[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.30,0:00:04.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For a long time, it was believed that the human brain was fixed or hardwired
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.30,0:00:09.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and most forms of brain damage were therefore permanent and irreversible.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.41,0:00:13.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,However, scientists have since come to realize that far from being fixed,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.51,0:00:18.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the brain has remarkable powers to regenerate itself even in old age.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.83,0:00:21.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Norman Doidge is a psychiatrist and medical researcher.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.00,0:00:27.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In his new book, he explores the impact of this revolutionary discovery on all of us.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.28,0:00:30.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's called "The Brain That Changes Itself."
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.16,0:00:33.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Stories of personal triumph from the frontiers of brain science.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.99,0:00:38.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For years, we've been told that the human brain is like a machine,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.33,0:00:40.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a computer that there are different parts
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.23,0:00:42.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they're responsible for different functions.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.19,0:00:47.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And if those parts break or wear down or damaged, we lose that function.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.90,0:00:51.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, in your new book, you throw this all on its head and you say that in fact,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.31,0:00:53.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the brain is plastic,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.17,0:00:54.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,explain what that means.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.99,0:00:58.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, plastic means plastic in the sense of Plasticine,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.51,0:01:00.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,modifiable, adaptable.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.27,0:01:02.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The plastic brain is a brain that can
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.92,0:01:05.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,change its structure and its function depending on
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.62,0:01:06.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,both...
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.66,0:01:08.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Without drugs or invasive...
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.00,0:01:11.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Without drugs. Just depending on what you do with your brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:11.80,0:01:14.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The task at hand that you are working on,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.09,0:01:18.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what you're perceiving can cause you to change the structure of your brain
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.88,0:01:21.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on many levels 
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.98,0:01:23.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and this is the most fantastic part,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.71,0:01:27.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what you think and imagine actually can change the structure of your brain
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.21,0:01:28.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,down 
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.88,0:01:32.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the very connections between the brain cells, down into the genes
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.62,0:01:33.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even for instance.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.81,0:01:36.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the most,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.83,0:01:37.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.34,0:01:39.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,staggeringly interesting discoveries of the late
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.98,0:01:42.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,20th century was the discovery that learning
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.96,0:01:46.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,changes the number of connections between the neurons,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.73,0:01:49.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the nerve cells in a nervous system.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.12,0:01:53.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can go, for instance, from having perhaps 1300
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.59,0:01:55.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,connections between
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.20,0:01:58.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,nerve cell A and nerve cell B to 2700
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.28,0:02:02.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with several hours of training. By virtue of more brain activity occurring,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.11,0:02:05.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By virtue of learning and brain activity. So,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.80,0:02:09.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what happens is thoughts
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.31,0:02:11.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or activities that you do with your brain
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.53,0:02:15.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,actually turn certain genes on and others off inside the nerve
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.45,0:02:18.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,cells, which then make proteins which then change the structure.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.83,0:02:19.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.09,0:02:22.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,why is this discovery considered so revolutionary and more particularly what
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.77,0:02:26.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are the implications of this discovery for people with brain dysfunction?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.42,0:02:31.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A stroke for example. When you had a stroke, the general assumption was
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.20,0:02:37.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,your brain got swollen, the chemicals were kind of deranged and after a few weeks,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.30,0:02:40.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whatever you were left with was what you would have
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.45,0:02:41.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to live with for the rest of your life.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.75,0:02:43.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You basically lost that brain
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.48,0:02:47.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,function that was damaged. The cells died, they couldn't be replaced,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.48,0:02:49.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the healthy ones around it couldn't reorganize.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.36,0:02:51.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, 
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.51,0:02:54.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we were kind of waiting for the swelling to
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.22,0:02:56.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,go away and rehab was just sort of focused on
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.64,0:02:59.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,getting you over that period. Now, we know that rehab can actually
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.19,0:03:05.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,reorganize the brain if it's done properly and bring many new functions back.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.33,0:03:07.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But if I could just say it, it also meant
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.72,0:03:08.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that 
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.49,0:03:13.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as you started to get older and your brain started to decline.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.63,0:03:15.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was like a machine that was wearing out
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.77,0:03:19.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the attempt to exercise your brain in the second half
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.06,0:03:22.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of life was really kind of unwarranted or waste of time.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.03,0:03:24.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, we just
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.51,0:03:28.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,accepted a view of human development in which
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.68,0:03:33.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the second half of life is a period of necessary mental decline.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.31,0:03:36.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then, of course, the whole view of human nature that we have, you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.59,0:03:39.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,since the rise of modern science, most
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.43,0:03:44.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,educated people see human nature in some way is emerging from the human brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.18,0:03:46.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And if the human brain was fixed, immutable
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.60,0:03:48.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and a rigid structure,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:48.43,0:03:51.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it made a lot of sense to think of human nature as fundamentally fixed.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.16,0:03:52.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, 
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.15,0:03:57.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we have to re-examine all that and I begin to do that in this book.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.35,0:04:00.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, you do it by way of story and that there's some remarkable,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.53,0:04:03.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,almost logic defying, remarkable,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.30,0:04:05.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,given what our traditional notion of what the brain is,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.65,0:04:07.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,probably the most remarkable.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.66,0:04:12.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it is the story of a woman who was born with half a brain. Tell me about Michelle.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.74,0:04:15.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I went to visit Michelle because I thought that
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.10,0:04:20.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I knew that she was born with one hemisphere alone,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.49,0:04:21.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just half a brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.36,0:04:21.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.88,0:04:24.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I thought that whatever changes that she was able
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.13,0:04:26.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to undergo would really test this notion of
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.65,0:04:29.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,plasticity, certainly, at least in early life.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:29.78,0:04:30.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And 
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.45,0:04:36.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,basically, when she was in the womb, some catastrophic event occurred, so
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.49,0:04:38.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,her left hemisphere never developed.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:39.35,0:04:39.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.16,0:04:43.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,based on what, you know, the usual view of
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.55,0:04:44.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.02,0:04:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the brain basically has certain areas which in the left
Dialogue: 0,0:04:47.01,0:04:49.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hemisphere which are responsible for speech and other functions,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.72,0:04:53.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,someone with that level of damage you would imagine
Dialogue: 0,0:04:54.64,0:04:59.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,would be unable to speak, unable to think, they might be alive, but on a respirator.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:01.40,0:05:04.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it turns out that that's not the case with Michelle. 
