1 00:00:01,100 --> 00:00:03,100 ♪ ♪ 2 00:00:06,933 --> 00:00:10,933 SUSANA MARTINEZ-CONDE: The brain is the biggest mystery in science today. 3 00:00:10,933 --> 00:00:14,066 THALIA WHEATLEY: It's responsible for all the facets of our personality, 4 00:00:14,066 --> 00:00:16,433 everything we think and everything we feel. 5 00:00:16,433 --> 00:00:18,366 It makes you you. 6 00:00:18,366 --> 00:00:20,400 URI MAOZ: A very large fraction 7 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:24,100 of what's happening in my brain I am not aware of at all. 8 00:00:24,100 --> 00:00:27,300 HEATHER BERLIN: But what exactly is going on in your unconscious brain? 9 00:00:27,300 --> 00:00:30,600 What part of your brain is really in charge? 10 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:32,333 CHARLES LIMB: All day long, we're doing 11 00:00:32,333 --> 00:00:34,300 unscripted things that we didn't know we would be doing. 12 00:00:34,300 --> 00:00:35,733 (sizzling) 13 00:00:35,733 --> 00:00:36,800 Life is not scripted. 14 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:40,000 MAOZ: Find a word that has some meaning for you. 15 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,366 BERLIN: So you might think you've made a choice... 16 00:00:42,366 --> 00:00:44,466 Representation. 17 00:00:44,466 --> 00:00:46,266 BERLIN: But in the back of your mind, you wonder... 18 00:00:46,266 --> 00:00:48,233 Come on! 19 00:00:48,233 --> 00:00:49,666 BERLIN: Was that really me? 20 00:00:49,666 --> 00:00:51,133 ♪ ♪ 21 00:00:51,133 --> 00:00:54,133 We might feel like we're in control. 22 00:00:54,133 --> 00:00:56,166 ANIL SETH: This idea that we're in control of our actions 23 00:00:56,166 --> 00:00:58,533 seems critical to our sense of identity. 24 00:00:59,566 --> 00:01:03,000 BERLIN: But our brains may have other ideas. 25 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:05,800 BOBBY KASTHURI: The brain is made of almost 90 billion neurons, 26 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:07,733 but it produces this illusion 27 00:01:07,733 --> 00:01:11,533 that there's a single person inside our skulls. 28 00:01:11,533 --> 00:01:13,466 LUKE CHANG: For every Pinocchio, there's always someone 29 00:01:13,466 --> 00:01:15,466 kind of pulling the strings behind the scenes. 30 00:01:15,466 --> 00:01:16,566 (device beeps) 31 00:01:16,566 --> 00:01:18,333 ♪ ♪ 32 00:01:18,333 --> 00:01:22,366 MICHAEL GAZZANIGA: There can be two separated minds inside one system. 33 00:01:22,366 --> 00:01:24,833 WHEATLEY: It's not just that motor, 34 00:01:24,833 --> 00:01:26,400 memory, language is in the brain. 35 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:27,800 Your personality is up there, 36 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:30,700 your morality is up there. 37 00:01:30,700 --> 00:01:34,566 BIANCA JONES MARLIN: We as humans know how environment and traumatic events 38 00:01:34,566 --> 00:01:36,133 change people. 39 00:01:36,133 --> 00:01:39,366 BERLIN: "Your Brain: Who's In Control?" 40 00:01:39,366 --> 00:01:42,633 Right now, on "NOVA." 41 00:01:42,633 --> 00:01:47,466 ♪ ♪ 42 00:02:04,333 --> 00:02:06,500 BERLIN: Have you ever thought that you've made 43 00:02:06,500 --> 00:02:08,133 a crystal-clear decision? 44 00:02:08,133 --> 00:02:10,433 (inner voice): I'm just gonna watch two episodes tonight. 45 00:02:10,433 --> 00:02:13,033 (narration): But the next thing you know... 46 00:02:13,033 --> 00:02:14,900 (inner voice): Okay, just one more episode. 47 00:02:14,900 --> 00:02:17,066 (laugh track playing) 48 00:02:17,066 --> 00:02:18,300 Actually, it's time to go to bed. 49 00:02:18,300 --> 00:02:20,200 ♪ ♪ 50 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:22,133 Well, I bet everyone else has already finished this season. 51 00:02:22,133 --> 00:02:23,966 (static hissing, laugh track plays) 52 00:02:23,966 --> 00:02:25,700 Wait, why am I still watching this? 53 00:02:25,700 --> 00:02:28,300 (narration): Well, of course, the answer lies in 54 00:02:28,300 --> 00:02:30,133 your brain. 55 00:02:30,133 --> 00:02:31,633 ♪ ♪ 56 00:02:31,633 --> 00:02:34,333 Your brain contains multitudes. 57 00:02:34,333 --> 00:02:39,466 It's a complex and intricate three-pound piece of matter. 58 00:02:39,466 --> 00:02:41,033 But you actually have no awareness 59 00:02:41,033 --> 00:02:42,800 of most of the things that are going on 60 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:44,466 inside your brain. 61 00:02:44,466 --> 00:02:49,100 I'm neuroscientist and clinical psychologist Heather Berlin. 62 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:52,266 (laughs) Come on, man! 63 00:02:52,266 --> 00:02:55,000 BERLIN: And I'm on a journey to discover 64 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,566 what's really driving the decisions you make? 65 00:02:57,566 --> 00:02:58,866 (device clicks) 66 00:02:58,866 --> 00:03:01,033 No agency at all. 67 00:03:01,033 --> 00:03:03,700 Who or what is really in control? 68 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,200 There are important unconscious processes 69 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:08,900 in your brain that you're not aware of. 70 00:03:08,900 --> 00:03:11,733 Most of the time, the brain is a coordinated, 71 00:03:11,733 --> 00:03:14,600 well-oiled machine, with different brain regions 72 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,433 working together in harmony. 73 00:03:17,433 --> 00:03:19,433 (audio distorting): But under certain circumstances, 74 00:03:19,433 --> 00:03:20,966 when things are out of sync, 75 00:03:20,966 --> 00:03:22,633 we can gain deeper insight 76 00:03:22,633 --> 00:03:26,266 into how the brain actually works. 77 00:03:26,266 --> 00:03:29,900 (wildlife chirping) 78 00:03:29,900 --> 00:03:35,433 ♪ ♪ 79 00:03:37,266 --> 00:03:38,500 There's one thing we do every day 80 00:03:38,500 --> 00:03:40,066 with little to no conscious control. 81 00:03:40,066 --> 00:03:44,033 It's something you might spend a whole third of your life doing: 82 00:03:44,033 --> 00:03:45,633 sleeping. 83 00:03:45,633 --> 00:03:50,666 When we sleep, we're supposed to be unconscious and at rest. 84 00:03:50,666 --> 00:03:55,433 But for some people, that's not always the case. 85 00:03:55,433 --> 00:03:59,633 ♪ ♪ 86 00:03:59,633 --> 00:04:01,666 (mumbling) 87 00:04:01,666 --> 00:04:03,333 BERLIN: These are people who sleepwalk. 88 00:04:03,333 --> 00:04:05,166 MAN: Just like, just like you were? 89 00:04:05,166 --> 00:04:06,800 EMMANUEL DURING: Sleepwalking is a glitch 90 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:08,966 in the system, 91 00:04:08,966 --> 00:04:10,800 because our identity is not in control. 92 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,133 And that's what a lot of my patients 93 00:04:14,133 --> 00:04:16,666 tell me, like, they, "I didn't do that. 94 00:04:16,666 --> 00:04:19,200 "That's not possible. 95 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:20,566 This is not me." 96 00:04:20,566 --> 00:04:26,366 ♪ ♪ 97 00:04:28,233 --> 00:04:29,733 So, sleepwalking? 98 00:04:29,733 --> 00:04:31,866 Very common condition or phenomenon. 99 00:04:31,866 --> 00:04:33,500 Simply said, it's what the word is. 100 00:04:33,500 --> 00:04:35,366 You sleep, 101 00:04:35,366 --> 00:04:38,133 but during your sleep, you will walk. 102 00:04:38,133 --> 00:04:40,400 We take it for granted, right? 103 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:41,666 But the walking is extremely complex. 104 00:04:41,666 --> 00:04:44,966 Just teaching a robot 105 00:04:44,966 --> 00:04:48,766 all the inputs and outputs for a body 106 00:04:48,766 --> 00:04:53,900 to move forward on two legs without falling. 107 00:04:53,900 --> 00:04:56,700 All of this, you don't even think about it. 108 00:04:56,700 --> 00:04:59,200 It works independently. 109 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:01,633 ♪ ♪ 110 00:05:01,633 --> 00:05:04,766 BERLIN: How is it possible to do complex behaviors like walking, 111 00:05:04,766 --> 00:05:09,200 eating, and sometimes even driving while sleeping? 112 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:10,533 ♪ ♪ 113 00:05:10,533 --> 00:05:12,800 To find out, I'm visiting a sleep center 114 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,333 at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. 115 00:05:15,333 --> 00:05:17,366 So, tell me a little bit 116 00:05:17,366 --> 00:05:19,100 about what's happening with you at night 117 00:05:19,100 --> 00:05:21,333 and your sleepwalking. 118 00:05:21,333 --> 00:05:23,200 Well, I've been doing some weird things. 119 00:05:24,433 --> 00:05:25,933 I painted a wall in my living room 120 00:05:25,933 --> 00:05:27,566 and one in my kitchen. 121 00:05:27,566 --> 00:05:29,433 I made a triangle, a perfect triangle... 122 00:05:29,433 --> 00:05:30,433 What? ...in my kitchen. 123 00:05:30,433 --> 00:05:31,700 So what do you think 124 00:05:31,700 --> 00:05:33,033 when you find that? 125 00:05:33,033 --> 00:05:34,333 Like... I don't know. 126 00:05:34,333 --> 00:05:35,566 Just-- I laugh, because I go, 127 00:05:35,566 --> 00:05:37,600 "How the heck I did this?" 128 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,066 BERLIN: Emmanuel During studies what's going on in the brain 129 00:05:41,066 --> 00:05:42,833 when someone sleepwalks. 130 00:05:42,833 --> 00:05:45,833 In the center, sleep patients are wired up with sensors 131 00:05:45,833 --> 00:05:48,500 that pick up eye and body movements-- 132 00:05:48,500 --> 00:05:51,066 as well as their brain waves-- while they sleep. 133 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:53,533 So what are we looking at here, 134 00:05:53,533 --> 00:05:54,766 these blue lines? 135 00:05:54,766 --> 00:05:56,666 DURING: These are the eye movements. 136 00:05:56,666 --> 00:05:58,266 Okay, and then the, the black lines here? 137 00:05:58,266 --> 00:05:59,266 These are the brain waves. 