which I hope will not be a secret by the end of the talk.

並希望在演講結束前，它已不再是秘密

I am truly, madly, deeply passionate about the human brain.

我真的非常、瘋狂地、深深地為人類的大腦感到著迷

Science has taught us that our brain shapes us,

科學告訴我們，我們的腦會影響我們成為怎樣的人

that it makes us uniquely who we are.

也因為腦袋不同，每個人才如此特別

And if we think about our brain, it has 200 billion neurons.

人的腦有兩千億個神經元

Think about the world's population: that's a mere 7 billion.

相較全世界的人口數也不過七十億

And we have hundreds of trillions of connections in our brain.

但在大腦中就有好幾百兆的神經連結

If we imagine all the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy,

想像一下整個銀河系

there are more connections in our brain, than all of those stars combined.

所有的星星數量加起來，也沒有腦內的連結多

So, this incredibly complex organ that we carry with us

所以，這個我們每天不論去哪都帶著的的複雜器官

everywhere we go, it does shape who we are.

真的會影響我們是誰

It is a filter, it filters our perceptions

大腦是濾網，會過濾周遭的刺激

and our understanding of ourselves, of others, of our world,

影響我們對自己、他人、和世界的看法

and of our place in that world.

以及我們在這個世上的角色和地位

And, what is incredibly amazing

而且，很神奇的是

is no two brains are exactly alike.

沒有任何大腦是相同的

If you look at the person next to you,

如果你轉頭看你身旁的人

and you note all the physical differences between you:

你馬上會發現你們身體特徵的不同

the shape of your nose, the color of your eyes, your height,

鼻子的形狀、眼睛的顏色、身高

there are more differences between your two brains

不過，兩人在大腦上的不同

than all of those physical differences in combination.

遠遠超過上述所有外貌上相異處的總和

So, our brain does make us uniquely us.

所以，我們的腦真的讓每個人都與眾不同

And I am here today to share with you my story,

我今天在這裡要跟大家分享我的故事

and it's a story of how I came to learn

由親身經歷，我了解到

that not only does our brain shape us,

不只是大腦會影響我們

but that we can actually shape our brain.

我們的所作所為也能改變大腦

My story began in Grade 1,

故事要從小學一年級說起

and in Grade 1 I was identified as having a mental block.

小一時我被診斷出有思維障礙的問題

I was told I had a defect.

我生來有缺陷

And I was told I would never learn like other children.

大人們也說，我永遠不可能像其他小孩一樣學習

And really, the message at that time was loud and clear.

說真的，這訊息非常清楚，大人的話也很有權威

I was told I needed to learn to live with those limitations.

他們告訴我，我必須學會和這些天生的不足共處

And this was 1957, and it was the time of the unchangeable brain.

這發生在1957年，當時人們相信，我們無法做什麼來改變大腦

And childhood was a profound struggle for me.

我的童年就是一連串的掙扎

I couldn't tell time. I couldn't understand the relationship

我不會看時鐘，我搞不懂

between an hour hand and a minute hand on a clock.

時針和分針的關係

I couldn't understand language. Most of what I read, or heard,

我對語言也沒轍，大部分我看到或聽到的文字

was really as intelligible as the 'Jabberwocky'.

都像這首Lewis Carroll 寫的詩: Jabberwocky一樣，混亂難解

I could understand concrete things.

我可以理解具體的事物

If somebody said to me, "The man is wearing a black coat",

如果有人對我說，那男人穿著黑色外套

I could paint the picture in my head, and I could understand that.

我可以在腦中畫出那個景象，進而了解

But what I couldn't do was understand concepts, or ideas, or relationships.

但我無法了解的是概念、想法或關係

So, lots of things were confusing.

所以很多事情都令人困惑

I pondered, how could my aunt also be my mother's sister?

例如，我想破頭也不知道，為何我的阿姨同時也是我媽媽的姊妹?

And what did that fraction, 1/4, really mean?

四分之一到底代表什麼意思?

Any kind of abstract concept was hard for me.

任何抽象的概念對我來說都很難理解

Irony in jokes: that was impossible.

笑話裡的諷刺口吻，我永遠不懂

So, I learned to laugh when other people did.

所以最後我學會在別人笑的時候跟著一起笑

Cause and effect: it did not exist in my world.

因果關係? 這在我字典裡可不存在

There were no reasons behind why things happened.