Dialogue: 0,0:05:04.99,0:05:06.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, 
Dialogue: 0,0:05:06.67,0:05:07.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if you met Michelle,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:07.97,0:05:13.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you would detect some subtle things like one of her arms is a little twisted,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:13.41,0:05:14.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,et cetera
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.30,0:05:14.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and
Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.47,0:05:18.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,her speech when she's upset, it's a little repetitive,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:19.20,0:05:20.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but you would never dream.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.68,0:05:24.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And nor did the people who examined her for a number of years dream
Dialogue: 0,0:05:25.11,0:05:26.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that she had half a brain. Well, explain to this
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.00,0:05:29.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,now, if we had thought that
Dialogue: 0,0:05:29.70,0:05:31.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this part of the brain is responsible for speech
Dialogue: 0,0:05:31.63,0:05:33.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I don't have this part of the brain,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.29,0:05:34.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How is Michelle speaking?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:34.73,0:05:37.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We know that there's a lot of plasticity early in life.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.38,0:05:40.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But we also know and I make this very clear in the book,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.53,0:05:42.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there's plasticity from cradle to grave.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:42.85,0:05:46.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But you know, there are waves of increased plasticity
Dialogue: 0,0:05:46.57,0:05:49.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it turns out that what the brain does is
Dialogue: 0,0:05:49.77,0:05:53.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it learns how to do what it's got to do at the time. So,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.93,0:05:55.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,parts of the brain that might have been
Dialogue: 0,0:05:55.60,0:05:57.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,devoted to other things will learn how to move.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.53,0:06:00.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If it has to see to survive, they'll be devoted to vision.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.05,0:06:01.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.90,0:06:02.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all 
Dialogue: 0,0:06:03.15,0:06:06.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,these things can actually be organized and move around,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:06.85,0:06:10.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,these higher mental functions. To give our viewers even more
Dialogue: 0,0:06:10.67,0:06:12.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,kind of appreciation of the extent to which 
Dialogue: 0,0:06:12.43,0:06:13.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's possible.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:13.73,0:06:17.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Retell the story that's in the book that
Dialogue: 0,0:06:17.41,0:06:19.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you dub the woman who is perpetually falling.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:20.77,0:06:21.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Cheryl Schiltz
Dialogue: 0,0:06:22.43,0:06:23.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was a woman.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:23.40,0:06:25.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She had a hysterectomy and she was given
Dialogue: 0,0:06:25.17,0:06:28.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a medication because she developed an infection called gentamicin
Dialogue: 0,0:06:29.12,0:06:29.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.20,0:06:34.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it poisoned the vestibular apparatus, which is the balance apparatus in her brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:34.93,0:06:36.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And if you lose your sense of balance,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:36.71,0:06:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you will feel like you're perpetually falling. When I was with Cheryl at one point,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:40.16,0:06:43.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I asked her, "What's it like when you've finally fallen to the floor?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:43.77,0:06:45.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What do you feel at that point?"
Dialogue: 0,0:06:45.64,0:06:46.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then she says,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:46.31,0:06:50.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Sometimes, I just feel the floor opens up and I fall into a perpetual abyss."
Dialogue: 0,0:06:50.17,0:06:52.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So that was her life and she ended up on disability.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:53.66,0:06:54.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And one of the great
Dialogue: 0,0:06:55.25,0:06:55.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people 
Dialogue: 0,0:06:55.93,0:06:58.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who were at the cutting edge,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:58.17,0:07:01.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I call these people "neuroplastician" to coin a phrase,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:01.25,0:07:01.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Paul 
Dialogue: 0,0:07:02.16,0:07:02.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Bach-y-Rita
Dialogue: 0,0:07:03.41,0:07:05.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,invented a mechanism
Dialogue: 0,0:07:05.45,0:07:07.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I was there when she was using the mechanism for one
Dialogue: 0,0:07:07.99,0:07:11.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the first times that basically was attached to an accelerometer.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:11.84,0:07:13.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,An accelerometer is like a gyroscope.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:14.12,0:07:14.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.29,0:07:16.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she would...
Dialogue: 0,0:07:16.62,0:07:20.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The accelerometer would be in a hat on her head. Like a construction hat.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.28,0:07:21.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like a construction hat.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:21.95,0:07:26.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it would give signals that went into her tongue of all places
Dialogue: 0,0:07:27.35,0:07:29.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,telling her where she was in space. I tried it on.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:29.72,0:07:32.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So when you lean forward and you feel like champagne bubbles,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:32.72,0:07:35.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they're really little electric shocks, tell you you're forward, you lean back,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:35.95,0:07:36.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it goes back
Dialogue: 0,0:07:37.28,0:07:38.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and she would put this hat on.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:39.54,0:07:40.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And
Dialogue: 0,0:07:40.75,0:07:41.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,immediately
Dialogue: 0,0:07:42.31,0:07:47.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she would... Normally, she'd be holding herself like up on a table lest she fall
Dialogue: 0,0:07:47.67,0:07:49.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and immediately her whole body relaxed.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:50.88,0:07:53.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this seemed like a miracle. Why? Because
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.22,0:07:55.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the sensory
Dialogue: 0,0:07:55.38,0:07:57.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,apparatus, the
Dialogue: 0,0:07:57.31,0:07:59.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sense of touch on the tongue goes to a
Dialogue: 0,0:07:59.49,0:08:01.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,different part of the brain and the balance apparatus.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:01.77,0:08:01.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So
Dialogue: 0,0:08:02.07,0:08:04.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,somehow or rather these signals coming in
Dialogue: 0,0:08:05.62,0:08:11.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were making new pathways or strengthening very dormant pathways between
Dialogue: 0,0:08:11.47,0:08:14.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,her sense of touch and her sense of balance,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:14.51,0:08:18.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that was the first miracle I saw that happening and she had tried it on.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:18.50,0:08:18.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But 
Dialogue: 0,0:08:19.95,0:08:22.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then there was a second miracle which
Dialogue: 0,0:08:22.45,0:08:25.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is as she started to use the machine more,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:26.04,0:08:28.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she found she had a residual period
Dialogue: 0,0:08:28.64,0:08:29.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where
Dialogue: 0,0:08:29.97,0:08:31.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she would take the hat off.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:32.41,0:08:34.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And at first, the residual period lasted
Dialogue: 0,0:08:34.98,0:08:37.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,30 seconds. Residual period being that she still had balance. (MULTIPLE VOICES).