138 00:05:59,266 --> 00:06:00,733 So this patient is obviously, 139 00:06:00,733 --> 00:06:01,900 he's lying in bed. 140 00:06:01,900 --> 00:06:03,066 Mm-hmm. 141 00:06:03,066 --> 00:06:06,400 And dozes off slowly, feels sleepy. 142 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:08,800 And as we move on, he dives into 143 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:10,466 deep slow-wave sleep. 144 00:06:10,466 --> 00:06:12,833 BERLIN: During sleep, your brain 145 00:06:12,833 --> 00:06:16,333 cycles through phases of high and low activity. 146 00:06:16,333 --> 00:06:18,433 When the brain waves slow down, 147 00:06:18,433 --> 00:06:20,666 scientists call this "deep sleep." 148 00:06:20,666 --> 00:06:23,466 But when someone sleepwalks... 149 00:06:23,466 --> 00:06:26,466 First of all, everything looks good. 150 00:06:26,466 --> 00:06:29,800 You see the brainwaves. Mm-hmm. 151 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:31,366 Everything is very, very monotonous, 152 00:06:31,366 --> 00:06:33,033 sort of slow waves. Mm-hmm. 153 00:06:33,033 --> 00:06:34,200 And then it's interesting, 154 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:36,300 since there's a buildup of slow wave, 155 00:06:36,300 --> 00:06:38,566 that the amplitude goes up, 156 00:06:38,566 --> 00:06:40,766 and then suddenly... 157 00:06:40,766 --> 00:06:42,833 Whoa. So he's seemingly awake. 158 00:06:42,833 --> 00:06:44,000 Sudden. Yeah. 159 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,100 Looks like a sudden arousal. 160 00:06:46,100 --> 00:06:48,600 Looks sort of scared. I mean, very brief. 161 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:49,933 Very fast, eyes open. 162 00:06:49,933 --> 00:06:52,900 There's a, sort of a split, then. 163 00:06:52,900 --> 00:06:55,700 BERLIN: The patient looks like they're awake. 164 00:06:55,700 --> 00:06:59,700 But a couple of key brain regions seem to stay asleep. 165 00:06:59,700 --> 00:07:02,400 DURING: There's part of the brain stays in slow-wave sleep. 166 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:05,466 It's such a deep stage of, of sleep, it's hard to wake up, 167 00:07:05,466 --> 00:07:07,400 and the other part of the brain is already awake. 168 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:10,600 BERLIN: One part of the brain that doesn't wake up during 169 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,600 sleepwalking is called the prefrontal cortex. 170 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:15,933 It's the region of the brain responsible for 171 00:07:15,933 --> 00:07:18,800 deliberate choices and self-awareness. 172 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:22,466 DURING: This prefrontal cortex is the decision maker. 173 00:07:22,466 --> 00:07:24,600 The other areas of the brain 174 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:27,100 can mostly work independently of that. 175 00:07:27,100 --> 00:07:29,100 ♪ ♪ 176 00:07:29,100 --> 00:07:31,300 So, essentially, so many parts of the brain 177 00:07:31,300 --> 00:07:35,900 can be engaged without conscious awareness of it. 178 00:07:35,900 --> 00:07:38,933 BERLIN: During sleepwalking, the motor cortex, 179 00:07:38,933 --> 00:07:41,600 which controls movement, the visual cortex, 180 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:43,566 which processes visual information, 181 00:07:43,566 --> 00:07:44,900 and the parts of the brain 182 00:07:44,900 --> 00:07:47,233 that coordinate behaviors like balance and speech 183 00:07:47,233 --> 00:07:48,866 can all become active 184 00:07:48,866 --> 00:07:51,666 without engaging the prefrontal cortex. 185 00:07:52,666 --> 00:07:54,966 MAN: And what exactly are you doing, ma'am? 186 00:07:54,966 --> 00:07:58,300 It's a special code. 187 00:07:58,300 --> 00:08:02,700 MARTINEZ-CONDE: Experiences of sleepwalking reveal that being conscious 188 00:08:02,700 --> 00:08:05,833 is not an all-or-none situation. 189 00:08:05,833 --> 00:08:10,166 Our unconscious makes a lot of everyday decisions for us. 190 00:08:10,166 --> 00:08:13,100 NANCY KANWISHER: For starters, boring stuff, 191 00:08:13,100 --> 00:08:15,766 like regulating your heart rate and your temperature 192 00:08:15,766 --> 00:08:17,933 and deciding when to take the food in your stomach 193 00:08:17,933 --> 00:08:19,900 and move it down into your gut. 194 00:08:19,900 --> 00:08:22,200 Like, thank God we don't have to be aware of all that stuff. 195 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:25,333 DANIELA SCHILLER: Motor function, sensory function, 196 00:08:25,333 --> 00:08:26,566 motor-sensory integration, 197 00:08:26,566 --> 00:08:28,500 memory representation. 198 00:08:28,500 --> 00:08:29,900 All of this is happening 199 00:08:29,900 --> 00:08:34,600 below the surface, like the inside of a clockwork. 200 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:38,033 (man mumbling) BERLIN: When you sleepwalk, 201 00:08:38,033 --> 00:08:40,666 the brain regions that control your movement, vision, 202 00:08:40,666 --> 00:08:43,600 and breathing can get up to all kinds of mischief 203 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:46,000 without you even knowing it. 204 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,733 But there's one case where even those regions check out-- 205 00:08:49,733 --> 00:08:51,466 during anesthesia. 206 00:08:51,466 --> 00:08:53,400 ♪ ♪ 207 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:54,433 We know that there are drugs 208 00:08:54,433 --> 00:08:55,866 that I can give you, anesthetics, 209 00:08:55,866 --> 00:08:58,166 that would remove your conscious experience. 210 00:08:59,166 --> 00:09:02,300 SETH: And we all know that consciousness comes in degrees. 211 00:09:02,300 --> 00:09:04,600 Like, we can lose consciousness in sleep, 212 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:06,933 but then we lose it in a more profound way 213 00:09:06,933 --> 00:09:09,066 when we are under general anesthesia. 214 00:09:10,266 --> 00:09:13,400 BERLIN: When I was a young researcher working in anesthesiology, 215 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:16,000 I saw this firsthand. 216 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:20,700 So what happens to your brain activity when you go under? 217 00:09:20,700 --> 00:09:26,066 ♪ ♪ 218 00:09:26,066 --> 00:09:28,533 Neuroscientist Emery Brown is measuring the line 219 00:09:28,533 --> 00:09:30,700 that separates being conscious 220 00:09:30,700 --> 00:09:34,033 from being unconscious. 221 00:09:34,033 --> 00:09:35,266 BROWN: I want to guarantee my patients 222 00:09:35,266 --> 00:09:36,400 that when I say you're unconscious, 223 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:38,533 you're not going to perceive pain, 224 00:09:38,533 --> 00:09:40,266 you won't be moving around, 225 00:09:40,266 --> 00:09:42,866 you won't remember anything that's occurring. 226 00:09:42,866 --> 00:09:44,300 Your heart rate and blood pressure 227 00:09:44,300 --> 00:09:45,866 and other physiological systems will be well-controlled. 228 00:09:45,866 --> 00:09:50,533 ♪ ♪ 229 00:09:50,533 --> 00:09:53,433 BERLIN: The patient is undergoing surgery. 230 00:09:53,433 --> 00:09:55,333 But before the surgeons can operate, 231 00:09:55,333 --> 00:09:57,133 the anesthesiologists have to put her under-- 232 00:09:57,133 --> 00:10:01,366 render her unconscious with special drugs. 233 00:10:01,366 --> 00:10:02,466 WOMAN: I'm starting to give you medicines 234 00:10:02,466 --> 00:10:04,333 that might make you feel kind of drowsy. 235 00:10:04,333 --> 00:10:06,066 BROWN: Look straight ahead. 236 00:10:06,066 --> 00:10:07,700 Look straight ahead. 237 00:10:07,700 --> 00:10:09,233   See, her eyes move 238 00:10:09,233 --> 00:10:10,700 as we expect them to move. 239 00:10:10,700 --> 00:10:12,066 So you're moving her head, but her eyes stay straight. 240 00:10:12,066 --> 00:10:14,766 WOMAN: All right, now we're going to have you breathe 241 00:10:14,766 --> 00:10:16,333 a little oxygen. BROWN: Breathe some oxygen for a minute. 242 00:10:16,333 --> 00:10:18,533 And can you see my finger here? 243 00:10:18,533 --> 00:10:21,666 Follow it with your eyes. 244 00:10:21,666 --> 00:10:24,366 And if you can't follow it anymore, tell me, all right? 245 00:10:26,166 --> 00:10:27,833 Can you hear me? 246 00:10:27,833 --> 00:10:30,833 ♪ ♪ 247 00:10:30,833 --> 00:10:32,700 See her eyes are fixed now? BERLIN: Yeah. 248 00:10:32,700 --> 00:10:35,733 You see the E.E.G. has a large, slow oscillation? 249 00:10:35,733 --> 00:10:36,966 See that? BERLIN: Yeah, yeah. 250 00:10:36,966 --> 00:10:38,300 BROWN: Her brain stem is out. 251 00:10:38,300 --> 00:10:40,600 BERLIN: It's out, that's it? BROWN: Mm-hmm. 252 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:43,900 BERLIN: When you go under, it can feel like 253 00:10:43,900 --> 00:10:45,866 one second you're here, and the next, 254 00:10:45,866 --> 00:10:48,333 you're out. 255 00:10:48,333 --> 00:10:51,300 What's going on in the brain when this happens? 256 00:10:51,300 --> 00:10:55,966 Emery uses a device called an E.E.G., 257 00:10:55,966 --> 00:10:58,166 a set of electrodes that rests on the scalp 258 00:10:58,166 --> 00:11:01,866 and detects electrical activity in the brain. 259 00:11:01,866 --> 00:11:05,433 That activity comes in the form of waves. 260 00:11:05,433 --> 00:11:09,433 BROWN: The brain generates brain waves or oscillations. 261 00:11:09,433 --> 00:11:10,966 And there are oscillations 262 00:11:10,966 --> 00:11:13,733 that we typically see when someone's conscious. 263 00:11:13,733 --> 00:11:16,466 BERLIN: These brain waves are measured by their frequency, 264 00:11:16,466 --> 00:11:18,766 how fast the waves come and go, 265 00:11:18,766 --> 00:11:22,533 and by their amplitude, how small or big the waves are. 266 00:11:22,533 --> 00:11:23,733 BROWN: I look at your E.E.G. 267 00:11:23,733 --> 00:11:25,500 When you're awake, 268 00:11:25,500 --> 00:11:27,700 you're going to have a very rich response. 