每件事情對我來說，都沒有什麼「背後的原因」

My world was a series of disconnected bits and pieces of unrelated fragments.

我的世界就是由一連串不相連、不相關的碎片和片段所組成

And eventually, my fragmented view of the world

最終我對世界破碎的認識

ended up causing a very fragmented sense of myself.

也導致同樣破碎的自我認同

And that wasn't all: this whole left side of my body

還不只如此，我身體的左半部分

was like an alien being, unconnected to the rest of me.

好像不屬於我一樣，和其他部分不相連

I would bang and bump into things on the left side of my body.

我的左半邊常會撞到東西

If I picked up anything in this left hand, I would drop it.

如果我用左手撿起一樣東西，它會馬上掉回地上

If I put this left hand on the hot burner, I would feel pain,

如果我把左手放在火爐上，我會感到疼痛

but I had no idea where it was coming from.

但我完全不會知道那感覺是哪來的

I was truly a danger to myself.

我完全是個危險人物，隨時可能讓自己受傷

My mother, she was convinced I would be dead by the age of 5.

我母親深信我活不過五歲

And then, if that wasn't enough, I had a spatial problem.

除了上面一堆問題之外，我對空間也有障礙

I couldn't imagine three-dimensional space.

我無法理解三度空間

I couldn't create maps in my head.

我無法在腦中畫出地圖

I would constantly get lost, even in my friend's house.

我經常迷路，就連在朋友的家裡也會

Crossing the street instilled terror.

過街讓我非常驚恐

I could not judge how far away was that car.

我無法判定車子離我還有多遠

Geometry was a nightmare.

幾何學是場噩夢

I felt incredible shame.

我覺得非常羞恥

I felt there was something horribly, horribly wrong with me.

我身上一定是有什麼非常可怕的錯誤

And in my child's mind, when I'd heard that diagnosis,

當我小時候聽到醫生的診斷時

of having a mental block, I actually thought

我真的以為「思維障礙」的意思是

I had a wooden cube in my head that made learning difficult.

我腦中有個方塊(block也有方塊之意)讓我學習困難

And I didn't have a piece of wood in my head, but I wasn't far wrong.

當然我腦袋裡並不是真的有塊木頭，但也沒差太多

I had blockages, as I was later to learn,

我之後才知道，我的大腦有梗塞的問題

in very critical parts of my brain.

在我腦部分常重要的區塊

And I tried all the traditional approaches, they were all about compensation,

我嘗試過所有傳統醫法，但這些方法

and about working around the problem,

都是在想辦法繞道而行

finding a strength to support a weakness.

或找到力量與之抗衡

They were not about trying to address the source of the problem,

而不是回歸到造成這些問題的根本原因

and they took heroic effort, and led to rather limited results for me.

我努力嘗試這些療法，但效果實在有限

Then, Grade 8.

八年級

I hit the wall.

我碰到撞牆期，一切都到了極限

I could not imagine how I could go on to high school,

我無法想像我要怎麼繼續讀高中

and handle more complex curriculum.

上更複雜的課程內容

The only option I could see was ending my life.

我唯一的選擇，似乎就是結束生命

So, I decided to end the pain.

所以，我決定要結束一切痛苦

And the next morning, when I woke up after my failed suicide attempt,

隔天早上，我醒來，自殺失敗

I berated myself for not even being able to get that right.

我瞧不起自己，連自殺都做不好

So, I soldiered on.

我只好繼續辛苦度日

And part of what kept me going was an attitude that I learned from my father.

讓我能繼續前進的力量，有部分是來自我從父親身上學來的態度

He was an inventor, and he was passionate about the creative process.

他是個發明家，非常著迷於發明的過程

He taught me that if there's a problem, and there's no solution,

他告訴我，如果現在有一個問題，但沒有解決方法

you go out and create a solution.

你就該豁出去，發明一個解決辦法

And the other thing he taught me was

另一件他教我的事情是

that before you can solve a problem, you have to identify its nature.

想要解決一個問題前，你必須看清它的本質

So I continued my hunt. I went on to study psychology,

所以我繼續我的追尋，開始研究心理學

to try to understand what was wrong with me,

想了解我到底出了什麼問題

what was the source of my problem.

是什麼原因導致的

And then, in the summer of 1977, something life-altering happened.