Dialogue: 0,0:08:38.09,0:08:38.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Exactly.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:39.07,0:08:39.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's
Dialogue: 0,0:08:39.43,0:08:39.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,right.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:40.16,0:08:42.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It lasted for, you know, a few seconds and then
Dialogue: 0,0:08:42.89,0:08:44.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it lasted longer and longer.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:44.32,0:08:47.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And as she started to use the hat and take it home and use it,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:47.94,0:08:50.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she would be going for days. And
Dialogue: 0,0:08:50.84,0:08:53.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that was a true miracle because what was happening was 
Dialogue: 0,0:08:54.06,0:08:54.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a miracle. I mean,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:55.01,0:08:55.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's only a miracle
Dialogue: 0,0:08:55.90,0:08:59.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if you think that the brain is fixed, it's actually not a miracle.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:00.08,0:09:00.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because 
Dialogue: 0,0:09:00.91,0:09:03.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she now no longer considers herself a
Dialogue: 0,0:09:03.25,0:09:05.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,wobbler. Because the brain reordered itself and put
Dialogue: 0,0:09:05.75,0:09:07.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the balance in a different part of the brain that wasn't then.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:07.87,0:09:11.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yeah. And, it developed new paths. Now, is this sensory substitution?
Dialogue: 0,0:09:11.52,0:09:12.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, this is again,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:12.03,0:09:16.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,another fascinating notion he introduces. This is what 
Dialogue: 0,0:09:16.73,0:09:17.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Paul 
Dialogue: 0,0:09:17.42,0:09:19.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Bach-y-Rita called sensory substitution. He did
Dialogue: 0,0:09:20.10,0:09:20.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this
Dialogue: 0,0:09:20.93,0:09:24.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as well for people who had been congenitally blind,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:24.95,0:09:26.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they've never seen anything.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:26.59,0:09:26.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, 
Dialogue: 0,0:09:27.00,0:09:31.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he rigged up a camera to a computer and then attached it originally just to the back
Dialogue: 0,0:09:32.10,0:09:34.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and there were vibrating pixels that were on the back.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:34.34,0:09:36.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then he put it in to the tongue
Dialogue: 0,0:09:36.63,0:09:39.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he found that he could train a human tongue
Dialogue: 0,0:09:40.68,0:09:42.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to function like a retina.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:42.95,0:09:44.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they would be able to see Twiggy.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:45.34,0:09:47.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They would say, "Well, that's a picture of Twiggy."
Dialogue: 0,0:09:47.41,0:09:52.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's a picture of a vase...you've just moved a vase in front of a telephone,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:52.05,0:09:53.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they could read certain things.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:54.27,0:09:58.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you threw a ball at them, they would duck, they could see perspective.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:58.21,0:09:59.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, so this is remarkable.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:00.10,0:10:00.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They could see through the tongue.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:00.94,0:10:04.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What was happening is the tongue is like a two-dimensional surface
Dialogue: 0,0:10:04.18,0:10:06.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just as the retina,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:06.19,0:10:07.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the retina is.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:07.69,0:10:08.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And yeah,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:08.54,0:10:09.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,basically...
Dialogue: 0,0:10:10.25,0:10:10.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The images would be...
Dialogue: 0,0:10:11.03,0:10:12.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Images would be on the tongue.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:12.21,0:10:16.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then, we've recently learned, actually, this was some work also done 
Dialogue: 0,0:10:16.14,0:10:16.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in Canada,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:17.05,0:10:18.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Bach-y-Rita was from the states
Dialogue: 0,0:10:19.03,0:10:19.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that
Dialogue: 0,0:10:20.23,0:10:24.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the input coming into the tongue was processed in the back of the brain,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:24.74,0:10:27.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which we tend to call the visual cortex.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:27.52,0:10:29.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it was all being rerouted
Dialogue: 0,0:10:29.84,0:10:30.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and
Dialogue: 0,0:10:30.77,0:10:31.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Paul
Dialogue: 0,0:10:31.46,0:10:34.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Bach-y-Rita has found different ways to do sensory substitution, which is
Dialogue: 0,0:10:34.72,0:10:38.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,lay the groundwork for the notion of a retinal implant, but,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:38.88,0:10:41.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know, helping other people who have 
Dialogue: 0,0:10:41.24,0:10:43.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,literally lost the ability to sense certain things.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:43.12,0:10:46.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We touched on the whole issue of stroke victims.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:46.68,0:10:49.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that you can tell a great story here about a surgeon in
Dialogue: 0,0:10:50.29,0:10:54.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,his mid 50s had a terrible debilitating stroke.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:54.53,0:10:56.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tell me how he came back. Michael Bernstein,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:56.96,0:11:00.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,yeah, out, he was playing tennis. He was a tennis...