269 00:11:27,700 --> 00:11:30,233 When I anesthetize you, it goes away. 270 00:11:30,233 --> 00:11:32,233 And so the difference between those two states 271 00:11:32,233 --> 00:11:34,666 represents the transition from being conscious 272 00:11:34,666 --> 00:11:36,333 to the unconscious. 273 00:11:36,333 --> 00:11:37,733 See the oscillations, see how they're 274 00:11:37,733 --> 00:11:38,966 really big now. BERLIN: Yeah. 275 00:11:38,966 --> 00:11:40,766 And before, see, they were just sort of little... 276 00:11:40,766 --> 00:11:41,800 Yeah, exactly. Kind of, yeah. 277 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,200 (talking in background) 278 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:46,200 BERLIN: When you're awake and fully aware, 279 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:50,200 your brain wave activity is diverse and dynamic. 280 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:53,600 It looks kind of like an exciting conversation. 281 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:58,500 But when anesthesia drugs hit the brain, 282 00:11:58,500 --> 00:12:01,200 the activity is dramatically reduced 283 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:04,066 to dull, slow-rolling brain waves. 284 00:12:04,066 --> 00:12:06,900 The once dynamic conversation 285 00:12:06,900 --> 00:12:09,600 becomes an unintelligible hum. 286 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:10,966 BROWN: If you alter how 287 00:12:10,966 --> 00:12:12,566 the parts of the brain communicate sufficiently, 288 00:12:12,566 --> 00:12:14,000 you can make someone unconscious. 289 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:16,166 So that's what the drugs are doing. 290 00:12:16,166 --> 00:12:17,500 They're altering the way 291 00:12:17,500 --> 00:12:18,833 the various parts of the brain communicate. 292 00:12:20,633 --> 00:12:24,100 BERLIN: There's one region of the brain in particular that acts as 293 00:12:24,100 --> 00:12:27,400 a communication hub: the thalamus. 294 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:30,966 It's made up of two parts, each about the size of a walnut, 295 00:12:30,966 --> 00:12:33,733 and sits deep inside your brain. 296 00:12:33,733 --> 00:12:35,233 BROWN: Thalamus is a central way station 297 00:12:35,233 --> 00:12:37,966 for all sorts of information processing. 298 00:12:37,966 --> 00:12:39,833 Auditory information goes through there, 299 00:12:39,833 --> 00:12:41,566 visual information goes through there, 300 00:12:41,566 --> 00:12:44,266 pain information goes through there. 301 00:12:44,266 --> 00:12:46,000 If I could take out 302 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:47,400 just one brain center to make you unconscious, 303 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:49,066 it would probably be the thalamus, 304 00:12:49,066 --> 00:12:51,266 because it's such a central actor 305 00:12:51,266 --> 00:12:53,600 in processing all types of information. 306 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:56,700 BERLIN: After a couple of hours of surgery, 307 00:12:56,700 --> 00:13:00,766 the medical team is tapering off the anesthesia drugs. 308 00:13:00,766 --> 00:13:05,466 And the E.E.G. reveals the patient's brain wave activity 309 00:13:05,466 --> 00:13:07,666 becoming more complex as she wakes up. 310 00:13:07,666 --> 00:13:09,700 ANTHONY: She's starting to take 311 00:13:09,700 --> 00:13:10,766 some breaths on her own. BROWN: Yeah. 312 00:13:10,766 --> 00:13:12,666 ANTHONY: Open your eyes wide. 313 00:13:12,666 --> 00:13:14,833 And squeeze my hand. 314 00:13:14,833 --> 00:13:18,033 BROWN: Consciousness is really having active cognitive processing, 315 00:13:18,033 --> 00:13:19,333 being able to think and act. 316 00:13:19,333 --> 00:13:21,300 ANTHONY: Surgery's all done, okay? 317 00:13:21,300 --> 00:13:22,833 BROWN: It's the integration of that information 318 00:13:22,833 --> 00:13:25,100 which allows us to start to understand 319 00:13:25,100 --> 00:13:27,633 how consciousness is actually formed. 320 00:13:30,033 --> 00:13:31,933 ♪ ♪ 321 00:13:31,933 --> 00:13:33,366 KASTHURI: Consciousness can obviously 322 00:13:33,366 --> 00:13:35,300 interact with the physical world like we can. 323 00:13:35,300 --> 00:13:37,833 We can use drugs to remove it. 324 00:13:37,833 --> 00:13:40,666 We go to sleep and we're not conscious, and yet, 325 00:13:40,666 --> 00:13:42,500 it's tenuous at the same time. 326 00:13:42,500 --> 00:13:45,466 We can't say how any specific set of neurons 327 00:13:45,466 --> 00:13:48,133 working together produces consciousness. 328 00:13:48,133 --> 00:13:50,900 REBECCA SAXE: It's so clear that anesthesia 329 00:13:50,900 --> 00:13:53,466 is some kind of change of consciousness, right? 330 00:13:53,466 --> 00:13:57,633 The whole brain is there, the pieces are there, 331 00:13:57,633 --> 00:13:59,066   but the messages aren't getting through 332 00:13:59,066 --> 00:14:01,200 in a way that makes for our conscious experience. 333 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:03,000 (static hissing, beeps distorting) 334 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:04,433 And that's the difference between 335 00:14:04,433 --> 00:14:06,733 being aware and not being aware. 336 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:09,433 BERLIN: So the level of communication 337 00:14:09,433 --> 00:14:11,500 among brain regions is one difference 338 00:14:11,500 --> 00:14:14,100 between being conscious and being unconscious. 339 00:14:14,100 --> 00:14:19,200 That means that no single area of the brain 340 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:22,566 is responsible for your consciousness. 341 00:14:22,566 --> 00:14:26,966 It's that communication that helps make you you. 342 00:14:26,966 --> 00:14:29,400 MAN: Now, let's remember that the left hand 343 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:31,566 is governed from the right hemisphere. 344 00:14:31,566 --> 00:14:34,700 BERLIN: For some people, an entire half of their brain 345 00:14:34,700 --> 00:14:37,700 can't really communicate with the rest. 346 00:14:37,700 --> 00:14:41,466 These are people who have undergone split-brain surgery, 347 00:14:41,466 --> 00:14:43,866 and it's as if... 348 00:14:43,866 --> 00:14:47,500 (audio doubled): They have two minds in a single brain. 349 00:14:47,500 --> 00:14:48,766 MAN: Now the question becomes, 350 00:14:48,766 --> 00:14:50,200 what happens when you allow 351 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:52,466 both hands together to try to solve the problem? 352 00:14:52,466 --> 00:14:54,833 And what we find out is that they fight over each other. 353 00:14:54,833 --> 00:14:57,400 One hand knows how to do it and one hand does not, 354 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:00,966 and so they more or less squabble. 355 00:15:00,966 --> 00:15:02,600 The human brain contains two sides, 356 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:04,366 the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere, right? 357 00:15:04,366 --> 00:15:07,800 And they are connected by a big bundle of fibers. 358 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:09,300 It's called the corpus callosum. 359 00:15:09,300 --> 00:15:12,833 All the communication from one side of the brain 360 00:15:12,833 --> 00:15:16,266 to the other has to pass through this fiber bundle. 361 00:15:16,266 --> 00:15:20,866 BERLIN: For some people with epilepsy, a seizure in one hemisphere 362 00:15:20,866 --> 00:15:25,066 can quickly spread to the other by way of the corpus callosum. 363 00:15:25,066 --> 00:15:28,033 But if that bridge is surgically severed, 364 00:15:28,033 --> 00:15:31,366 a seizure can no longer cross to the other side of the brain. 365 00:15:32,866 --> 00:15:34,866 In addition to treating epilepsy, 366 00:15:34,866 --> 00:15:36,933 these surgeries have also led 367 00:15:36,933 --> 00:15:38,666 to some astounding research into 368 00:15:38,666 --> 00:15:41,300 how the two hemispheres function. 369 00:15:41,300 --> 00:15:44,333 MILLER: With your left hand, make me the a-okay sign. 370 00:15:44,333 --> 00:15:45,900 (woman laughs) 371 00:15:45,900 --> 00:15:49,366 BERLIN: To learn more about these fascinating studies, 372 00:15:49,366 --> 00:15:51,666 I met two pioneers in the field: 373 00:15:51,666 --> 00:15:53,300 Michael Miller 374 00:15:53,300 --> 00:15:55,933 and Michael Gazzaniga. 375 00:15:55,933 --> 00:15:58,500 Michael Miller asked me 376 00:15:58,500 --> 00:16:01,200 to step into his lab to do a few simple tests, 377 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:04,300 just like the ones he's conducted with patients 378 00:16:04,300 --> 00:16:05,700 after split-brain surgery. 379 00:16:05,700 --> 00:16:07,366 So, Heather, what you're going to see 380 00:16:07,366 --> 00:16:08,966 are two shapes. 381 00:16:08,966 --> 00:16:10,133 They're going to come up on the screen. 382 00:16:10,133 --> 00:16:12,066 ♪ ♪ 383 00:16:12,066 --> 00:16:14,366 You're gonna draw the shape on the left side of the screen 384 00:16:14,366 --> 00:16:15,800 with your left hand, 385 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:16,933 and the shape on the right side of the screen 386 00:16:16,933 --> 00:16:18,200 with your right hand. 387 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:20,700 And I want you to draw them as quickly as you can 388 00:16:20,700 --> 00:16:22,533 at the same time. 389 00:16:22,533 --> 00:16:23,766 Okay? (laughs): Okay. 390 00:16:23,766 --> 00:16:25,400 BERLIN: Piece of cake, right? 391 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:27,166 (device beeps) 392 00:16:28,466 --> 00:16:29,766 Oh... MILLER: Beautiful. 393 00:16:29,766 --> 00:16:30,800 (laughs) 394 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:35,000 Okay, not sure what you were drawing over here, but... 395 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:36,066 (laughs) 396 00:16:36,066 --> 00:16:37,500 (device beeps) 397 00:16:38,633 --> 00:16:40,533 Oh. (chuckles) (laughing): Okay. 398 00:16:40,533 --> 00:16:41,933 Did I mention I didn't get that much sleep last night? 