我18年前做过脑部手术， I had brain surgery 18 years ago,
从那时起， and since that time, brain science has become
我就非常热衷于脑科学研究。 a personal passion of mine.
我的本职其实是工程师。 I'm actually an engineer.
首先我要声明，我最近参加了 And first let me say, I recently joined
谷歌的登月组， Google's Moonshot group,
我在谷歌X where I had a division,
负责那里的显示部门。 the display division in Google X,
但是今天我要谈到的脑科学方面的研究， and the brain science work I'm speaking about today
是我加入谷歌之前做的， is work I did before I joined Google
在谷歌之外做的。 and on the side outside of Google.
现在说正题。¶ So that said, there's a stigma
做过脑手术之后就出现这样一个问题： when you have brain surgery.
你还和以前一样聪明吗? Are you still smart or not?
如果不是，你还能重新变聪明吗？ And if not, can you make yourself smart again?
我做了神经手术之后， After my neurosurgery,
大脑少了一部分， part of my brain was missing,
而我得接受这个事实。 and I had to deal with that.
不是灰质部分，而是正中间黏糊糊的部分， It wasn't the grey matter, but it was the gooey part dead center
那里是产生关键的激素和神经递质的地方。 that makes key hormones and neurotransmitters.
在手术刚刚结束之后， Immediately after my surgery,
我就得决定每天要吃的十几种强力药物里， I had to decide what amounts of each of over
每一种吃多少。 a dozen powerful chemicals to take each day,
如果什么药都不吃， because if I just took nothing,
几个小时内我就会死掉。 I would die within hours.
18年来每天，每一天， Every day now for 18 years -- every single day --
我都得决定我需要吃什么样的 I've had to try to decide the combinations
药以及如何搭配它们， and mixtures of chemicals,
把这些药找来吃，让自己活下去。 and try to get them, to stay alive.
有几次都差点没命。 There have been several close calls.
不过幸好我打心底里是个实验科学家， But luckily, I'm an experimentalist at heart,
所以我觉得我要试验一下， so I decided I would experiment
找到更合适的剂量， to try to find more optimal dosages
因为这方面实在是没有个详细的 because there really isn't a clear road map
路线图可参考。 on this that's detailed.
我开始尝试不同的药物搭配， I began to try different mixtures,
而我完全没有想到的是， and I was blown away by how
剂量上的微小改变 tiny changes in dosages
竟然会剧烈地改变我的自我感觉， dramatically changed my sense of self,
我认为自己是谁，我的想法， my sense of who I was, my thinking,
我对待他人的行为。 my behavior towards people.
一个非常极端的例子： One particularly dramatic case:
有几个月我尝试的药物和剂量 for a couple months I actually tried dosages
正常是用于20出头的男性的。 and chemicals typical of a man in his early 20s,
让我非常惊讶的是我的想法完全改变了。 and I was blown away by how my thoughts changed.
（笑声） (Laughter)
我总是非常生气， I was angry all the time,
我不停地想到性， I thought about sex constantly,
而且我觉得自己是 and I thought I was the smartest person
世界上最聪明的人， in the entire world, and
（笑声） —(Laughter)—
当然这些年来我遇到过这样的男人， of course over the years I'd met guys kind of like that,
或者是没这么夸张但也类似的男人。 or maybe kind of toned-down versions of that.
我那样的比较极端。 I was kind of extreme.
对我来说，让我惊讶的是， But to me, the surprise was,
我并不是想要做个傲慢的人， I wasn't trying to be arrogant.
我实际上是想， I was actually trying,
虽然不是很确定， with a little bit of insecurity,
要解决摆在我面前的一个问题， to actually fix a problem in front of me,
可结果却不是那样的。 and it just didn't come out that way.
我受不了了， So I couldn't handle it.
于是改了药的剂量。 I changed my dosages.
不过那段经历，我觉得， But that experience, I think, gave me
让我对男性有了新的认识， a new appreciation for men
包括他们可能的感受。 and what they might walk through,
而且从那以后 and I've gotten along with men
我和男性之间相处得也更好了。 a lot better since then.
我当时试图 What I was trying to do
调节这些激素 with tuning these hormones
和神经递质等的剂量， and neurotransmitters and so forth
我想要做的是 was to try to get my intelligence back
在生病和手术之后，重新找回我的智慧， after my illness and surgery,
我的创造性思维，我的思考能力。 my creative thought, my idea flow.
我主要是通过图像来思考的， And I think mostly in images,
所以对我来说最关键的， and so for me that became a key metric --
就是如何找回这些大脑中的图像， how to get these mental images
因为我是用图像来快速地构建原型想法的。 that I use as a way of rapid prototyping,
只要我愿意，我的想法， if you will, my ideas,
会尝试不同规模的新想法， trying on different new ideas for size,
设想各种场景。 playing out scenarios.
这种思维方式并不罕见。 This kind of thinking isn't new.
哲学家们，像休谟、笛卡儿、霍布斯 Philiosophers like Hume and Descartes and Hobbes
也是这样看事情的。 saw things similarly.
