hopefully eventually to Oxford.

這就是為甚麼你送孩子去好的學校

But it's not only education.

希望最後去到牛津大學

It's also genetics.

不過不只是教育

You may be born lucky,

基因也會影響結果。

where you know how to master your neocortical column,

你可能生來就很有天賦

and you can play a fantastic symphony.

或者你知道如何來操控你的新皮質功能柱

In fact, there is a new theory of autism

來演奏美妙的交響樂

called the "intense world" theory,

關於自閉症有一種是

which suggests that the neocortical columns are super-columns.

稱作“激烈世界”理論

They are highly reactive, and they are super-plastic,

它提出這些人的新皮質功能柱是超級功能柱

and so the autists are probably capable of

它們反應非常劇烈，而且非常有可塑性

building and learning a symphony

所以自閉症患者或許可以

which is unthinkable for us.

構造並學習一個對我們來說

But you can also understand

無法想像的交響樂。

that if you have a disease

同樣也可以理解

within one of these columns,

如果在這些功能柱中

the note is going to be off.

產生任何病變，

The perception, the symphony that you create

音調就會有偏差

is going to be corrupted,

這些感覺，這些你創造的交響樂

and you will have symptoms of disease.

會被破壞，

So, the Holy Grail for neuroscience

你會有得到有缺陷的交響曲。

is really to understand the design of the neocoritical column --

所以神經科學的終極目的是

and it's not just for neuroscience;

真正地理解新皮質功能柱的設計

it's perhaps to understand perception, to understand reality,

這不光是對神經科學

and perhaps to even also understand physical reality.

很有可能會讓人們理解感覺，理解現實

So, what we did was, for the past 15 years,

甚至理解促進對物理現實的理解

was to dissect out the neocortex, systematically.

在過去的15年中我們所做的是

It's a bit like going and cataloging a piece of the rainforest.

系統地分解大腦新皮質

How many trees does it have?

這過程有點類似對一片熱帶雨林里的樹木進行分類

What shapes are the trees?

一共有多少樹木？

How many of each type of tree do you have? Where are they positioned?

它們都有些甚麼形狀？

But it's a bit more than cataloging because you actually have to

每一種的樹有多少？它們分布在何處？

describe and discover all the rules of communication,

但又不只是分類，因為我們還需要

the rules of connectivity,

描述和發現它們互相交流的規則

because the neurons don't just like to connect with any neuron.

連接的規則

They choose very carefully who they connect with.

因為神經元不僅僅是與任何一個神經元細胞連接起來

It's also more than cataloging

它們有非常仔細地挑選與哪一個神經原連接

because you actually have to build three-dimensional

還有一點不同與分類的是

digital models of them.

我們必須在三度空間中

And we did that for tens of thousands of neurons,

建立它們的數位化模型

built digital models of all the different types

我們為所發現的所有不同種類的

of neurons we came across.

神經元構建了

And once you have that, you can actually

成千上萬的數位模型。

begin to build the neocortical column.

一旦我們有了這些模型，就可以

And here we're coiling them up.

開始建造一個新皮質功能柱

But as you do this, what you see

我們正將它們纏繞起來

is that the branches intersect

當我們在這樣做的時候發現

actually in millions of locations,

神經元的分支在

and at each of these intersections

無數的地方互相交叉。

they can form a synapse.

而在每一個交叉點，

And a synapse is a chemical location

他們都會形成一個突觸。

where they communicate with each other.

突觸是一個神經元之間利

And these synapses together

用化學媒介互相交流的地方。

form the network

這麼多突觸一起

or the circuit of the brain.

形成了網路，

Now, the circuit, you could also think of as

或者說是大腦的迴路。

the fabric of the brain.

這種迴路也可以

And when you think of the fabric of the brain,

看成是大腦的纖維。

the structure, how is it built? What is the pattern of the carpet?

當我們研究大腦的纖維

You realize that this poses

它的結構，不禁要問，它是如何構建的？按照甚麼樣的規律？

a fundamental challenge to any theory of the brain,

我們意識到這引出了一個

and especially to a theory that says

對任何關於大腦的理論的最根本的挑戰，

that there is some reality that emerges

特別是有個理論

out of this carpet, out of this particular carpet

認為現實是從大腦中

with a particular pattern.

按照特定的規律

The reason is because the most important design secret of the brain

湧現出來的。

is diversity.

因為大腦的設計中字重要的祕密

Every neuron is different.

是差異化。

It's the same in the forest. Every pine tree is different.

每個神經元都是不同的

You may have many different types of trees,

這就好像叢林一樣，每棵松樹都是不同的

but every pine tree is different. And in the brain it's the same.

或許有許多不同種類的樹

So there is no neuron in my brain that is the same as another,

每一棵都是不同的，大腦也是這樣

and there is no neuron in my brain that is the same as in yours.

所以在我腦中的神經元絕對不會和別人的一樣

And your neurons are not going to be oriented and positioned

也不會和你腦中的一樣

in exactly the same way.

我們的神經元的方向和

And you may have more or less neurons.

位置也不會是一樣的。

So it's very unlikely

可能你的神經元會多一些或者少一些

that you got the same fabric, the same circuitry.

所以不大可能

So, how could we possibly create a reality

我們會有相同的纖維，相同的迴路

that we can even understand each other?

所以我們怎麼可能創造出一個

Well, we don't have to speculate.

我們在其中都能互相理解的現實？

We can look at all 10 million synapses now.

我們不用再繼續猜疑

We can look at the fabric. And we can change neurons.

我們現在可以觀察這1000多萬的突觸

We can use different neurons with different variations.

我們可以觀察這纖維，可以改變其中的神經元

We can position them in different places,

也可以使用各種各樣的神經元

orient them in different places.

置放它們在不同的地方

We can use less or more of them.

讓它們朝向不同的方向

And when we do that

增加或者減少數量

what we discovered is that the circuitry does change.

當我們這樣去做

But the pattern of how the circuitry is designed does not.

我們發現儘管大腦的迴路被改變

So, the fabric of the brain,

但是迴路的模式是注定不變的

even though your brain may be smaller, bigger,

所以我們的大腦纖維，

it may have different types of neurons,

可能有小有大

different morphologies of neurons,

可能有不同種類的神經元

we actually do share

或者不同形狀的神經元

the same fabric.

我們確實擁有着

And we think this is species-specific,

同樣的纖維。

which means that that could explain

我們認為這是物種特有的。

why we can't communicate across species.

這可能就解釋了為甚麼我們

So, let's switch it on. But to do it, what you have to do

不能和其他物種交流溝通

is you have to make this come alive.

讓我們開始行動。不過要進行這個計畫，我們需要做的是

We make it come alive

賦予它生命。

with equations, a lot of mathematics.

我們用各種方程式來賦予它生命，

And, in fact, the equations that make neurons into electrical generators

涉及到非常多的公式和算術。

were discovered by two Cambridge Nobel Laureates.

讓神經元產生電流的方程式

So, we have the mathematics to make neurons come alive.

是由兩位劍橋大學的諾貝爾獎得主發現的

We also have the mathematics to describe

我們知道了賦予神經元生命的數學公式

how neurons collect information,

我們也有用來描述神經元

and how they create a little lightning bolt