399 00:16:41,933 --> 00:16:42,966 (laughs) 400 00:16:44,566 --> 00:16:46,266 BERLIN: The left side of the brain 401 00:16:46,266 --> 00:16:48,566 controls most of the right side of the body. 402 00:16:48,566 --> 00:16:50,133 And the right side of the brain 403 00:16:50,133 --> 00:16:52,533 controls most of the left side of the body. 404 00:16:54,266 --> 00:16:55,733 (all laughing) 405 00:16:55,733 --> 00:16:57,866 What happened is, I started out trying to do different things, 406 00:16:57,866 --> 00:16:59,633 and then they just sort of, like, sync up together. MILLER: Yeah, yeah. 407 00:16:59,633 --> 00:17:01,866 ♪ ♪ 408 00:17:01,866 --> 00:17:02,966 (laughs) Come on, man. 409 00:17:02,966 --> 00:17:04,933 MILLER: It's perfectly normal. 410 00:17:04,933 --> 00:17:07,100 So, I mean, what's happening is that the motor commands 411 00:17:07,100 --> 00:17:09,333 in the, in one hemisphere... Right. 412 00:17:09,333 --> 00:17:10,600 ...are interfering with the motor commands 413 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:12,233 in the other hemisphere. 414 00:17:12,233 --> 00:17:15,100 BERLIN: It was basically impossible 415 00:17:15,100 --> 00:17:16,566 for me to force my hands 416 00:17:16,566 --> 00:17:19,666 to draw two different things at the same time. 417 00:17:21,133 --> 00:17:22,700 But for someone whose two hemispheres 418 00:17:22,700 --> 00:17:26,133 are disconnected, there's no interference. 419 00:17:26,133 --> 00:17:28,366 It's almost as if there's one mind 420 00:17:28,366 --> 00:17:30,133 controlling the left hand, 421 00:17:30,133 --> 00:17:33,166 and a completely different mind controlling the right hand. 422 00:17:33,166 --> 00:17:35,400 And it isn't just movement 423 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:37,600 that's split across the hemispheres. 424 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:42,666 Only half of your visual field goes to each side of the brain. 425 00:17:42,666 --> 00:17:44,800 MILLER: When you're looking straight ahead, 426 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:47,966 everything to the left side of that space 427 00:17:47,966 --> 00:17:50,200 goes only to the right hemisphere. 428 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:53,533 And the opposite is true for the right side of the space. 429 00:17:53,533 --> 00:17:57,166 GAZZANIGA: The left part of the brain is where your language 430 00:17:57,166 --> 00:17:58,700 and speech centers are. 431 00:17:58,700 --> 00:18:00,200 That enables you to talk, 432 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:03,700 enables you to understand language, and all the rest. 433 00:18:03,700 --> 00:18:05,066 And the right side of your brain 434 00:18:05,066 --> 00:18:08,500   is very important in the evaluation of emotions, 435 00:18:08,500 --> 00:18:12,133 evaluation of visual space. 436 00:18:12,133 --> 00:18:14,333 I'm going to give you a test. 437 00:18:14,333 --> 00:18:16,366 MAN: If you look right at my nose, 438 00:18:16,366 --> 00:18:18,200 I'm going to hold up my hands. 439 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:20,833 You tell me how many fingers you see, all right? 440 00:18:20,833 --> 00:18:22,866 GAZZANIGA: How many fingers do you see? 441 00:18:22,866 --> 00:18:24,266 You see two, right? 442 00:18:24,266 --> 00:18:26,166 Why did you see two? 443 00:18:26,166 --> 00:18:30,233 (chuckling): This one went to your left hemisphere, 444 00:18:30,233 --> 00:18:32,233 this one went to your right hemisphere, 445 00:18:32,233 --> 00:18:34,566 way over in the other side of your brain. 446 00:18:34,566 --> 00:18:36,400 How does your left hemisphere know about it? 447 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:39,366 That pathway, the corpus callosum. 448 00:18:39,366 --> 00:18:42,000 It transfers that information. 449 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:44,600 Now I'm going to split your brain, 450 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:45,966 and I do the same test. 451 00:18:45,966 --> 00:18:48,700 How many fingers do I see? 452 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:51,000 WOMAN: Two. 453 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:52,200 You see anything else? 454 00:18:54,966 --> 00:18:55,966 No. 455 00:18:55,966 --> 00:18:57,800 Okay. 456 00:18:57,800 --> 00:18:59,966 You see one, you see this one, 457 00:18:59,966 --> 00:19:03,700 because that goes straight to your left, talking hemisphere. 458 00:19:03,700 --> 00:19:06,900 This one is still going to your right hemisphere, 459 00:19:06,900 --> 00:19:10,633 which has now been disconnected from your left. 460 00:19:10,633 --> 00:19:14,033 So your left brain can't talk about this. 461 00:19:14,033 --> 00:19:15,900 So you now say you only see one finger, 462 00:19:15,900 --> 00:19:19,633 even though your right brain is seeing this finger. 463 00:19:19,633 --> 00:19:22,566 It just can't talk about it, 464 00:19:22,566 --> 00:19:25,366 because the highway that communicates that information 465 00:19:25,366 --> 00:19:26,933 has been cut. 466 00:19:26,933 --> 00:19:29,166 Show me with your right hand what you see. 467 00:19:29,166 --> 00:19:31,400 Two. Okay. 468 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:34,800 Put it down, relax. 469 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:37,266 Show me with your left hand what you see. 470 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,000 One. Good. 471 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:43,666 MILLER: It's the most remarkable thing to witness. 472 00:19:43,666 --> 00:19:45,366 You know, there's this whole other entity 473 00:19:45,366 --> 00:19:48,800 in the head that's controlling the body 474 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:50,800 and can understand and remember 475 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:52,833 and feel and think all on its own, 476 00:19:52,833 --> 00:19:54,966 completely separate from the other side. 477 00:19:56,966 --> 00:19:58,933 BERLIN: The researchers conducted tests 478 00:19:58,933 --> 00:20:01,033 to explore how a split-brain patient's 479 00:20:01,033 --> 00:20:03,533 two hemispheres work independently 480 00:20:03,533 --> 00:20:05,566 from one another-- 481 00:20:05,566 --> 00:20:07,133 including a now-famous experiment 482 00:20:07,133 --> 00:20:08,833 of a patient named Joe. 483 00:20:08,833 --> 00:20:11,166 GAZZANIGA: Look right at the dot. 484 00:20:11,166 --> 00:20:13,266 BERLIN: By quickly flashing a word 485 00:20:13,266 --> 00:20:15,233 to just the left side of his visual field... 486 00:20:15,233 --> 00:20:17,066 (device beeps) GAZZANIGA: See anything? 487 00:20:17,066 --> 00:20:18,666 BERLIN: ...that word would go exclusively 488 00:20:18,666 --> 00:20:20,500 to the right half of his brain, 489 00:20:20,500 --> 00:20:23,733 the half that can't talk. 490 00:20:23,733 --> 00:20:25,933 So the only way we're going to know that it registered 491 00:20:25,933 --> 00:20:28,666 is if he can write something out, okay? 492 00:20:28,666 --> 00:20:31,200 With his hand that is controlled by his right hemisphere. 493 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:33,400 Exactly, his left hand. The left hand. 494 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:35,600 GAZZANIGA: We flash the word "Texas." 495 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:37,700 GAZZANIGA: Look right at the dot. 496 00:20:37,700 --> 00:20:38,733 See anything? 497 00:20:38,733 --> 00:20:40,966 There's a flash. All right. 498 00:20:40,966 --> 00:20:42,833 I didn't see the word. 499 00:20:42,833 --> 00:20:45,366 His right hemisphere is seeing it. 500 00:20:45,366 --> 00:20:47,733 GAZZANIGA: We're seeing it, but the right hemisphere, 501 00:20:47,733 --> 00:20:50,133 at this point in his surgery, 502 00:20:50,133 --> 00:20:52,000 cannot talk. Right. 503 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:58,133 GAZZANIGA: All right, I want you to draw for me that thing 504 00:20:58,133 --> 00:21:00,700 upside down. 505 00:21:00,700 --> 00:21:03,033 BERLIN: So he claims to not have seen anything. 506 00:21:03,033 --> 00:21:05,366 Yeah. Oh, my God. 507 00:21:05,366 --> 00:21:06,933 (laughs) Wow. 508 00:21:06,933 --> 00:21:09,766 BERLIN: He was able to do Texas upside down. GAZZANIGA: Yeah. 509 00:21:09,766 --> 00:21:12,033 MILLER: But what's interesting is, he had no idea what he's drawing. 510 00:21:12,033 --> 00:21:13,966 MILLER: We know because we saw the word. 511 00:21:13,966 --> 00:21:16,000 JOE (chuckling): I can't tell what it is. 512 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:17,566 BERLIN: Wow. 513 00:21:17,566 --> 00:21:19,166 GAZZANIGA: So then, later on, I show him the word again 514 00:21:19,166 --> 00:21:20,733 and I ask a different question 515 00:21:20,733 --> 00:21:23,166 about what he saw. 516 00:21:23,166 --> 00:21:25,133 BERLIN: Once again, they showed the word "Texas" 517 00:21:25,133 --> 00:21:28,466 to just his right, non-verbal hemisphere. 518 00:21:28,466 --> 00:21:30,800 So when asked about what he saw, 519 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:33,633 all his left hemisphere can say is... 520 00:21:33,633 --> 00:21:36,033 I'm aware of a word, I just didn't see what it was. 521 00:21:36,033 --> 00:21:39,866 GAZZANIGA (in video): Draw something that goes with that. 522 00:21:39,866 --> 00:21:41,900 A symbol of that. 523 00:21:43,833 --> 00:21:45,233 BERLIN: Oh, wow, 524 00:21:45,233 --> 00:21:46,300 so he draws a cowboy hat. MILLER: Yeah, clearly... 525 00:21:46,300 --> 00:21:47,900 Yeah, clearly, his right hemisphere 526 00:21:47,900 --> 00:21:49,900 knows exactly what he's drawing. Wow. 527 00:21:49,900 --> 00:21:52,100 But his left is still confused, 528 00:21:52,100 --> 00:21:53,633 so he doesn't understand it. Right. 