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I'm going to start by saying something you think you know to be true.
首先，我要说出一个你认为是正确的看法。
Your brain creates all facets of your mind.
“你思想的方方面面都源自你的大脑。”
So then why do we treat mental and physical illnesses so differently,
为什么我们对待心理和身体疾病的态度如此不同，
if we think we know that the mind comes from the brain?
如果我们认为思想来自大脑的话？
As a neuroscientist, I'm often told that I'm not allowed to study how internal states
身为神经科学家，别人常告诉我，我不能去研究内心状态，
like anxiety or craving or loneliness are represented by the brain,
如焦虑、渴望、孤独，是如何由大脑呈现的，
and so I decided to set out and do exactly that.
所以我决定，我偏偏要这么做。
My research program is designed to understand the mind by investigating brain circuits.
我的研究项目旨在通过研究脑回路来理解思维。
Specifically, how does our brain give rise to emotion.
具体来说，我在探究我们的大脑是如何产生情感的。
It's really hard to study feelings and emotions, because you can't measure them.
要研究情感和情绪是非常难的，因为它们无法衡量。
Behavior is still the best and only window into the emotional experience of another.
行为仍然是最好且唯一能用于窥测他人情感体验的窗口。
For both animals and people, yes, self-report is a behavioral output.
没错，自我评估是一种行为输出，对动物和人都适用。
Motivated behaviors fall into two general classes: seeking pleasure and avoiding pain.
动机行为可大致归为两类：寻求愉悦和逃避痛苦。
The ability to approach things that are good for you and avoid things that are bad for you is fundamental to survival.
生存最根本的能力就是去接近那些对你有益的事物，并回避那些对你有害的事物。
And in our modern-day society, trouble telling the difference can be labeled as a mental illness.
而在我们现代社会中，无法鉴别其中的差异，就会被贴上心理疾病的标签。
If I was having car trouble, and I took my car to the mechanic,
如果我的车出了问题，我会把车送去技工那里，
the first thing they do is look under the hood.
他们会做的第一件事就是检查引擎盖下。
But with mental health research, you can't just pop open the hood with the press of a button.
但在心理健康研究中，你不能只靠按下按钮就把引擎盖弹开。
So this is why we do experiments on animals. Specifically, in my lab, mice.
这就是为什么我们要用动物进行实验。准确来说，我的实验室用小鼠做实验。
To understand the brain, well, we need to study brains.
若要理解大脑，我们就需要研究大脑。
And for the first time, we actually can.
这是史上头一回，我们能做到。
We can pop open the hood. We can look inside and do an experiment and see what comes out.
我们能打开引擎盖，我们能够查看内部，进行实验，看到结果。
Technology has opened new windows into the black box that is our minds.
我们的思维是个黑匣子，而科技为其打开了新窗口。
The development of optogenetic tools has allowed us unprecedented control over specific neurons in the brain
光遗传学工具的发展让我们能前所未有地控制大脑中特定的神经元，
and how they talk to each other by firing electrical signals.
以及它们如何发出电信号进行彼此交流。
We can genetically engineer neurons to be light sensitive and then use light to control how neurons fire.
我们可以用基因工程制造对光敏感的神经元，然后用光来控制神经元的激发。
This can change an animal's behavior, giving us insight into what that neural circuit can do.
这可以改变动物的行为，让我们能深入了解那个神经回路的作用。
Want to know how scientists figure this out?
想知道科学家是如何想出这种方法的吗？
Scientists developed optogenetic tools by borrowing knowledge from other basic science fields.
科学家借用其他基础科学领域的知识，开发出了光遗传工具。
Algae are single-celled organisms that have evolved to swim towards light.
水藻是单细胞生物，已经进化成向光而游的特性。
And when blue light shines onto the eyespot of an algae cell, a channel opens,
当蓝光照在水藻细胞的眼点上，有一个（离子）通道会打开，
sending an electrical signal that makes little flagella flap and propels the algae towards sunlight.
产生电信号，让小鞭毛拍动，将水藻推向阳光方向。
If we clone this light-sensitive part of the algae
如果我们复制水藻对光敏感的部分，
and then add it to neurons through genetic modification, we can make neurons light-sensitive, too.
通过基因编辑将其加入神经元，我们也能让神经元变得光敏感。
Except, with neurons, when we shine light down an optical fiber deep into the brain,
不过，对神经元而言，当我们通过光导纤维，把光照到大脑深处时，
we change how they send electrical signals to other neurons in the brain and thus change the animal's behavior.