Dialogue: 0,0:11:00.32,0:11:03.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He spent the morning doing surgery on the eyes,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:03.23,0:11:07.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so he needs a lot of fine motor skills. It's microscopic surgery.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:07.59,0:11:09.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's in a small confined space.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:10.33,0:11:11.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Then, he was playing tennis,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:11.32,0:11:14.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then he developed a stroke and he couldn't move one side of his body.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:14.40,0:11:16.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He went for conventional rehabilitation,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:16.59,0:11:18.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they gave him whatever it was the 4 to 6 weeks.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:20.93,0:11:24.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And basically, they said you're on your own and he had very,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:24.43,0:11:28.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,very little control of his arm at that point and very little control of his leg,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:28.59,0:11:29.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then he tried a new
Dialogue: 0,0:11:30.11,0:11:31.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,form of treatment. He
Dialogue: 0,0:11:31.63,0:11:33.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,happened to be from Birmingham,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:33.04,0:11:36.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Alabama where a man named Edward Taub had
Dialogue: 0,0:11:36.78,0:11:39.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,developed this new treatment called constraint-induced therapy.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:40.31,0:11:40.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And
Dialogue: 0,0:11:41.49,0:11:45.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one of the things that neuroplasticians have shown in hundreds of experiments
Dialogue: 0,0:11:45.31,0:11:47.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,now is that it's use it or lose it brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:48.13,0:11:50.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you don't use something,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:51.15,0:11:54.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's that cortical real estate is taken over by something else.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:55.47,0:11:55.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:56.36,0:11:58.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what happens when a very common form
Dialogue: 0,0:11:58.84,0:12:00.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of stroke is you have a stroke in the left
Dialogue: 0,0:12:01.07,0:12:03.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hemisphere and you can't move your 
Dialogue: 0,0:12:03.35,0:12:04.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,right hand. You're paralyzed.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:05.41,0:12:07.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can't move it well, et cetera.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:07.39,0:12:09.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so people try to use their arms,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:09.99,0:12:10.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it doesn't work
Dialogue: 0,0:12:11.58,0:12:12.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and
Dialogue: 0,0:12:12.40,0:12:13.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so they stopped using them.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:13.88,0:12:14.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:14.52,0:12:16.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what Taub did ingeniously was,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:17.19,0:12:19.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he got people to put their good hands in slings. 
Dialogue: 0,0:12:19.78,0:12:21.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Constrain them. He constrained them
Dialogue: 0,0:12:22.01,0:12:24.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then if a person could just do this,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:24.68,0:12:26.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he would give them small amounts just to get
Dialogue: 0,0:12:26.55,0:12:28.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a little more control over that very incremental,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:29.10,0:12:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he worked them very, very hard.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:31.21,0:12:34.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they would have to do things like, you know, try to wash pots. And,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:34.95,0:12:37.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know, people would come in, they couldn't dress themselves, they 
Dialogue: 0,0:12:37.74,0:12:39.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,couldn't eat, they couldn't put food on a fork.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:40.00,0:12:42.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They literally would have been dependent for the rest of their lives.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:42.90,0:12:45.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And Michael Bernstein was one of the first to go
Dialogue: 0,0:12:45.04,0:12:47.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through this and after two weeks of very intensive training,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:47.78,0:12:49.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that's not a long time. No. No.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:49.63,0:12:49.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It
Dialogue: 0,0:12:49.81,0:12:49.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,isn't,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:50.27,0:12:54.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was able to function, get back to work and function as a surgeon.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:55.48,0:12:59.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And there are people who went to Taub clinic, there was one person
Dialogue: 0,0:12:59.28,0:13:00.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I spoke to had
Dialogue: 0,0:13:00.14,0:13:03.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a stroke almost 50 years before. He had been
Dialogue: 0,0:13:03.19,0:13:05.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a little boy playing baseball when he had a stroke.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:05.39,0:13:06.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They 
Dialogue: 0,0:13:06.74,0:13:08.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could help him. All these years,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:08.66,0:13:09.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after the fact, I mean,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:09.84,0:13:12.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's just so remarkable because that plasticity
Dialogue: 0,0:13:12.50,0:13:14.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the ability to reorganize 
Dialogue: 0,0:13:14.10,0:13:15.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is in the brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:15.29,0:13:18.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it has even helped people who've had traumatic injuries,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:18.26,0:13:19.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,traumatic brain injuries.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:20.15,0:13:22.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think that's the kind of thing that would be very helpful
Dialogue: 0,0:13:22.83,0:13:23.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for
Dialogue: 0,0:13:23.67,0:13:27.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,anyone who's got those kinds... Well, not anyone but many people with
Dialogue: 0,0:13:27.79,0:13:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,traumatic brain injuries, for instance,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:30.01,0:13:32.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,think of the soldiers getting back from Afghanistan.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:32.42,0:13:37.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Is this kind of therapy or are these kinds of treatments now finding their way 
Dialogue: 0,0:13:37.08,0:13:38.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into medical practice?
Dialogue: 0,0:13:38.08,0:13:38.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not quite.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:38.61,0:13:41.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,No, because normally when someone has a stroke or any kind of brain damage,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:41.76,0:13:43.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, we really do look on it very,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:43.25,0:13:46.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,very fatalistically and if the evidence is what we should, they don't improve.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:47.05,0:13:47.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yeah look.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:47.68,0:13:50.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We look on it fatalistically in part because studies that have been
Dialogue: 0,0:13:50.94,0:13:54.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,done in the past and people with brain damage and strokes showed that
Dialogue: 0,0:13:54.69,0:13:55.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,interventions didn't work.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:55.97,0:13:59.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But now that the neuroplasticians have laid out the laws of this new science,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:00.04,0:14:03.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there's reason to be hopeful for a number of kinds 
Dialogue: 0,0:14:03.62,0:14:04.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of brain injuries.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:04.65,0:14:05.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I bet,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:05.12,0:14:07.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the notion of phantom pain again
Dialogue: 0,0:14:07.74,0:14:10.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,documented that people who lose limbs that they continue to
Dialogue: 0,0:14:11.17,0:14:11.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to hurt.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:12.17,0:14:13.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You again claim that 
Dialogue: 0,0:14:13.74,0:14:17.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,neuroplasticity both explains this and that researchers
Dialogue: 0,0:14:17.60,0:14:21.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,using the theories of neuroplasticity have been able to cure phantom pain.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:21.28,0:14:22.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tell me about that.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:22.45,0:14:26.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, phantom pain was one of the great mysteries of medicine.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:26.87,0:14:29.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How is it possible to feel pain in a limb that isn't there?