529 00:21:53,633 --> 00:21:55,333 GAZZANIGA: What's that? 530 00:21:55,333 --> 00:21:56,966 Cowboy hat. 531 00:21:56,966 --> 00:21:58,233 Cowboy hat? 532 00:21:58,233 --> 00:22:00,700 What was the word? 533 00:22:00,700 --> 00:22:01,833 (whispering): So amazing. JOE (in video): Texas. 534 00:22:01,833 --> 00:22:03,033 (laughing): I can't believe it. 535 00:22:03,033 --> 00:22:06,633 GAZZANIGA: Did you see "Texas"? No. 536 00:22:06,633 --> 00:22:10,233 GAZZANIGA: The split-brain phenomenon suggests that there can be 537 00:22:10,233 --> 00:22:12,566 two separated minds, if you will, 538 00:22:12,566 --> 00:22:14,300 inside of a skull. 539 00:22:14,300 --> 00:22:18,400 The cooperation is on the paper, not inside the head. 540 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:20,333 It's an astounding example 541 00:22:20,333 --> 00:22:24,266 of cross-cueing and management of two mental systems 542 00:22:24,266 --> 00:22:26,000 into one unified act. 543 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:28,233 And the idea is 544 00:22:28,233 --> 00:22:31,633 maybe that's going on in us all the time, too. 545 00:22:33,100 --> 00:22:36,400 KANWISHER: Each of us has a sense that we're a unitary being, 546 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:38,333 but actually, that belies the fact 547 00:22:38,333 --> 00:22:40,333 that each of us, each of our minds, 548 00:22:40,333 --> 00:22:42,466 is actually composed of lots of different pieces 549 00:22:42,466 --> 00:22:43,700 that are doing different things. 550 00:22:43,700 --> 00:22:45,833 And different information can be represented 551 00:22:45,833 --> 00:22:48,166 in different parts of that machinery. 552 00:22:48,166 --> 00:22:52,866 And so a search for "where am I in all of this?" 553 00:22:52,866 --> 00:22:53,866 is a little bit misguided, 554 00:22:53,866 --> 00:22:55,766 because the "I" is not 555 00:22:55,766 --> 00:22:57,900 such a unitary thing in the first place. 556 00:22:57,900 --> 00:23:02,900 KASTHURI: That feeling of unity, of "me," is actually distributed 557 00:23:02,900 --> 00:23:05,866 across almost 90 billion neurons. 558 00:23:05,866 --> 00:23:09,166 This illusion that there's a single person 559 00:23:09,166 --> 00:23:10,700 inside our skulls. 560 00:23:10,700 --> 00:23:12,333 ♪ ♪ 561 00:23:12,333 --> 00:23:16,166 BERLIN: Inside your brain are over 100 distinct regions. 562 00:23:16,166 --> 00:23:18,766 Many different systems in the brain 563 00:23:18,766 --> 00:23:20,533 control what you do, from movement, 564 00:23:20,533 --> 00:23:24,733 to vision, to speech, and even social interaction. 565 00:23:26,066 --> 00:23:28,900 MAHZARIN BANAJI: I think most human beings like to believe 566 00:23:28,900 --> 00:23:31,933 that their mind is under their own control. 567 00:23:31,933 --> 00:23:34,433 If I want to, I can stand up right now. 568 00:23:34,433 --> 00:23:35,666 I can do that. 569 00:23:35,666 --> 00:23:39,400   And that gives me, I think, the false belief 570 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:42,000 that everything I do has been chosen by me. 571 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,900 And if there is a story from the brain to tell, 572 00:23:44,900 --> 00:23:46,500 it is that we are quite wrong. 573 00:23:46,500 --> 00:23:48,700 BERLIN: Not only are there multiple parts 574 00:23:48,700 --> 00:23:51,000 of your brain influencing you, 575 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:52,966 but there are things in the world around you 576 00:23:52,966 --> 00:23:55,500 that influence your brain, 577 00:23:55,500 --> 00:23:57,700 including other people. 578 00:23:57,700 --> 00:24:00,933 SAXE: How we act and who we are in our lives 579 00:24:00,933 --> 00:24:03,400 is hugely determined by 580 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:05,400 the expectations of the people around us. 581 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:09,333 The brain helps us be the most social species on the planet. 582 00:24:09,333 --> 00:24:13,700   A lot of our brains are devoted to understanding other people. 583 00:24:13,700 --> 00:24:17,100 SCHILLER: Our brain doesn't operate in isolation. 584 00:24:17,100 --> 00:24:21,233 We constantly learn, take, compare to other brains. 585 00:24:21,233 --> 00:24:24,066 CHANG: Our brains have evolved to be able to 586 00:24:24,066 --> 00:24:27,833 effortlessly reason about other people. 587 00:24:27,833 --> 00:24:29,966 And emotions, similarly, have evolved 588 00:24:29,966 --> 00:24:31,833 as ways that guide our behavior. 589 00:24:31,833 --> 00:24:35,166   BERLIN: So, how exactly do emotions-- 590 00:24:35,166 --> 00:24:39,000 and the emotions of others-- influence our brains? 591 00:24:40,466 --> 00:24:42,533 Neuroscientist Luke Chang studies how 592 00:24:42,533 --> 00:24:46,566 emotions like greed and guilt affect our decision-making. 593 00:24:46,566 --> 00:24:48,766 MAN: Hey, Grace, we're going to start up the scout. 594 00:24:48,766 --> 00:24:50,533 GRACE (on speaker): Okay. 595 00:24:50,533 --> 00:24:53,000 Go ahead and make your decision. 596 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:54,066 (softly): Okay, did you tell her to go on to the next one? 597 00:24:54,066 --> 00:24:55,100 MAN: Yep, you can hit next. 598 00:24:57,366 --> 00:24:59,633 BERLIN: So, what are you guys looking at here? 599 00:24:59,633 --> 00:25:01,233 What's this study about? Is there... 600 00:25:01,233 --> 00:25:03,100 So she's playing an investment game... 601 00:25:03,100 --> 00:25:05,000 Okay. ...with another participant, 602 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:06,833 who's outside the scanner. 603 00:25:06,833 --> 00:25:10,800 BERLIN: Luke scans the brains of study participants 604 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,300 while they play a game from behavioral economics 605 00:25:13,300 --> 00:25:15,066 called the Trust Game. 606 00:25:16,300 --> 00:25:17,900 CHANG: This is a cooperative game 607 00:25:17,900 --> 00:25:20,633 where one person has some sum of money, 608 00:25:20,633 --> 00:25:22,433 and they can choose to invest any amount of that money 609 00:25:22,433 --> 00:25:23,800 in their partner. 610 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,800 BERLIN: That investment grows. 611 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:31,333 So then, the study participant has to decide: 612 00:25:31,333 --> 00:25:34,433 they could be greedy and keep all the money 613 00:25:34,433 --> 00:25:36,600 or they could be generous, 614 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:38,700 and give some of the investment back. 615 00:25:38,700 --> 00:25:40,433 ♪ ♪ 616 00:25:40,433 --> 00:25:42,766 CHANG: We've always been really interested in, 617 00:25:42,766 --> 00:25:45,266 why do people return the money when they don't have to? 618 00:25:45,266 --> 00:25:48,400 And guilt provides one plausible mechanism 619 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:50,100 that might be driving their behavior 620 00:25:50,100 --> 00:25:52,366 to act cooperatively in this game. 621 00:25:53,533 --> 00:25:55,933 BERLIN: And so you're balancing making these decisions 622 00:25:55,933 --> 00:25:59,066 between getting that kind of dopamine reward hit 623 00:25:59,066 --> 00:26:01,066 from being a little selfish 624 00:26:01,066 --> 00:26:05,200 versus being balanced by those feelings of, maybe, guilt 625 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:08,033 when you're not cooperating or helping somebody else out. 626 00:26:09,166 --> 00:26:12,266 BERLIN: And the brain scans reveal which parts of the brain 627 00:26:12,266 --> 00:26:16,100 are most active when someone is feeling guilt. 628 00:26:16,100 --> 00:26:17,366 CHANG: Those regions ended up being 629 00:26:17,366 --> 00:26:18,466 something called the insula. 630 00:26:18,466 --> 00:26:21,366 Signals about having this gut feeling 631 00:26:21,366 --> 00:26:23,533 that maybe this isn't a good idea, 632 00:26:23,533 --> 00:26:25,066 or, "I'd feel really bad if I did that." 633 00:26:25,066 --> 00:26:27,066 Those are the signals that originate from the insula 634 00:26:27,066 --> 00:26:30,500 that allow us to make decisions to avoid harming someone else. 635 00:26:30,500 --> 00:26:33,133 ♪ ♪ 636 00:26:33,133 --> 00:26:35,366 BERLIN: Luke likes to think of it kind of like a thermometer 637 00:26:35,366 --> 00:26:37,466 and a thermostat. 638 00:26:37,466 --> 00:26:38,766 CHANG: If you try to think about how 639 00:26:38,766 --> 00:26:40,633 a thermostat might be mapped onto the brain, 640 00:26:40,633 --> 00:26:43,900 one region might be more like the thermometer, 641 00:26:43,900 --> 00:26:46,466 detecting the ambient temperature in the room. 642 00:26:46,466 --> 00:26:49,000 BERLIN: When it comes to reading the room, 643 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,800 our brain's thermometer seems to be the insula. 644 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:55,166 But all that information needs to go somewhere else 645 00:26:55,166 --> 00:26:57,733 and be integrated with other types of information. 646 00:26:57,733 --> 00:27:00,433 BERLIN: That's our brain's thermostat-- 647 00:27:00,433 --> 00:27:02,800 a region located inside the prefrontal cortex 648 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:07,200 that processes our emotions and helps regulate our behavior. 649 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:09,433 And while your thermostat can usually help you 650 00:27:09,433 --> 00:27:11,566 take control of your emotions, 651 00:27:11,566 --> 00:27:15,500 what would happen if it went out? 652 00:27:15,500 --> 00:27:17,466 ♪ ♪ 653 00:27:17,466 --> 00:27:20,900 CHANG: There's a famous patient named Phineas Gage. 654 00:27:20,900 --> 00:27:22,666 WHEATLEY: Phineas Gage was a railroad foreman 655 00:27:22,666 --> 00:27:24,100 who was working in Vermont, 656 00:27:24,100 --> 00:27:30,266 and he was tamping down a hole that had gunpowder in it, 657 00:27:30,266 --> 00:27:31,800 and the gunpowder ignited, 658 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:34,666 sending the rod through his eye, up through his brain, 659 00:27:34,666 --> 00:27:39,800 taking out a big patch of his brain in the process. 