我们会改变神经元如何将电信号发送给大脑中其余神经元，从而改变动物的行为。
With the help of my colleagues, I pioneered the use of optogenetic tools
在我同事的帮助下，我率先使用光遗传工具，
to selectively target neurons that are living in point A,
选择性地锁定A点的神经元，
sending messages down wires aimed at point B, leaving neighboring neurons going other places unaffected.
通过连结发送信息到B点，让周围联结其他地方的神经元不受影响。
This approach allowed us to test the function of each wire within the tangled mess that is our brain.
这个方法能让我们测试大脑这一团乱麻中每根连接线的功能。
A brain region called the amygdala has long been thought to be important for emotion,
大脑有个区域叫做杏仁核，大家一直认为它对情绪至关重要，
and my laboratory discovered that the amygdala resembles a fork in the road
而我的实验室发现，杏仁核就像是道路上的分叉，
where activating one path can drive positive emotion and approach,
启动一条路径就会驱动积极的情绪和接近行为，
and activating another path can drive negative emotion and avoidance.
而启动另一条路径则会导致消极的情绪和回避行为。
I'm going to show you a couple of examples -- a taste of raw data
我给大家展示几个例子--体验一下原数据，
of how we can use optogenetics to target specific neurons in the brain and get very specific changes in behavior.
我们如何用光遗传学来锁定大脑中特定神经元，并导致极其特定的行为变化。
Anxiety patients have abnormal communication between two parts of the amygdala,
焦虑症患者的杏仁核两个部分之间的交流存在异常，
but in people, it's hard to know if this abnormality is cause or effect of the disease.
但在人类身上很难知道这种异常是焦虑症的原因还是后果。
We can use optogenetics to target the same pathway in a mouse, and see what happens.
我们能使用光遗传学在小鼠身上锁定同样的通路，看看会发生什么。
So this is the elevated plus maze. It's a widely used anxiety test
这是高架十字迷宫。这是一种广泛使用的焦虑行为测试，
that measures the amount of time that the mouse spends in the safety of the closed arms relative to exploring the open arms.
它测量小鼠有多少时间待在闭合通道的安全中，与之相比又花多少时间在开放通道中探索。
Mice have evolved to prefer enclosed spaces, like the safety of their burrows,
小鼠已经演化成偏爱密闭空间，比如安全的鼠洞，
but to find food, water, mates, they need to go out into the open where they're more vulnerable to predatory threats.
但为了觅食、找水、寻配偶，它们需要出去到开放的野外，在那里它们更容易受到天敌威胁。
So I'm sitting in the background here, and I'm about to flip the switch.
我坐在背景的这里，我准备要去打开开关。
And now, when I flip the switch and turn the light on,
现在，我打开了开关，把光照打开。
you can see the mouse begins to explore the open arms of the maze more.
大家可以看到小鼠开始更频繁地探索迷宫中的开放通道。
And in contrast to drug treatments for anxiety,
与用药物治疗焦虑不同，
there's no sedation, no locomotor impairment, just coordinated, natural-looking exploration.
它没有变得镇静，也没有出现运动障碍，只是在进行协调、看起来自然的探索。
So not only is the effect almost immediate, but there are no detectable side effects.
这个几乎是立即见效，且没有任何可检测到的副作用。
Now, when I flip the switch off,
现在，我关上开关，
you can see that the mouse goes back to its normal brain function and back to its corner.
你们可以看见小鼠的脑功能恢复正常，且躲回了角落。
When I was in the lab and I was taking these data, I was all by myself, and I was so excited.
当我在实验室记录这些数据时，我非常兴奋，却只有我一个人。
I was so excited, I did one of these quiet screams. Aah!
我太激动，所以我安静地尖叫了一声。啊啊！
Why was I so excited? I mean, yeah, theoretically, I knew that the brain controlled the mind,
我为什么这么激动？理论上，我知道是大脑在控制思想，
but to flip the switch with my hand and see the mouse change its behavioral state so rapidly and so reversibly,
但由我亲手打开开关，看见了老鼠改变行为状态，如此迅速地，如此可逆的，
it was really the first time that I truly believed it.
这是我第一次真正相信这个理论。
Since that first breakthrough, there have been a number of other discoveries.