Dialogue: 0,0:14:29.88,0:14:31.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And what a neurologist named
Dialogue: 0,0:14:32.32,0:14:34.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ramachandran discovered was
Dialogue: 0,0:14:34.75,0:14:37.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that in patients who've lost their arms and then
Dialogue: 0,0:14:37.40,0:14:40.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,get pain or in one case in scratch or itches,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:40.44,0:14:41.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What happens is
Dialogue: 0,0:14:41.78,0:14:43.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if you remove an arm,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:43.97,0:14:47.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there's cortical real estate if you will, that had been devoted to
Dialogue: 0,0:14:47.26,0:14:50.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,moving that arm and feeling for that arm, it's now dormant.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:50.87,0:14:51.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:51.56,0:14:51.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:53.12,0:14:56.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So adjacent cortical real estate takes it over.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:57.41,0:14:58.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And
Dialogue: 0,0:14:58.37,0:15:01.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the typical human body map,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:01.60,0:15:04.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an area that's very close to the arm is actually the face. And
Dialogue: 0,0:15:05.10,0:15:10.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we now know that phantom pain is often caused because the face maps in the brain
Dialogue: 0,0:15:11.97,0:15:15.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,say, "Hey, there's more cortical real estate for us and they start to move in there
Dialogue: 0,0:15:16.39,0:15:16.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and
Dialogue: 0,0:15:17.18,0:15:17.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,reorganize 
Dialogue: 0,0:15:17.85,0:15:21.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the brain." There was one patient he had who had an unscratchable itch,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:21.74,0:15:23.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that was a terrible affliction for him.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:24.23,0:15:24.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And
Dialogue: 0,0:15:25.13,0:15:28.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ramachandran eventually figured that if you just scratched the man's cheek,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:28.56,0:15:29.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the itch went away. And
Dialogue: 0,0:15:30.53,0:15:33.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ramachandran was able by the way to sort of trick the brain
Dialogue: 0,0:15:34.26,0:15:39.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into rewiring itself using this same neuroplasticity.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:39.48,0:15:41.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the reasons that people would
Dialogue: 0,0:15:41.65,0:15:46.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have these frozen pains is because once the input is stopped into the brain
Dialogue: 0,0:15:46.82,0:15:47.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:48.11,0:15:49.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know, from the arm,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:49.74,0:15:50.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's as though
Dialogue: 0,0:15:51.01,0:15:53.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's the picture that remains in the brain, there's no 
Dialogue: 0,0:15:54.25,0:15:57.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,new input to say. Now the arm is moving again.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:57.50,0:15:59.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Many people who had phantoms
Dialogue: 0,0:15:59.20,0:16:01.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,felt their arms were frozen and in pain.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:02.31,0:16:05.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, he set up a mirror device where you would look at what your real arm,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:06.21,0:16:07.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,let's say this arm had been cut off.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:07.98,0:16:10.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You'd look at your real arm and then you look into a mirror right here.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:10.83,0:16:12.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The brain would be tricking you thinking that your arm was...
Dialogue: 0,0:16:12.66,0:16:15.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Think that your left arm was moving, that which, of course, didn't exist,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:15.78,0:16:17.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you'd kind of put your stump near it
Dialogue: 0,0:16:17.97,0:16:18.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and
Dialogue: 0,0:16:18.87,0:16:22.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that rewired the map so that the frozen phantom could move.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:22.62,0:16:22.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:22.80,0:16:25.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I understand that neuroplasticity also tells us something
Dialogue: 0,0:16:25.16,0:16:27.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the nature of sexual attraction and love.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:28.37,0:16:28.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What is that?