660 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:42,333 At first people thought, well, this is a miracle. 661 00:27:42,333 --> 00:27:45,666 This man has been unscathed from this accident. 662 00:27:45,666 --> 00:27:50,433 He had memory, he had language, he had motor control. 663 00:27:50,433 --> 00:27:52,600 But of course, his friends noticed a difference. 664 00:27:53,733 --> 00:27:56,000 CHANG: His life fell apart-- he had a hard time holding a job, 665 00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:01,166 he lost all of his friends, and he really just struggled. 666 00:28:01,166 --> 00:28:03,600 WHEATLEY: His personality made him more fitful, 667 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:05,433 irreverent, more profane. 668 00:28:05,433 --> 00:28:07,766 He was cursing a lot, lewd behavior. 669 00:28:07,766 --> 00:28:09,166 So he had sort of no filter. 670 00:28:09,166 --> 00:28:11,900 We now know that the parts of the brain 671 00:28:11,900 --> 00:28:14,700 that he sort of surgically excised 672 00:28:14,700 --> 00:28:18,233 were involved in emotion and control. 673 00:28:19,533 --> 00:28:21,833 BERLIN: Over a hundred years later, 674 00:28:21,833 --> 00:28:24,300 neuroscientists mapped the regions of his brain 675 00:28:24,300 --> 00:28:27,566 that were harmed in that horrific accident. 676 00:28:27,566 --> 00:28:29,966 Areas of his prefrontal cortex, 677 00:28:29,966 --> 00:28:32,800 including the brain's thermostat, were damaged, 678 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:35,233 which might account for why he struggled socially. 679 00:28:35,233 --> 00:28:37,733 He couldn't regulate his emotions 680 00:28:37,733 --> 00:28:42,166 or process how other people might react to his behavior. 681 00:28:42,166 --> 00:28:46,700 WHEATLEY: And that was the key moment, I think, in neuroscience history 682 00:28:46,700 --> 00:28:48,933 when people realized, 683 00:28:48,933 --> 00:28:51,300 oh, it's not just that motor, memory, 684 00:28:51,300 --> 00:28:53,233 language is in the brain. 685 00:28:53,233 --> 00:28:55,733 Your personality is up there, your morality is up there, 686 00:28:55,733 --> 00:28:59,366 things that make you you are there. 687 00:28:59,366 --> 00:29:03,133 BERLIN: I think we all kind of know intuitively that emotions 688 00:29:03,133 --> 00:29:05,533 impact our decisions. 689 00:29:05,533 --> 00:29:08,266 So what sort of extra information is this giving us? 690 00:29:08,266 --> 00:29:10,266 CHANG: In a lot of the scientific work 691 00:29:10,266 --> 00:29:12,333 that's been done on studying emotion in decision making, 692 00:29:12,333 --> 00:29:14,233 people have really focused on 693 00:29:14,233 --> 00:29:16,000 how emotions lead us to make worse decisions, 694 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:18,233 maybe even irrational. 695 00:29:18,233 --> 00:29:20,433 And I actually don't think that's true. 696 00:29:20,433 --> 00:29:22,633 If you have a goal to not want to harm others 697 00:29:22,633 --> 00:29:25,533 and to do what's going to be in your self-interest, 698 00:29:25,533 --> 00:29:28,800 emotions are actually helping us make better decisions. 699 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:30,233 ♪ ♪ 700 00:29:30,233 --> 00:29:32,966 WHEATLEY: We are, in fact, the company that we keep, 701 00:29:32,966 --> 00:29:36,100 because other people bring out parts of us, 702 00:29:36,100 --> 00:29:38,933 and strengthen us in particular ways. 703 00:29:40,100 --> 00:29:41,633 SCHILLER: How you make decisions, 704 00:29:41,633 --> 00:29:44,633 how you behave, how you think about yourself, 705 00:29:44,633 --> 00:29:46,700 all of these processes we develop 706 00:29:46,700 --> 00:29:48,766 by mimicking and interacting 707 00:29:48,766 --> 00:29:50,566 and synchronizing with other brains. 708 00:29:52,166 --> 00:29:54,900 SAXE: One thing that we all share as humans 709 00:29:54,900 --> 00:29:59,133 is that social life and social contact 710 00:29:59,133 --> 00:30:02,766 is an incredibly important part of what our brain processes. 711 00:30:02,766 --> 00:30:04,800 Our brains are, in detail, influenced 712 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:06,433 by every experience we have. 713 00:30:06,433 --> 00:30:08,766 Every moment, every sentence, every image 714 00:30:08,766 --> 00:30:12,266 changes your brain. 715 00:30:12,266 --> 00:30:15,533 BERLIN: And certain experiences are so profound, 716 00:30:15,533 --> 00:30:18,866 so extreme, that they can impact brain biology 717 00:30:18,866 --> 00:30:22,300 from one generation to the next. 718 00:30:22,300 --> 00:30:25,133 Neuroscientist Bianca Jones Marlin is studying 719 00:30:25,133 --> 00:30:29,266 how your ancestors' experiences might control 720 00:30:29,266 --> 00:30:31,733 how your brain is wired today. 721 00:30:31,733 --> 00:30:34,800 MARLIN: We ask how trauma affects the brain, 722 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:36,566 how trauma affects the body, 723 00:30:36,566 --> 00:30:40,200 and really, how trauma affects generations. 724 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:43,000 People in the world suffer from traumatic events, 725 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:44,833 and these traumatic events aren't just 726 00:30:44,833 --> 00:30:47,200 a one-time change in their brain and their body. 727 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:49,500 It actually continues for seemingly their lifetime. 728 00:30:50,666 --> 00:30:54,633 BERLIN: Bianca's research is inspired by her upbringing. 729 00:30:54,633 --> 00:30:56,433 MARLIN: My parents, my biological parents, 730 00:30:56,433 --> 00:30:58,133 were also foster parents. 731 00:30:58,133 --> 00:31:00,733 So I had foster siblings and adopted siblings growing up. 732 00:31:00,733 --> 00:31:03,266 Only now as a scientist, I realize that that motivates 733 00:31:03,266 --> 00:31:05,233 a lot of the questions that I ask: 734 00:31:05,233 --> 00:31:08,100 how do we understand what happens when kids 735 00:31:08,100 --> 00:31:10,300 are born into trauma 736 00:31:10,300 --> 00:31:13,000 and optimize what we do have for better generations? 737 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:15,500 ♪ ♪ 738 00:31:15,500 --> 00:31:19,866 BERLIN: One insight comes from an event during World War II. 739 00:31:19,866 --> 00:31:21,800 MARLIN: At the end of World War II, 740 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:24,066 the Netherlands were cut off from food by Nazi troops 741 00:31:24,066 --> 00:31:26,566 because they decided to protest through the country. 742 00:31:26,566 --> 00:31:29,533 And during this period of time, it created a man-made famine. 743 00:31:29,533 --> 00:31:32,233 There was starvation, death, there was trauma. 744 00:31:32,233 --> 00:31:34,666 BERLIN: Not only did those 745 00:31:34,666 --> 00:31:37,833 who suffered during the famine experience health problems, 746 00:31:37,833 --> 00:31:42,133 but some of their children, and even their grandchildren, 747 00:31:42,133 --> 00:31:45,200 had metabolic issues. 748 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:47,700 So people began to ask, how does an experience 749 00:31:47,700 --> 00:31:51,600 of a parent, of a grandparent, change offspring? 750 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:56,833 BERLIN: Researchers began to discover that your environment 751 00:31:56,833 --> 00:31:59,400 and your experiences can change the way your genes 752 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:02,466 are activated in your body and in your brain. 753 00:32:02,466 --> 00:32:05,033 MARLIN: It's not like you get your genes 754 00:32:05,033 --> 00:32:06,533 and it's set in stone. 755 00:32:06,533 --> 00:32:08,466 They're constantly changing based on the environment. 756 00:32:08,466 --> 00:32:10,166 BERLIN: To see this in action, 757 00:32:10,166 --> 00:32:12,400 Bianca studies mice. 758 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:15,933 MARLIN: We're able to map the whole genome of mice, 759 00:32:15,933 --> 00:32:17,600 target certain areas 760 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:20,366 of that genetic code, and use them 761 00:32:20,366 --> 00:32:23,000 to answer important questions in science. 762 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,300 BERLIN: So how could stress and trauma 763 00:32:25,300 --> 00:32:28,433 alter the biology of the mice's offspring? 764 00:32:29,900 --> 00:32:31,100 To find out, 765 00:32:31,100 --> 00:32:33,033 Bianca paired the smell of almond 766 00:32:33,033 --> 00:32:35,666 with an electric shock. (shock buzzes) 767 00:32:35,666 --> 00:32:38,233 MARLIN: Because mice really navigate the world 768 00:32:38,233 --> 00:32:40,700 and rely heavily on the sense of smell, 769 00:32:40,700 --> 00:32:43,400 we use olfaction, pair it with a light foot shock, 770 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:46,066 and we observe changes in the brain and changes in behavior. 771 00:32:47,100 --> 00:32:48,833 BERLIN: She noticed that something inside 772 00:32:48,833 --> 00:32:53,300 of the mice's noses changed. 773 00:32:53,300 --> 00:32:55,033 MARLIN: We're able to look at the cells in the nose 774 00:32:55,033 --> 00:32:57,000 that only respond to almond. 775 00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:00,133 And what we observe is that after the light foot shock 776 00:33:00,133 --> 00:33:03,366 and the presentation of almond coinciding, 777 00:33:03,366 --> 00:33:04,866 there are more cells in the nose 778 00:33:04,866 --> 00:33:06,400 that express the almond receptor. 779 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:09,466 It's as if something in the milieu of the nose says, 780 00:33:09,466 --> 00:33:11,200 almond's important in this environment. 