自从那第一次突破，我们又有了很多新发现。
Finding specific neural circuits that can elicit dramatic changes in animal behavior.
我们发现特定的神经回路能够引发动物行为的戏剧性改变。
Here's another example: compulsive overeating. We can eat for two reasons.
再举另一个例子：强迫性暴饮暴食。有两个理由让我们吃东西。
Seeking pleasure, like tasty food, or avoiding pain, like being hungry.
寻求愉悦，比如美味的食物；或者避免痛苦，比如饥饿。
How can we find a treatment for compulsive overeating without messing up the hunger-driven feeding that we need to survive?
我们要如何找出强迫性暴饮暴食的治疗方法，同时不扰乱我们生存所需的由饥饿驱使的进食呢？
The first step is to understand how the brain gives rise to feeding behavior.
第一步是要了解大脑如何引起进食行为。
This fully-fed mouse is just exploring a space completely devoid of any food.
这只完全吃饱的小鼠只是在探索一个完全没有任何食物的空间。
Here we're using optogenetics to target neurons living in the hypothalamus,
这里我们用光遗传学来锁定下丘脑中的神经元，
sending messages down wires aimed at the midbrain.
它们通过神经连结，发送信息到中脑。
When I turn the light on, right here, you can see that the mouse immediately begins licking the floor.
当我打开光照，就在此时，各位可以看见，小鼠马上开始舔地板。
This seemingly frenzied behavior is about to escalate into something I find really incredible.
这种看似很疯狂的行为即将升级成我觉得非常不可思议的情况。
It's kind of trippy, actually. Ready? It's right here.
其实有点像幻觉。准备好了吗？就是这里。
See, he picks up his hands as if he is eating a piece of food, but there's nothing there, he's not holding anything.
看，它把手举起来，就好像它在吃一块食物，但它手里什么也没有。
So this circuit is sufficient to drive feeding behavior in the absence of hunger, even in the absence of food.
这个神经回路足以驱使它做出进食行为，即使它根本不饿，甚至也没有食物。
I can't know for sure how this mouse is feeling,
我不确定这只小鼠是什么感觉，
but I speculate these neurons drive craving based on the behaviors we elicit when we target this pathway.
但根据我们锁定这条神经通路所引发的行为，我推测这些神经元能够驱使渴望。
Turn the light back off -- animal's back to normal.
再把光照关掉--动物归于正常。
When we silence this pathway, we can suppress and reduce compulsive overeating without altering hunger-driven feeding.
当我们关闭这条通路时，我们就能抑制及减轻强迫性暴饮暴食，却不会改变饥饿进食的本能。
What did you take away from these two videos that I just showed you?
从刚才我展示的两条短片中，我们学到了什么？
That making a very specific change to neural circuits in the brain can have specific changes to behavior.
那就是当我们对大脑神经回路做出特定的改变，就能让行为发生特定的变化。
That every conscious experience that we have is governed by cells in our brain.
我们所有有意识的体验都受大脑细胞的控制。
I am the daughter of a physicist and a biologist,
我的父母是物理学家和生物学家，
who literally met on the boat coming to America in pursuit of an education.
他们在来美国求学的船上相遇。
So naturally, since there was "no pressure" to be a scientist ...
所以，很自然，既然没有“压力”必须成为一名科学家...
as a college student, I had to decide whether I wanted to focus on psychology, the study of the mind,
当我还是大学生时，我需要决定是专攻心理学，研究思想，
or neuroscience, the study of the brain.
还是神经科学，研究大脑。
And I chose neuroscience, because I wanted to understand how the mind is born out of biological tissue.
而我选择了神经科学，因为我想要了解思想是怎样从生物组织中诞生的。
But really, I've come full circle to do both.
但其实，我很圆满地做到了两者兼顾。
And now my research program bridges the gap between the mind and the brain.
现在，我的研究项目连接了思想和大脑间的空隙。
Research from my laboratory suggests that we can begin to tie specific neural circuits to emotional states.
根据我实验室所做的研究，我们可以开始把特定的神经回路和情绪状态相关联。
And we have found a number of circuits that control anxiety-related behavior, compulsive overeating,
我们已经发现了若干回路可以控制焦虑相关的行为，强迫性暴饮暴食，
social interaction, avoidance and many other types of motivated behaviors that may reflect internal emotional states.