接著，在1977年的夏天，我的生命就此改變

I met a mind like my own,

我遇到了一個像我一樣的腦袋

A Russian soldier, Lev Zasetsky, the only difference being

一個蘇俄軍人，里歐佛 薩賽斯基。唯一的不同是

his mind was shaped by a bullet,

他的腦袋是因為一顆子彈而受傷

and mine had been that way since birth.

我則是生下來就有缺陷

I met Zasestky on the pages of a book, 'The Man With a Shattered World',

我其實是在書上遇到薩賽斯基的，書名是《崩毀世界中的男人》

wrtitten by the brilliant Russian neuropsychologist, Alexander Luria.

作者是俄羅斯著名的神經心理學家，亞歷山大 羅利亞

As I read Zasetsky's story,

讀著薩賽斯基的故事

he couldn't tell time, he described living in a dense fog.

我發現他也不會看時鐘，並形容他活在迷霧之中

All he got was fragments, bits and pieces.

他搞懂的都只有片段，一些碎片

This man was living my life.

這個男人描述的，就是我的生活

So now, at the age of 25, in 1977,

到了1977年，我25歲時

I knew the source of my problem.

我終於找到了解答

It was a part of my brain, in the left hemisphere, that wasn't working.

我左半腦的部分區塊無法正常運作

And then I came across the work of Mark Rosenzweig,

後來我又讀到了馬克 羅森維格

and he showed me a solution.

看到了解決辦法

Rosenzweig was working with rats,

羅森維格拿老鼠做實驗

and he found that rats in an enriched and stimulating environment

他發現，在充滿刺激、比較豐富的環境下的老鼠

were better learners.

學得比較快

And then he went and looked at their brains:

他接著研究這些老鼠的大腦

their brains had changed physiologically to support that learning.

牠們的腦為了複合這些學習，而有了生理上的改變

And this was neuroplasticity in action.

這就是神經可塑性

Neuroplasticity, simply put, the brain's ability to change

神經可塑性，或腦的可塑性，意思就是：大腦面對刺激

physiologically and functionally, as the result of stimulation.

在生理上和功能上都有改變的潛能

So now I knew what I had to do.

所以現在我知道我該做什麼了

I had to find a way to work, to exercise my brain,

我必須想辦法鍛鍊我的腦

to strengthen those weak parts.

強化無法正常運作的部分

And this was the beginning of my transformation and of my life's work.

這帶來了我的改變，也成為我一生的志業

And I had to believe that humans must have at least as much neuroplasticity,

我相信人類必定具備至少和老鼠同等的、

and hopefully more, than rats.

希望更多的神經可塑性

So, I went on to create my first exercise.

我接著開始發明第一個練習

And I used clocks, because clocks are form of relationship,

我用時鐘來練習，因為時鐘就是各種關係的組成

and I had never been able to tell time.

我從來沒辦法看懂時鐘

So I started with the two-handed clock,

一開始我從只有時針、分針的鐘開始

to force my brain to process relationships,

逼迫我的腦去處理針之間的關係

and then I added a third hand, and then a fourth hand,

後來我加入第三個針、第四根針

because I wanted to make my brain to work harder, and harder, and harder,

讓我的大腦更努力、更努力、更努力

to pull together concepts and understand their connection.

去理解抽象概念，搞懂它們之間的關係

And about three to four months in,

大概三、四個月後

I knew something significant had changed.

我知道我有巨大的改變

I'd always wanted to read philosophy, and had never been able to understand it.

我一直以來都想讀懂哲學，但從來沒成功

And I just happened to have access to a philosophy library.

我湊巧可以進入一個以哲學為藏書特色的圖書館

So I went in, and I pulled a book off the shelf,

進去後，我從書架上拉出一本書

and I opened it to a page at random,

隨意翻到某一頁

and I read that page, and I understood it as I was reading it.

我仔細閱讀，發現我都讀懂了

This had never happened in my entire life.

這是我一生之中從沒發生過的事

And then I thought, maybe it's a fluke, maybe that was just an easy book.

我想，這可能只是湊巧吧，那可能是本很簡單的書

So I pulled another book off the shelf, opened it, read it, and understood it.

我以我又從架上拿了本書，打開、閱讀、理解

And by the time I was finished, I was surrounded by a pile of a hundred books,

在我結束時，我身旁堆著一百本書

and I had been able to read and understand each page.