Dialogue: 0,0:16:29.39,0:16:33.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's tremendous variation, of course, in what people are turned on by,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:33.25,0:16:34.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,let's say sexually, I mean,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:34.92,0:16:36.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know, take 
Dialogue: 0,0:16:36.56,0:16:38.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,situations in other cultures 
Dialogue: 0,0:16:39.41,0:16:41.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,seem unnatural sometimes.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:41.91,0:16:45.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And we learned that people can develop attractions. If you think of
Dialogue: 0,0:16:45.92,0:16:49.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the whole idea that Chinese men 100 years ago in the aristocracy were
Dialogue: 0,0:16:49.94,0:16:53.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,totally turned on by women who had their feet broken and bound up.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:53.94,0:16:54.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:55.20,0:16:59.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We start to realize that sexual tastes can be acquired and we 
Dialogue: 0,0:16:59.23,0:17:01.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we can acquire sexual types.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:02.06,0:17:04.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And we're seeing a lot of this happening now actually 
Dialogue: 0,0:17:04.73,0:17:06.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the internet and internet porn in a way.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:07.13,0:17:09.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, there are a lot of stories that started to
Dialogue: 0,0:17:10.54,0:17:10.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,become 
Dialogue: 0,0:17:11.92,0:17:14.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,public in the nineties about men
Dialogue: 0,0:17:14.47,0:17:15.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who would get on the internet
Dialogue: 0,0:17:16.67,0:17:19.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they'd sort of just be searching
Dialogue: 0,0:17:19.05,0:17:21.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,around and then they fasten on to certain images
Dialogue: 0,0:17:21.93,0:17:24.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that would really turn them on, that really surprise them.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:24.36,0:17:27.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then they would practice them over and over and over again
Dialogue: 0,0:17:27.73,0:17:32.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they would have orgasms and when a person has an orgasm, they secrete a 
Dialogue: 0,0:17:32.37,0:17:36.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,brain chemical called dopamine, which actually reinforces the circuit
Dialogue: 0,0:17:36.28,0:17:37.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and rewards them.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:37.60,0:17:42.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, dopamine is a neurotransmitter or a brain chemical
Dialogue: 0,0:17:42.36,0:17:45.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's very involved in consolidating a new circuit.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:45.33,0:17:48.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And these men would start to develop new sexual attractions
Dialogue: 0,0:17:49.00,0:17:51.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that at times seemed bizarre to them,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:51.63,0:17:53.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sometimes they dipped into childhood things.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:53.75,0:17:54.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:54.02,0:17:55.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one story I talked about in the book is
Dialogue: 0,0:17:55.86,0:17:58.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a man who developed an attraction to spanking sites.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:58.31,0:18:01.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And if you think about it, spanking would seem to have to do with early childhood.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:01.97,0:18:04.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the other thing that was happening for these men and this
Dialogue: 0,0:18:04.37,0:18:06.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was reported over and over and I saw it in clinical practice
Dialogue: 0,0:18:07.20,0:18:07.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is
Dialogue: 0,0:18:07.98,0:18:11.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they said that for a mysterious reason, they were losing
Dialogue: 0,0:18:11.50,0:18:12.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,interest in
Dialogue: 0,0:18:13.22,0:18:13.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,their own
Dialogue: 0,0:18:14.29,0:18:17.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,partners, even though objectively they found them to be attractive.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:18.00,0:18:19.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, here was a case where
Dialogue: 0,0:18:20.34,0:18:23.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because of plasticity, people were inadvertently rewiring 
Dialogue: 0,0:18:24.48,0:18:25.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,their brains.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:25.31,0:18:30.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And plasticity isn't always a good thing. That it can lead to rigid behaviors (VOICE OVERLAP).
Dialogue: 0,0:18:31.17,0:18:35.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in this case, it leads typically or very frequently to a kind of an addiction.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:35.57,0:18:39.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And if you think about it, addictions are about plastic change in the brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:39.47,0:18:42.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are certain people who, if they have alcohol,
Dialogue: 0,0:18:42.95,0:18:44.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they have a chemical
Dialogue: 0,0:18:45.05,0:18:48.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sequence that's fired in their brain and a chemical called delta
Dialogue: 0,0:18:48.71,0:18:48.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,FosB
Dialogue: 0,0:18:49.05,0:18:50.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is released
Dialogue: 0,0:18:50.88,0:18:53.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that changes their brain permanently.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:53.52,0:18:56.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's why sometimes it does make sense for a person to say,
Dialogue: 0,0:18:56.55,0:18:59.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even though they haven't had a drink for years, I'm an alcoholic.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:59.82,0:19:01.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's in plasticity terms,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:01.59,0:19:06.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my brain has been structurally altered by my interactions with alcohol. 
Dialogue: 0,0:19:06.51,0:19:11.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, interesting you say that because they also point out that psychoanalysis
Dialogue: 0,0:19:11.50,0:19:12.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,can be used
Dialogue: 0,0:19:12.69,0:19:16.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to open up the brain's pathways and reorder
Dialogue: 0,0:19:16.57,0:19:20.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the brain's function too. I think you call this 
Dialogue: 0,0:19:20.35,0:19:22.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,neuroplastic therapy.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:22.69,0:19:26.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Explain to me what that is and how it would work.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:26.04,0:19:29.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It turns out, you know, based on what I told you before about,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:29.97,0:19:32.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you know, thoughts altering genetic behavior
Dialogue: 0,0:19:32.74,0:19:37.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that thoughts in therapy are actually changing brain structure as well.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:37.20,0:19:38.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They change different brain structures.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:38.86,0:19:42.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the major therapists that we know that are successful
Dialogue: 0,0:19:42.97,0:19:46.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that includes psychoanalytic therapies, cognitive behavioral therapies,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:46.92,0:19:48.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's something called interpersonal therapy.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:48.72,0:19:50.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They're all for slightly different conditions,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:51.15,0:19:51.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all
Dialogue: 0,0:19:51.87,0:19:55.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rewire the brain, all change the balance in the brain's department.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:55.89,0:19:56.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:56.94,0:19:59.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they are as every bit as biological, if you were 
Dialogue: 0,0:19:59.68,0:20:03.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in intervention as the use of drugs and the advantage of psychotherapy is if
Dialogue: 0,0:20:03.77,0:20:05.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you don't absolutely need drugs.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:05.83,0:20:07.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I want to say, I mean, I use drugs sometimes
Dialogue: 0,0:20:08.18,0:20:09.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the advantage of them is
Dialogue: 0,0:20:09.82,0:20:10.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they
Dialogue: 0,0:20:10.80,0:20:12.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,don't have as many side effects
Dialogue: 0,0:20:13.14,0:20:14.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in general. And,
Dialogue: 0,0:20:14.79,0:20:16.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if you think about it, drugs
Dialogue: 0,0:20:17.19,0:20:20.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as they are today are very blunt instruments, you take a pill and it goes
Dialogue: 0,0:20:21.13,0:20:24.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it bays every cell in your brain and in fact, in your body,
Dialogue: 0,0:20:24.07,0:20:25.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that's why we get so many side effects.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:26.36,0:20:27.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it would be
Dialogue: 0,0:20:27.70,0:20:31.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to a certain extent, if you're using thoughts for the intervention,
Dialogue: 0,0:20:31.27,0:20:32.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you're like more like a micro surgeon
Dialogue: 0,0:20:32.77,0:20:35.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,going into the thought patterns that are probably...