781 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:12,700 We need more cells like you. 782 00:33:13,833 --> 00:33:15,400 BERLIN: Mice grew more cells 783 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:18,600 that responded to the smell of almond. 784 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:21,033 MARLIN: Each one of these green dots you see here, 785 00:33:21,033 --> 00:33:22,700 these are neurons. 786 00:33:22,700 --> 00:33:25,200 They're cells that can respond to the almond smell. 787 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:29,366 These red dots are cells that were born 788 00:33:29,366 --> 00:33:32,000 after the presentation of odor and shock. 789 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:36,300 And this cell right here, this red and green cell, 790 00:33:36,300 --> 00:33:37,833 is a cell that was born 791 00:33:37,833 --> 00:33:39,700 after the presentation of almond and shock 792 00:33:39,700 --> 00:33:42,066 that also responds to almond. 793 00:33:42,066 --> 00:33:44,133 This is the cell that we want to look at 794 00:33:44,133 --> 00:33:46,433 to see what information is inside, 795 00:33:46,433 --> 00:33:48,000 because we see more of these 796 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:49,366 after the odor and shock pairing. 797 00:33:50,366 --> 00:33:53,833 BERLIN: Remarkably, these changes were actually passed down 798 00:33:53,833 --> 00:33:57,233 to the next generation. 799 00:33:57,233 --> 00:33:59,400 MARLIN: The offspring, the kids of the parents 800 00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:02,133 that were shocked with odor, 801 00:34:02,133 --> 00:34:06,066 were born with more cells that express the almond receptor. 802 00:34:06,066 --> 00:34:07,833 Which means there's a memory that somehow 803 00:34:07,833 --> 00:34:12,000 is maintained in sperm and egg through implantation 804 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:14,933 and represented in offspring. 805 00:34:14,933 --> 00:34:18,833 It is as if we are observing a change in evolution 806 00:34:18,833 --> 00:34:23,233 over the time span of one generation. 807 00:34:23,233 --> 00:34:25,500 And I just think that's fascinating. 808 00:34:25,500 --> 00:34:28,200 Because we as humans know how 809 00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:33,033 environment and how traumatic events change people. 810 00:34:33,033 --> 00:34:36,200 Just being able to take the science of that 811 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:38,133 and being able to show that, 812 00:34:38,133 --> 00:34:41,033 we're just justifying what we already know as humans, 813 00:34:41,033 --> 00:34:42,733 what society has known for a long time, 814 00:34:42,733 --> 00:34:44,533 what individuals know. 815 00:34:44,533 --> 00:34:48,366 We just want to bring that to an undeniable truth. 816 00:34:50,266 --> 00:34:52,766 MARTINEZ-CONDE: Our brains are not static. 817 00:34:52,766 --> 00:34:56,866 We try to make sense of what's happening right now, 818 00:34:56,866 --> 00:35:01,400 but we also try to make sense of what happened a long time ago 819 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:03,366 and to have, like, this grand picture 820 00:35:03,366 --> 00:35:05,066 of our life as a trajectory. 821 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:09,666 Our ability for conscious awareness. 822 00:35:09,666 --> 00:35:11,033 It's a magnificent ability, this ability 823 00:35:11,033 --> 00:35:12,466 to reflect on our own minds. 824 00:35:12,466 --> 00:35:15,533 But it also leads us astray. 825 00:35:15,533 --> 00:35:17,766 SETH: I have memories, plans, 826 00:35:17,766 --> 00:35:21,300 I have these feelings of agency over my actions. 827 00:35:21,300 --> 00:35:23,566 But what the science itself is telling us is that 828 00:35:23,566 --> 00:35:26,233 these things aren't necessarily bound together. 829 00:35:26,233 --> 00:35:28,800 Different aspects of the self can be manipulated, 830 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:30,800 or even taken away altogether. 831 00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:34,233 BERLIN: Your biology and the choices you make 832 00:35:34,233 --> 00:35:36,933 are all molded by your social interactions 833 00:35:36,933 --> 00:35:39,666 and even your family history. 834 00:35:39,666 --> 00:35:42,733 And yet, we feel like we have control. 835 00:35:42,733 --> 00:35:46,166 Like we have agency, right? 836 00:35:46,166 --> 00:35:50,666 ♪ ♪ 837 00:35:52,333 --> 00:35:57,633 MAOZ: An agent is somebody that is the author of their own story. 838 00:35:58,766 --> 00:36:00,466 But actually, 839 00:36:00,466 --> 00:36:02,833 most of what's happening in our brain we are not conscious of. 840 00:36:02,833 --> 00:36:05,800 And I think this gets you starting to think, 841 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:08,033 wait a minute, you know, 842 00:36:08,033 --> 00:36:09,633 is really everything under my control? 843 00:36:11,366 --> 00:36:12,666 BERLIN: Neuroscientist Uri Maoz 844 00:36:12,666 --> 00:36:15,333 is putting our sense of control to the test. 845 00:36:17,100 --> 00:36:18,966 We feel like we're in control, 846 00:36:18,966 --> 00:36:20,700 but where exactly does that 847 00:36:20,700 --> 00:36:23,766 feeling come from, and how does it work? 848 00:36:23,766 --> 00:36:26,333 Ah, here you are. 849 00:36:26,333 --> 00:36:28,466 Hello. Hello. 850 00:36:28,466 --> 00:36:30,666 Thank you very much for joining us, 851 00:36:30,666 --> 00:36:33,800 agent-ically and out of your own volition. 852 00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:35,733 (laughs): Of course. Before we start... 853 00:36:35,733 --> 00:36:37,566 Mm-hmm. ...let me give you this envelope. 854 00:36:37,566 --> 00:36:40,200 Okay. Please don't let anybody touch it. 855 00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:43,400 Okay. And don't look inside, but we'll need it for later on. 856 00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:44,866 For later, okay. 857 00:36:44,866 --> 00:36:46,600 BERLIN: To show me how my sense of control 858 00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:48,033 isn't always what it seems, 859 00:36:48,033 --> 00:36:50,800 Uri kicked things off by trying to get me 860 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:55,733 to question my ability to choose by using a magic trick. 861 00:36:55,733 --> 00:36:57,200 So where would you like to sit? 862 00:36:57,200 --> 00:36:58,933 Where would I like to sit? 863 00:36:58,933 --> 00:37:00,766 MAOZ: It's really up to you. BERLIN: It's really-- I have a choice? 864 00:37:00,766 --> 00:37:02,333 MAOZ: Wherever you want-- you have a choice. 865 00:37:02,333 --> 00:37:04,066 All right, so I'm going to sit here. 866 00:37:04,066 --> 00:37:05,533 You're going to sit over there, okay. Yes. 867 00:37:05,533 --> 00:37:07,533 So how about just before you sit down, if you don't mind... 868 00:37:07,533 --> 00:37:08,833 Mm-hmm. 869 00:37:08,833 --> 00:37:12,700 Um, let's see what this says. 870 00:37:12,700 --> 00:37:14,800 Oh, my God, okay. So... 871 00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:18,333 So then that one obviously says the same thing, right? 872 00:37:18,333 --> 00:37:20,266 Um... No? 873 00:37:20,266 --> 00:37:22,266 Let's check and see what this one says. 874 00:37:22,266 --> 00:37:25,700 This one says... Oh, come on. 875 00:37:25,700 --> 00:37:28,400 Okay. (laughs): So I'm that predictable? 876 00:37:28,400 --> 00:37:30,200 You don't even know me yet! 877 00:37:31,300 --> 00:37:33,433 BERLIN: I really don't know how he did that! 878 00:37:33,433 --> 00:37:38,466 I'm not totally convinced, but I'm starting to question, 879 00:37:38,466 --> 00:37:40,533 how do I know when I have made a decision? 880 00:37:40,533 --> 00:37:43,200 If I may, let me give you, 881 00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:44,433 as a present, a book. 882 00:37:44,433 --> 00:37:46,700 Here you go, this is yours. Oh, thank you. 883 00:37:46,700 --> 00:37:48,300 And I will just ask you to leaf through it... 884 00:37:48,300 --> 00:37:51,833 Mm-hmm. ...and find a word that has some meaning for you. 885 00:37:51,833 --> 00:37:53,200 All right, I got it. 886 00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:54,466 Can you tell me what the word is? 887 00:37:54,466 --> 00:37:56,433 Representation. 888 00:37:56,433 --> 00:37:58,666 Please write the word down, representation. Mm-hmm. 889 00:37:58,666 --> 00:38:00,466 And, you know, just stick that sticky note 890 00:38:00,466 --> 00:38:02,333 somewhere on that page, yeah, thank you. Okay, okay, all right. 891 00:38:02,333 --> 00:38:04,466 BERLIN: We'll come back to that later. 892 00:38:05,633 --> 00:38:08,300 But for now, I'm starting to see how choice 893 00:38:08,300 --> 00:38:11,166 and agency aren't always so straightforward. 894 00:38:12,533 --> 00:38:15,266 So to find out what's actually going on in the brain 895 00:38:15,266 --> 00:38:17,833 when our sense of control is in question, 896 00:38:17,833 --> 00:38:19,566 I took a look at a trial designed 897 00:38:19,566 --> 00:38:22,900 by post-doctoral researcher Alice Wong. 898 00:38:22,900 --> 00:38:26,900 A volunteer from the lab, Tomás, is being fitted 899 00:38:26,900 --> 00:38:30,366 with a transcranial magnetic stimulation device, 900 00:38:30,366 --> 00:38:33,366 TMS for short. 901 00:38:33,366 --> 00:38:36,433 It generates a strong magnetic field 902 00:38:36,433 --> 00:38:38,066 that can send signals to your brain. 903 00:38:38,066 --> 00:38:39,366 MAOZ: The idea is that you 904 00:38:39,366 --> 00:38:43,766 stimulate the brain using a focused magnetic field. 905 00:38:43,766 --> 00:38:46,566 And if you stimulate that in the right part 906 00:38:46,566 --> 00:38:50,133 of the motor cortex-- it's a part of the brain 907 00:38:50,133 --> 00:38:52,166 that actually controls your fingers-- 908 00:38:52,166 --> 00:38:53,800 it's like you're pulling on a string here. 909 00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:55,166 Every time you pull it, the finger goes. 910 00:38:57,133 --> 00:38:59,100 BERLIN: With the device hooked up, 911 00:38:59,100 --> 00:39:01,166 the researchers can make his finger jump 912 00:39:01,166 --> 00:39:05,600 involuntarily by sending a signal to his motor cortex. 