我能閱讀並了解每一頁

So I knew that something had changed.

所以我知道一定有什麼發生了轉變

(Applause)

(掌聲)

Thank you. My experiment had worked.

謝謝，我的實驗成功了

The human brain was capable of change.

人的大腦是可以透過訓練產生改變的

And then I decided to create an exercise

後來我決定發明另一個練習

for that alien part of my body,

來鍛鍊我無法掌控的左半邊身體

and for that I knew I had to work on an area in the right hemisphere,

我知道為此我必須鍛鍊右半腦的某特定區塊

the somatosensory cortex that registers sensation.

也就是接收刺激的感覺皮質區

I created an exercise for that and I am no longer a danger to myself.

我發明了練習方法，所以我不再會對自己產生危險

And then I decided, that spatial problem,

接著我也想來處理一下空間方面的障礙

because I was really tired of getting lost,

因為我真是受夠了一直迷路

and so I created another exercise for that,

所以我也為此發明了另一個鍛鍊方式

and I don't get lost, I can actually read maps -- I don't like GPS's,

現在我不會迷路，我可以讀懂地圖了──我不喜歡 GPS (衛星定位系統)

because I like to read maps now, because I can. (Laughter)

我喜歡看地圖，因為我現在看得懂

So, I knew now, the brain could change.

所以我現在知道大腦是有改變的可能

I was living proof of human neuroplasticity.

我就是人類神經可塑性的活生生例子

And what really breaks my heart

讓我心碎的是

is that I still meet people today,

直到今天我依然會碰到

children, individuals, that are struggling with learning problems,

受學習障礙而苦的小孩、大人

and they're still being told what I was told in 1957,

但他們依然像我在1957年一樣

that they need to learn to live with their limitations,

被告知，他們必須有學習和障礙共處

they don't dare to dream.

他們不敢懷抱夢想

And what I learned since 1977,

我在1977年

when I met Zasetsky and Luria, and Rosenzweig,

接觸到薩賽斯基、羅利亞和羅森維格之後

is that, yes, our brain does shape us,

學到：沒錯，我們的大腦會影響我們

it impacts how we can engage, and participate, and be in the world,

它決定我們可以怎麼和世界互動、參與這個世界

and every single one of us

我們每一個人

has our own unique profile of cognitive strengths and weaknesses.

在認知上都有獨特的長處和短處

And if there's a limitation, we don't necessarily have to live with it.

如果大腦有缺陷，我們不一定要忍受它

We now know about neuroplasticity,

我們現在知道腦的可塑性

and we can harness the brain's changeable characteristics,

我們可以靠這項特點

to create programs to actually strengthen and stimulate and change our brain.

開發可以強化、刺激、改變大腦的課程

And in 1966, Rosenzweig threw down the gauntlet.

1966年，羅森維格丟下他的手套

He said, his challenge was: "Let's take what he'd learned with rats,

他說，他的挑戰是，把在老鼠身上學到的

and apply it to human learning."

運用在人類的學習上

And we need to embrace that challenge,

我們應該繼續接受這項挑戰

we need to also challenge current practices

也需要挑戰現有的制度

that are still operating out of that paradigm of the unchangeable brain.

那些還照著「大腦無法改變」來規劃的制度

We need to work together to take what we know now about neuroplasticity,

我們必須合作，運用已知道神經可塑性

and develop programs that actually shape our brains,

重新規劃真的可以塑造大腦的課程

to change the future of learning.

改變未來的學習模式

My vision is of a world that we create,

我的夢想是，在未來

in which no child has to live

沒有任何孩童

with the ongoing struggle and pain of a learning disability.

需要因為學習障礙受苦

My vision is that cognitive exercises become just a normal part of curriculum.

我的夢想是，認知訓練能成為正規課程的一部份

My vision is that school becomes a place that we go to strengthen our brain,

我的夢想是，學校成為我們去強化大腦的地方

to become really efficient and effective learners,

成為有效率的學習者

engaged in a learning process,

主動參與學習過程

where not only, as learners, can we dare to dream,

這對學生來說，是夢想的實現

but we can realize our dream.

對我們來說也是

And to me, this is the perfect marriage between neuroscience and education.

對我來說，這是神經科學和教育最好的結合

Thank you.

謝謝

(Applause)

(掌聲)