Dialogue: 0,0:20:35.70,0:20:41.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Do you know enough about the brain to be that precise in terms of psychiatry 
Dialogue: 0,0:20:41.22,0:20:42.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and psychoanalysis.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:42.55,0:20:45.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In other words, if I make an interpretation about the meaning of behavior, do
Dialogue: 0,0:20:45.44,0:20:46.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I know where in the brain
Dialogue: 0,0:20:46.47,0:20:47.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's going?
Dialogue: 0,0:20:47.34,0:20:50.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well if we're treating, let's say an anxiety problem, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:20:50.77,0:20:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We now know that if you use psychoanalytic psychotherapy
Dialogue: 0,0:20:55.16,0:20:55.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and
Dialogue: 0,0:20:56.13,0:20:58.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you take a person before the therapy
Dialogue: 0,0:20:58.43,0:20:58.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and
Dialogue: 0,0:20:59.31,0:20:59.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you
Dialogue: 0,0:21:00.04,0:21:02.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,take the thing that's making them anxious and you
Dialogue: 0,0:21:02.89,0:21:04.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,make them think about it or attend to it,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:04.97,0:21:09.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the part of the brain that's likely to light up and trigger these
Dialogue: 0,0:21:09.20,0:21:11.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sort of bolts of anxiety.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:11.47,0:21:14.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And after they go through the therapy, if the therapy works,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:15.02,0:21:17.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,those parts of the brain aren't triggered. Now you
Dialogue: 0,0:21:17.81,0:21:21.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have an absolutely horrifying statistic here about our generation,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:21.62,0:21:22.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the baby boomers,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:22.39,0:21:27.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,those between 40 and 60 that they have over a 50% chance of reaching the age of 85,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:27.95,0:21:32.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that 85-year-olds have a 47% chance of having Alzheimer's.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:32.13,0:21:37.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We're going to have a population full of dementia. I mean, what can baby boomers do
Dialogue: 0,0:21:37.40,0:21:39.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to enhance their brain power and ward off that disease?
Dialogue: 0,0:21:40.42,0:21:40.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:40.65,0:21:42.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, there's two things that we worry about when
Dialogue: 0,0:21:42.99,0:21:45.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we think of mental decline as we get older.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:45.49,0:21:48.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of them is a more benign thing and more common,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:48.90,0:21:50.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's called age-related cognitive decline.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:51.29,0:21:54.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The senior moments that begin in our 50s that 
Dialogue: 0,0:21:54.35,0:21:55.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,frighten people
Dialogue: 0,0:21:56.19,0:21:59.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then there are the serious dementias.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:00.57,0:22:03.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, the good news is that we know for a fact
Dialogue: 0,0:22:03.48,0:22:08.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,now that age-related cognitive decline is reversible through brain exercises.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:08.34,0:22:09.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I met with a man Stanley
Dialogue: 0,0:22:10.03,0:22:11.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Karansky who was 90,
Dialogue: 0,0:22:11.55,0:22:13.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who started to have some difficulties
Dialogue: 0,0:22:13.65,0:22:16.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with senior moments. His handwriting was sloppy.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:16.40,0:22:19.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was no longer alert, he wasn't socializing much.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:19.87,0:22:20.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And
Dialogue: 0,0:22:20.50,0:22:21.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in six weeks
Dialogue: 0,0:22:22.36,0:22:22.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and
Dialogue: 0,0:22:22.73,0:22:22.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,roughly 
Dialogue: 0,0:22:22.85,0:22:25.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an hour a day, he was able to reverse all of that. What was he doing?
Dialogue: 0,0:22:26.10,0:22:29.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was doing a program called Posit Science that I described in the book.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:29.29,0:22:31.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, this is a company, an actual company.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:31.22,0:22:34.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yeah. Tell me more about because you have been claiming like 80-year-olds to be like 50-year-olds.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:34.82,0:22:35.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, they've shown it.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:35.86,0:22:39.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Posit Science was set up by perhaps
Dialogue: 0,0:22:39.50,0:22:41.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the world's leading neuroplastician and
Dialogue: 0,0:22:41.50,0:22:43.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,neuroplasticity researcher, Michael Merzenich.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:44.35,0:22:44.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And,
Dialogue: 0,0:22:45.24,0:22:48.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he's already a man of great accomplishment. He was one of
Dialogue: 0,0:22:48.97,0:22:52.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the inventors of the cochlear implant that allows the deaf to hear.
Dialogue: 0,0:22:52.27,0:22:52.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He's
Dialogue: 0,0:22:52.89,0:22:55.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,helped kids with learning disabilities, 
Dialogue: 0,0:22:56.51,0:22:58.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with reading disabilities,
Dialogue: 0,0:22:58.98,0:23:03.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,moved from problems to basically normal or above normal levels.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:03.43,0:23:06.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they set up a program that rebuilds
Dialogue: 0,0:23:06.75,0:23:08.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the auditory cortex,
Dialogue: 0,0:23:08.13,0:23:12.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the part of the brain that processes language from scratch in older people.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:12.93,0:23:18.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What happens is that we age. One of the reasons that we cannot remember things
Dialogue: 0,0:23:18.43,0:23:19.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is
Dialogue: 0,0:23:20.35,0:23:22.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,our brain maps for sounds
Dialogue: 0,0:23:22.94,0:23:24.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are just kind of getting dulled.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:24.99,0:23:28.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They need to be tuned up at the very basic level of distinguishing sounds like "ba
Dialogue: 0,0:23:29.06,0:23:29.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and da
Dialogue: 0,0:23:29.66,0:23:30.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and pa."
Dialogue: 0,0:23:31.29,0:23:34.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The reason is we haven't really used them intensively
Dialogue: 0,0:23:35.25,0:23:39.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,often. Once, we hit middle age, we are usually replaying, mastered skills.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:39.28,0:23:41.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But to maintain a brain in good shape,
Dialogue: 0,0:23:41.16,0:23:42.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you've got to work as hard as you worked when
Dialogue: 0,0:23:42.96,0:23:45.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you were learning a French vocabulary in high school,
Dialogue: 0,0:23:45.22,0:23:48.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,maybe you didn't work at it, but as hard as you should have worked at.