他们认为脑中的图像和思想 They thought that mental images and ideas
是一回事。 were actually the same thing.
现在有很多人质疑这一点， There are those today that dispute that,
也有很多关于大脑如何思考的争论， and lots of debates about how the mind works,
但对我来说很简单： but for me it's simple:
对大多数人来说，大脑中的图像 Mental images, for most of us,
是在创造性思考中处于核心地位。 are central in inventive and creative thinking.
在我试验了几年之后， So after several years,
我找到了合适的药物剂量， I tuned myself up and I have lots of great,
我脑中开始出现了很多栩栩如生 really vivid mental images with a lot of sophistication 又非常复杂的图像，
还有图像中包含的思路。 and the analytical backbone behind them.
现在我在做的， And so now I'm working on,
就是如何把我脑子中的这些图像 how can I get these mental images in my mind
更快地传到我的电脑屏幕上? out to my computer screen faster?
想像一下， Can you imagine, if you will,
如果一个电影导演仅靠她的想象力 a movie director being able to use
就可以导演她眼前的世界? her imagination alone to direct the world in front of her?
或者一个音乐家这样就能把他脑子里的音乐传出来? Or a musician to get the music out of his head?
这件事有不可思议的可能性， There are incredible possibilities with this
它可以让有创造性的人们 as a way for creative people
以闪电般的速度来分享想法。 to share at light speed.
事实上，要实现这一点 And the truth is, the remaining bottleneck
现在剩下的瓶颈仅仅在于 in being able to do this
提高大脑扫描系统的分辨率。 is just upping the resolution of brain scan systems.
现在我要给大家看看， So let me show you why I think 为什么我觉得我们已经接近成功了， we're pretty close to getting there
我要展示两个近期的实验， by sharing with you two recent experiments
分别是在两个顶级的脑科学研究组做的。 from two top neuroscience groups.
他们都用了fMRI技术 Both used fMRI technology --
也就是功能性核磁共振成像技术 functional magnetic resonance imaging technology --
来对大脑进行造影。 to image the brain,
这套大脑扫描图是 and here is a brain scan set from Giorgio Ganis
哈佛的吉奥吉欧•加尼斯和他的同事们做的。 and his colleagues at Harvard.
左边一列扫描的 And the left-hand column shows a brain scan
是一个正看着一张图的人的大脑。 of a person looking at an image.
中间一列 The middle column shows the brainscan
是同一个人的大脑扫描图， of that same individual
但他只是在想像看刚才那张图片， imagining, seeing that same image.
右边一列是将 And the right column was created
中间的图从左边的图减去后得到的 by subtracting the middle column from the left column,
可以看出来差别几乎为零。 showing the difference to be nearly zero.
这个实验在很多不同的人身上重复过， This was repeated on lots of different individuals
而且用了很多不同的图片， with lots of different images,
结果几乎总是一样。 always with a similar result.
真正看一张图片 The difference between seeing an image
和想像看同一张图片 and imagining seeing that same image
之间几乎没有差别。 is next to nothing.
下面我再给你们看一个实验， Next let me share with you one other experiment,
是在加州大学伯克利分校 this from Jack Gallant's lab at Cal Berkeley. 杰克•加蓝特的实验室做的。
他们有办法将脑电波 They've been able to decode brainwaves
转换成可识别的视图。 into recognizable visual fields.
我来演示一下。 So let me set this up for you.
在这个实验里，受试者 In this experiment, individuals were shown
要看几百小时的youtube视频， hundreds of hours of YouTube videos
看的时候他们的大脑会被扫描， while scans were made of their brains
这样就建立了一个巨大的数据库，里面纪录下了 to create a large library of their brain reacting
他们的大脑对一系列视频的反应， to video sequences.
然后给他们看一段新视频，里面有新的图像， Then a new movie was shown with new images,
新的人物，新的动物， new people, new animals in it,
并且新的大脑扫描图也被纪录下来。 and a new scan set was recorded.
电脑仅仅通过大脑扫描数据 The computer, using brain scan data alone,
就可以解析新的扫描图， decoded that new brain scan
推测出受试者实际看到的是什么图像。 to show what it thought the individual was actually seeing.
右边是电脑的猜测， On the right-hand side, you see the computer's guess,
而左边是给受试者看的片段。 and on the left-hand side, the presented clip.
这真是让人印象极为深刻。 This is the jaw-dropper.
我们离真正实现这一点已经不远了， We are so close to being able to do this.
只是需要提高分辨率。 We just need to up the resolution.
请记住当你看一副图片 And now remember that when you see an image
或者你想同一副图片时， versus when you imagine that same image,
大脑扫描的结果是一样的。 it creates the same brain scan.
这是用当今分辨率最高的 So this was done with the highest-resolution
大脑扫描系统做的。 brain scan systems available today,
这个系统的分辨率在近几年里 and their resolution has increased really
提高了将近一千倍。 about a thousandfold in the last several years.