社交，逃避，以及其他种类的激励行为，它们或许都能反映内在的情绪状态。
We used to think of functions of the mind as being defined by brain regions.
我们曾认为思维的功能是由大脑区域来定义的。
But my work shows that within a given brain region, there are many different neurons doing different things.
但我的研究指出，在一个大脑区域内，会有许多不同的神经元在做不同的工作。
And these functions are partly defined by the paths they take.
这些功能有一部分是由神经的路径来定义的。
Here's a metaphor to help illustrate how these discoveries change the way that we think about the brain.
让我打个比方来说明这些发现如何改变我们看待大脑的方式。
Let's say that the brain is analogous to the world and that neurons are analogous to people.
让我们把大脑比作世界，把神经元比作人。
And we want to understand how information is transmitted across the planet.
而我们想要了解信息是如何在地球上传播的。
Sure, it's useful to know where a given person is located when recording what they're saying.
当然，如果在记录一个人说的话时，还能定位他的位置，会很有帮助。
But I would argue that it's equally important to know who this person is talking to,
但我认为同样重要的是，要知道这个人在对谁说话，
who is listening and how the people listening respond to the information that they receive.
谁在倾听，以及听到的人对他们收到的信息作何反应。
The current state of mental health treatment is essentially a strategy of trial and error. And it is not working.
心理健康治疗的现状基本上是在用试错策略，而且没有效果。
The development of new drug therapies for mental health disorders has hit a brick wall,
针对心理健康疾病的新型药物治疗方案开发已经四处碰壁，
with scarcely any real progress since the 1950s. So what does the future hold?
从上世纪50年代以后，几乎没有任何实质进展。那么，未来会如何？
In the near future, I expect to see a mental health treatment revolution,
在不久的将来，我期待看到一场心理健康治疗的变革，
where we focus on specific neural circuits in the brain.
我们会专注于大脑中特定的神经回路。
Diagnoses will be made based on both behavioral symptoms and measurable brain activity.
诊断依据将同时基于行为症状，以及可测量的脑部活动。
Further in the future, by combining our ability to make acute changes to the brain
在更远的将来，我们不仅能够对大脑进行急性改变，
and get acute changes to behavior with our knowledge of synaptic plasticity to make more permanent changes,
从而让行为发生急性改变，也可以藉由突触可塑性的知识，实现更永久的改变，将两者结合，
we could push the brain into a state of fixing itself by reprogramming neural circuits.
我们就可以把大脑推向通过神经回路重新编程，实现大脑自我修复的状态。
Exposure therapy at the circuit level.
在回路层面进行的暴露疗法。
Once we switch the brain into a state of self-healing,
一旦我们把大脑切换到自愈的状态，
this could potentially have long-lasting effects with no side effects.
就可能发挥持续的作用，没有任何副作用。
I can envision a future where neural circuit reprogramming represents a potential cure, not just a treatment.
我能设想在未来，神经回路的重新编程代表的不只是治疗方式，更是可能的解药。
OK, but what about right now? If from this very moment forward,
好的，但现在呢？如果从此刻以后，
each and every one of you left this talk and truly believed that the mind comes entirely from cells in your brain,
在座各位听完演讲后，真的相信思想完完全全源自你的大脑细胞，
then we could immediately get rid of negative perceptions and stigmas
那么我们可以立马甩掉消极的观念和污名，
that prevent so many people from getting the mental health support that they need.
不再阻止许多人获得他们所需的心理健康支持。
Mental health professionals, we're always thinking about what's the next new treatment.
心理健康专业人士总是在想，下一个新的疗法是什么。
But before we can apply new treatments, we need people to feel comfortable seeking them.
但在我们应用新的疗法之前，我们需要让人们能自在地寻求它们。
Imagine how dramatically we could reduce the rates of suicides and school shootings
想象一下，我们能把自杀率和校园枪击案降低多少，
if everyone who needed mental health support actually got it.
只需让那些需要心理治疗的人获得帮助的话。
When we truly understand exactly how the mind comes from the brain,
当我们真正了解思想是如何从大脑诞生的，
we will improve the lives of everyone who will have a mental illness in their lifetime -- half the population
我们就能为将来人生中会出现心理疾病的每个人改善他们的生活--他们占半数的人口，
as well as everyone else with whom they share the world. Thank you.
也能改善其他与之共享这个世界的人们的生活。谢谢。