Dialogue: 0,0:23:48.78,0:23:51.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so people go for decades without
Dialogue: 0,0:23:51.71,0:23:54.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,putting themselves for that intensive kind of training
Dialogue: 0,0:23:54.48,0:23:54.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and
Dialogue: 0,0:23:55.83,0:23:57.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the cortex just kind of gets
Dialogue: 0,0:23:57.70,0:24:00.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,dull and you develop what are called fuzzy engrams.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:00.59,0:24:04.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You don't hear the sound of the person's name at the party crisply,
Dialogue: 0,0:24:04.66,0:24:08.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so they rebuild it from the ground up. How would our viewers get this program?
Dialogue: 0,0:24:08.78,0:24:11.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Posit Science.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:12.12,0:24:15.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Just go to put that in the internet and you'll come to the website for that.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:15.69,0:24:18.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What do you think the next big breakthrough is in brain research?
Dialogue: 0,0:24:18.77,0:24:20.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What's the next big thing we should be watching for?
Dialogue: 0,0:24:22.20,0:24:24.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's the translation of the fundamental laws
Dialogue: 0,0:24:24.71,0:24:29.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of brain plasticity into applications for everything 
Dialogue: 0,0:24:29.84,0:24:34.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in therapeutics, in all kinds of training, you know, that means sports,
Dialogue: 0,0:24:34.66,0:24:38.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the military education, anything you want to do and develop
Dialogue: 0,0:24:39.11,0:24:39.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Right 
Dialogue: 0,0:24:40.29,0:24:40.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,now
Dialogue: 0,0:24:41.32,0:24:42.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,basically
Dialogue: 0,0:24:42.59,0:24:47.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,many of these disciplines have an intuitive grasp of some of the laws of plasticity,
Dialogue: 0,0:24:47.56,0:24:50.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the neuroplasticians can help sharpen and speed up learning.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:51.13,0:24:51.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So
Dialogue: 0,0:24:52.00,0:24:53.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's where I imagine it would come.
Dialogue: 0,0:24:53.41,0:24:54.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I know that people will want to get
Dialogue: 0,0:24:54.59,0:24:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,very highfalutin and try to facilitate neuroplastic change
Dialogue: 0,0:24:58.41,0:25:01.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with chemicals and some of that might be doable.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:01.75,0:25:04.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But that's also very problematic for the reason I
Dialogue: 0,0:25:04.03,0:25:06.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,said that chemicals are still a very blunt instrument.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:06.86,0:25:07.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At a personal level,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:07.87,0:25:10.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean that this book is full of very,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:10.19,0:25:13.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not just amazing but inspirational and uplifting stories.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:13.63,0:25:13.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:14.06,0:25:15.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over the course of doing the research,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:15.73,0:25:18.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,did it kind of change your sense of what
Dialogue: 0,0:25:18.19,0:25:20.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,human potential and perhaps even human nature is?
Dialogue: 0,0:25:20.71,0:25:21.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yes, it did.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:21.55,0:25:23.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the most important insights I think I had
Dialogue: 0,0:25:23.91,0:25:26.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while doing the book was what I call the "plastic paradox,"
Dialogue: 0,0:25:26.73,0:25:27.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that is this.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:28.09,0:25:29.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The plasticity,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:29.36,0:25:31.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the brain is always plastic,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:31.08,0:25:34.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it can give rise to both flexible or rigid behaviors.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:34.92,0:25:39.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It can give rise to rigid behaviors because once those networks are established,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:40.19,0:25:40.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they 
Dialogue: 0,0:25:40.82,0:25:43.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,tend to out compete the other one in a
Dialogue: 0,0:25:43.07,0:25:45.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,war of nerves that's going on inside our head.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:45.49,0:25:48.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You know, the human brain is a habit-forming thing.
Dialogue: 0,0:25:48.51,0:25:48.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:49.85,0:25:53.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the way to understand plasticity is think of it as like a hill,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:53.56,0:25:57.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,snow on a hill in winter, and we want to ski down that hill,
Dialogue: 0,0:25:57.83,0:26:00.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so we get to the top of it. Because the snow is plastic or pliable,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:00.97,0:26:02.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we can take many paths down that hill,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:03.27,0:26:04.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it being a hill,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:04.18,0:26:08.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it has rocks and trees and we be inclined towards certain favorite paths.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:09.41,0:26:10.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As we
Dialogue: 0,0:26:10.94,0:26:12.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,keep using those paths
Dialogue: 0,0:26:12.88,0:26:16.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,again precisely because the snow is pliable and plastic,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:16.43,0:26:18.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we'll develop tracks and ruts.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:18.83,0:26:20.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And what we do in our lives
Dialogue: 0,0:26:20.55,0:26:25.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and what we tend to think that because we're stuck in a rut
Dialogue: 0,0:26:25.96,0:26:27.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and repeating something
Dialogue: 0,0:26:27.59,0:26:31.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that not only is the behavior rigid, but the underlying brain is rigid.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:31.29,0:26:32.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So when I'm working with patients,
Dialogue: 0,0:26:33.24,0:26:36.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I try not to get fooled by the plastic paradox and
Dialogue: 0,0:26:36.19,0:26:38.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they're often fooled by the plastic paradox and I would submit
Dialogue: 0,0:26:39.45,0:26:39.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that 
Dialogue: 0,0:26:40.16,0:26:43.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all of humanity to a large degree has been fooled by the plastic paradox.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:43.87,0:26:45.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think we've underestimated
Dialogue: 0,0:26:45.64,0:26:47.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how plastic our brains really are.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:48.07,0:26:50.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Doctor Norman Doidge, I want to thank you very much for joining me.
Dialogue: 0,0:26:50.48,0:26:52.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's been fascinating and a real pleasure. Thank you.