下一步我们需要将分辨率 Next we need to increase the resolution
再提高一千倍， another thousandfold
才能看得更深。 to get a deeper glimpse.
我们怎样实现呢？ How do we do that?
这方面有很多技术可用。 There's a lot of techniques in this approach.
一种方法是把头骨撬开把电极放进去， One way is to crack open your skull and put in electrodes.
我不做这个。 I'm not for that.
还有很多新的成像技术被提出来， There's a lot of new imaging techniques
有些还是我提出来的， being proposed, some even by me,
不过考虑到最近在核磁共振上的成功， but given the recent success of MRI,
我们首先应该问的问题是， first we need to ask the question,
这项技术已经发展到尽头了吗？ is it the end of the road with this technology?
传统的观点认为 Conventional wisdom says the only way
提高分辨率的唯一方法是用更大的磁铁， to get higher resolution is with bigger magnets,
但是现在更大的磁铁只能 but at this point bigger magnets
带来分辨率的提升只是固定增量的， only offer incremental resolution improvements,
不是我们想要的一千倍。 not the thousandfold we need.
我提出了一个想法： I'm putting forward an idea:
不用更大的磁铁， instead of bigger magnets,
我们来做更好的磁铁。 let's make better magnets.
纳米科学方面现在有些技术突破， There's some new technology breakthroughs
而用在磁铁结构上 in nanoscience
已经制造出了一种全新类型的磁铁。 when applied to magnetic structures
用这些磁铁，我们可以 that have created a whole new class of magnets,
在整个大脑里布置出结构非常细致的磁场模式， and with these magnets, we can lay down
在整个大脑里布置出结构非常细致的磁场模式， very fine detailed magnetic field patterns
这样我们就能造出 throughout the brain,
类似于全息的干扰结构， and using those, we can actually create
可以对很多模式进行精确控制， holographic-like interference structures
只要像这样移动一些东西就行了。 to get precision control over many patterns,
我们还可以造出更复杂的结构， as is shown here by shifting things.
只要使用稍微不同的排列就可以了。 We can create much more complicated structures
有点儿像画螺旋图。 with slightly different arrangements,
这有什么用呢？ kind of like making Spirograph.
这些年来MRI领域很多人 So why does that matter?
不是在试图做出 A lot of effort in MRI over the years
非常非常大的磁铁吗？ has gone into making really big,
但是最近分辨率领域的进步， really huge magnets, right?
实际上是源于 But yet most of the recent advances
MRI系统中 in resolution have actually come from
调频电波频率发射和接收器 ingeniously clever encoding and decoding solutions
极为精巧的编码解码方法。 in the F.M. radio frequency transmitters and receivers
另外，我们可以不再使用总是一样的磁场， in the MRI systems.
而是用有一定结构的磁场模式， Let's also, instead of a uniform magnetic field,
再加上调频电波频率。 put down structured magnetic patterns
这样就将磁场模式 in addition to the F.M. radio frequencies.
与调频电波频率模式相结合， So by combining the magnetics patterns
可以极大地增加 with the patterns in the F.M. radio frequencies
我们在一次扫描中所提取的信息。 processing which can massively increase
除此之外， the information that we can extract
我们在大脑结构和记忆方面的知识也在不断增加， in a single scan.
我们可以把这些知识整合进去， And on top of that, we can then layer 就能得到我们想要的1000倍的增长了。
运用fMRI，我们不仅可以 our ever-growing knowledge of brain structure and memory
测量携氧的血液流动， to create a thousandfold increase that we need.
还可以测量我刚才说的激素和神经递质， And using fMRI, we should be able to measure
甚至有可能直接测量神经活动， not just oxygenated blood flow,
那就是梦。 but the hormones and neurotransmitters I've talked about
那样我们就可以把我们的想法 and maybe even the direct neural activity,
直接下载到数字媒体上。 which is the dream.
想像一下，如果我们可以不借助语言 We're going to be able to dump our ideas
而直接交流思想？ directly to digital media.
那时候我们能有什么样的成就呢？ Could you imagine if we could leapfrog language
我们要怎样学会面对 and communicate directly with human thought?
未加修饰的，完全真实的人类思想呢？ What would we be capable of then?
你觉得互联网很大， And how will we learn to deal
那这些问题就是巨大了。 with the truths of unfiltered human thought?
把它作为一种工具来放大我们的思考和沟通能力， You think the Internet was big.
这个想法可能让人难以抗拒。 These are huge questions.
确实，这个方法有可能会带来治疗 It might be irresistible as a tool
阿尔兹海默式症或其它疾病的方法。 to amplify our thinking and communication skills.
除了开启这扇门之外，我们别无选择。 And indeed, this very same tool
不管怎样，预测一下， may prove to lead to the cure
五年还是十五年之后能实现呢？ for Alzheimer's and similar diseases.
很难想像要花更久的时间。 We have little option but to open this door.
我们要一起学习如何一起迈出这一步。 Regardless, pick a year --
谢谢大家。 will it happen in five years or 15 years?
（掌声） It's hard to imagine it taking much longer.