关于我们的大脑你所不知道的五件事

 

"Most people think of the brain as very complex, but I think we're just ignorant. It could be very simple," Yuste says. "The idea has permeated that there's something magic inside the brain, but really it's just a firing of neurons."

 

大脑可能并不像我们想象的那么复杂。

“大多数人认为大脑很复杂，但我认为我们只是无知。它可能很简单，” Yuste说。“大脑内部存在某种神奇的东西的想法根深蒂固，但实际上它只是一个反射神经元。”

 

Human brains probably aren't that different from other brains.Think human brains are far more sophisticated than those of the rest of the animal kingdom? Think again. Our brains probably aren't that different from that of a fly or a mouse, he says. Twenty years ago, for instance, we didn't know that much about how the human body developed -- as we've learned more, we've discovered that our genes aren't that different from flies. "Nature, at the end of the day, is using the same tricks across evolution," he says. "The brain is robust, it cannot be too complicated."

 

人类的大脑可能与其他的大脑并无什么不同。

认为人类的大脑比其他种类动物的大脑更复杂？再想想。我们的大脑可能与一只苍蝇或老鼠的大脑并没有什么不同，他说。二十年前，例如，关于身体如何成长我们并不知道那么多，当我们了解得越多，我们发现我们的基因与苍蝇的并没有太多不同。“在一天结束的时候，自然使用着相同的技巧在进化，”他说。“大脑是健壮的，不可能太复杂。”

 

We don't only use 10 percent of our brains.

 

"Every part of our brain is always active all the time," Yuste says. The brain is comprised of tens of millions of neurons that are always firing (meaning the oft-repeated "fact" that we only use 10 percent of our brains isn't true). "Some people think the brain is like a computer," he says, where it sits there doing nothing until you stimulate it. In reality, the brain is always going, even when we're sleeping. "It has a life of its own," Yuste says.

 

我们不只用了我们大脑的10%。

“我们大脑的每一部分在任何时候总是活跃的，”Yuste说。大脑是由数以百万计总是在反射的神经元组成(意味着多次重复的我们大脑只使用了10% 的“事实”不是真的)。“有些人认为大脑就像一台计算机，”他说，在你刺激它之前它就坐在那儿什么也不做。事实上，大脑总是在运转，甚至当我们睡觉时。“它有它自己的生活，”Yuste说。

 

The argument for a brain-mapping initiative isn't that different from the Human Genome Project.

We recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of the completion of the Human Genome Project. But it wasn't that long ago that people never would have thought such a lofty goal was even possible. Yuste sees a parallel to the brain-mapping initiative: Detractors argue that it's impossible to collect the data, and even if you could collect it, no one could ever understand it. They ask: Will it work? And will it be worth it? Yuste firmly believes the answer is yes. "Society has so many problems that science cannot afford to dream small dreams," he said during his TEDMED presentation.

 

大脑成像主动性的争论点与人类基因组计划没有什么不同。

我们最近庆祝了完成人类基因组计划的10周年。但不久之前，人们根本没有想过这样一个崇高目标是可能的。Yuste看到脑成像主动性的一个类比：反对者认为不可能收集数据，即使你可以收集到，也没有人能理解。他们问：它会有用吗？它将值得吗？Yuste坚持认为答案是肯定的。

 

No one understands how the brain works.

"I can guarantee you that we don't have a clue," Yuste says. At least not yet.

 

没有人了解大脑如何运作。

“我可以向你保证我们毫无所知，”Yuste说。至少目前还没有。