913 00:39:05,600 --> 00:39:08,700 (device clicks) WONG: We're going to be locating 914 00:39:08,700 --> 00:39:12,400 the spot of your motor cortex that moves one of your fingers. 915 00:39:13,066 --> 00:39:14,266 (device clicks) 916 00:39:14,266 --> 00:39:15,533 How about that? TOMÁS: That works. 917 00:39:15,533 --> 00:39:18,133 That was a pinky movement up. WONG: Okay. 918 00:39:19,133 --> 00:39:23,533 BERLIN: Sometimes they ask him to move his finger on his own. 919 00:39:23,533 --> 00:39:26,266 WONG: Could you replicate the movement if in, that you... 920 00:39:26,266 --> 00:39:28,133 TOMÁS: Was something like this. 921 00:39:28,133 --> 00:39:30,433 BERLIN: Remarkably, by recording 922 00:39:30,433 --> 00:39:33,500 the small electrical signals that travel from his brain 923 00:39:33,500 --> 00:39:35,866 down to his finger muscles, 924 00:39:35,866 --> 00:39:38,633 Alice and Uri can pinpoint the exact moment 925 00:39:38,633 --> 00:39:41,366 that Tomás's brain has initiated a movement-- 926 00:39:41,366 --> 00:39:45,933 almost 50 milliseconds before he actually moves. 927 00:39:45,933 --> 00:39:50,466 With this information, it's as though they can predict 928 00:39:50,466 --> 00:39:53,500 his movement slightly before it actually happens. 929 00:39:53,500 --> 00:39:58,166 So now, his sense of agency is about to be put to the test. 930 00:39:58,166 --> 00:39:59,733 WONG: Who initiated the movement? 931 00:39:59,733 --> 00:40:01,333 TOMÁS: It was me. 932 00:40:01,333 --> 00:40:03,933 WONG: How much agency did you feel over the movement? 933 00:40:03,933 --> 00:40:04,933 TOMÁS: Quite a lot. 934 00:40:04,933 --> 00:40:06,400 Full agency? Okay. 935 00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:09,500 BERLIN: Normally, the researcher isn't in the room, 936 00:40:09,500 --> 00:40:13,733 and all the questions are conducted by the computer. 937 00:40:13,733 --> 00:40:15,866 Who initiated the movement? 938 00:40:17,300 --> 00:40:20,533 I don't know. 939 00:40:20,533 --> 00:40:24,000 How much agency did you feel over the movement? 940 00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:26,300 TOMÁS: I would say some agency. 941 00:40:26,300 --> 00:40:27,966 BERLIN: In some instances, 942 00:40:27,966 --> 00:40:32,333 just as Tomás decides to move his finger, 943 00:40:32,333 --> 00:40:34,900 the researchers use the magnetic field to make his finger move. 944 00:40:34,900 --> 00:40:36,800 (device clicks) WONG: Who initiated the movement? 945 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:39,066 I really don't know. 946 00:40:39,066 --> 00:40:41,233 Okay. 947 00:40:41,233 --> 00:40:44,833 How much agency did you feel over the movement? 948 00:40:44,833 --> 00:40:46,733 A little bit. 949 00:40:46,733 --> 00:40:48,500 BERLIN: So, even in the instances 950 00:40:48,500 --> 00:40:51,766 when Tomás really did decide to move his finger... 951 00:40:51,766 --> 00:40:53,566 WONG: How much agency did you feel 952 00:40:53,566 --> 00:40:56,633 over the movement? No agency at all. 953 00:40:56,633 --> 00:40:59,666 BERLIN: ...he didn't always feel like he was in control. 954 00:40:59,666 --> 00:41:03,600 So after the experiment, I was excited to hear the results. 955 00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:08,266 MAOZ: When Tomás initiated the movement himself, 956 00:41:08,266 --> 00:41:11,400 yet we intervened with the TMS, 957 00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:15,233 Tomás said, "That wasn't me, I didn't initiate the movement. 958 00:41:15,233 --> 00:41:18,233 It was the computer." 959 00:41:18,233 --> 00:41:20,133 He thought that the computer initiated the movement, 960 00:41:20,133 --> 00:41:21,966 or it was both of them, or he wasn't sure, 961 00:41:21,966 --> 00:41:23,766 but he almost never said that it was him. 962 00:41:24,766 --> 00:41:26,566 BERLIN: So what do you think is going on there? 963 00:41:26,566 --> 00:41:28,833 How is this happening? 964 00:41:28,833 --> 00:41:30,633 MAOZ: You know, we walk around and we feel like, you know, 965 00:41:30,633 --> 00:41:32,900 we are the authors of our, of our actions and so on. 966 00:41:32,900 --> 00:41:35,000 And you can see with just a little bit of messing around, 967 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:36,600 it tends to fall apart. 968 00:41:36,600 --> 00:41:39,500 BERLIN: It's fragile, like our sense of self... MAOZ: Yes. 969 00:41:39,500 --> 00:41:41,400 BERLIN: ...our memories, our sense of agency. 970 00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:44,533 They're all things that our brain evolved over time. 971 00:41:44,533 --> 00:41:47,433 BERLIN: But they're fragile and they can be manipulated... MAOZ: Yes. 972 00:41:47,433 --> 00:41:48,933 BERLIN: ...under the right circumstances. 973 00:41:48,933 --> 00:41:50,200 MAOZ: Everything has to align 974 00:41:50,200 --> 00:41:51,333 for you to feel the sense of agency. 975 00:41:51,333 --> 00:41:53,800 When the finger moves, 976 00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:55,700 we get this feedback back to the brain 977 00:41:55,700 --> 00:41:57,000 and it's incorporated with whatever is happening 978 00:41:57,000 --> 00:41:58,800 in the brain to create the movement. 979 00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:02,700 MAOZ: And together you get this sense of agency over the movement. 980 00:42:02,700 --> 00:42:07,000 I think that in everyday life, we are in control. 981 00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:09,766 However, I think this experiment shows we're quite happy 982 00:42:09,766 --> 00:42:11,433 to relinquish control. 983 00:42:11,433 --> 00:42:13,200 BERLIN: Like states of consciousness, 984 00:42:13,200 --> 00:42:14,933 there are levels of agency, 985 00:42:14,933 --> 00:42:19,733 ways it can be manipulated, and even taken away. 986 00:42:19,733 --> 00:42:22,133 We think A happened and then B happened. 987 00:42:22,133 --> 00:42:24,100 That's the end of the story. 988 00:42:24,100 --> 00:42:27,066 But of course, most of our brain activity is unconscious. 989 00:42:27,066 --> 00:42:29,566   Who initiated the first movement? 990 00:42:29,566 --> 00:42:32,033 That was me. 991 00:42:32,033 --> 00:42:33,766 SETH: So, we sometimes misinterpret. 992 00:42:33,766 --> 00:42:35,333 Our experience of voluntary action 993 00:42:35,333 --> 00:42:37,533 is a little bit retrospective in this sense. 994 00:42:37,533 --> 00:42:39,733 The brain looks at what the body did, 995 00:42:39,733 --> 00:42:41,666 and figures out if that makes sense 996 00:42:41,666 --> 00:42:44,300 as an act of its own free will. 997 00:42:44,300 --> 00:42:45,666 ♪ ♪ 998 00:42:45,666 --> 00:42:48,166 BERLIN: After the agency experiment, 999 00:42:48,166 --> 00:42:50,900 we had more important matters to attend to. 1000 00:42:50,900 --> 00:42:54,333 So, Heather, when you came in, I gave you an envelope, right? 1001 00:42:54,333 --> 00:42:56,533 Yes. Nobody touched it but you? 1002 00:42:56,533 --> 00:42:57,600 No. 1003 00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:00,400 Do you remember that later on, 1004 00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:02,033 I gave you that book? Mm-hmm. 1005 00:43:02,033 --> 00:43:03,800 And in that book, you opened it 1006 00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:07,266 to whatever page you wanted, and you found a word in there. Mm-hmm. 1007 00:43:07,266 --> 00:43:09,833 Right, where the... Can you tell us again what that word was? 1008 00:43:09,833 --> 00:43:11,533 Yes, it was on page 105. 1009 00:43:11,533 --> 00:43:14,933 And the word was "representation." 1010 00:43:14,933 --> 00:43:16,866 Representation, okay. 1011 00:43:16,866 --> 00:43:19,333 So if you don't mind just putting the book aside 1012 00:43:19,333 --> 00:43:21,533 and if you could take the envelope out now. Okay. 1013 00:43:21,533 --> 00:43:23,500 Can you open it and see what's inside, please? 1014 00:43:23,500 --> 00:43:25,033 Oh, this is one of these things 1015 00:43:25,033 --> 00:43:27,366 that's gonna freak me out, right? Let's see. 1016 00:43:27,366 --> 00:43:28,566 I'm getting chills. 1017 00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:36,700 Come on. No way! 1018 00:43:36,700 --> 00:43:39,666 Come on-- no, seriously! (both laugh) 1019 00:43:39,666 --> 00:43:41,900 That's really freaky. 1020 00:43:41,900 --> 00:43:43,500 So you're in control, right? 1021 00:43:43,500 --> 00:43:46,266 I don't know how you did that-- that is really weird. 1022 00:43:46,266 --> 00:43:47,833 I mean, what do I do now? 1023 00:43:47,833 --> 00:43:50,600 (laughs): I don't know where to-- what do I do with that? 1024 00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:52,866 BERLIN: Uri's magic acts are tricks. 1025 00:43:52,866 --> 00:43:55,800 Sleights-of-hand and misdirection. 1026 00:43:55,800 --> 00:43:57,866 But when I saw what was written on the card, 1027 00:43:57,866 --> 00:44:01,800 I have to admit I wondered if my choices mattered at all. 1028 00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:04,200 Going to do this... 1029 00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:05,800 BERLIN: Alice Wong's experiment supports 1030 00:44:05,800 --> 00:44:08,500 the idea that it isn't just about what happens in the brain 1031 00:44:08,500 --> 00:44:10,500 at the moment a decision is made. 1032 00:44:10,500 --> 00:44:12,500 How did you do that? 1033 00:44:12,500 --> 00:44:14,533 BERLIN: Your sense of agency or control 1034 00:44:14,533 --> 00:44:18,466 also has to do with feedback you get after the decision-- 1035 00:44:18,466 --> 00:44:21,766 physical, social, and emotional. 1036 00:44:21,766 --> 00:44:24,600 I think of agency as a sense, so there is a sense of agency 1037 00:44:24,600 --> 00:44:27,200 that sometimes can get disrupted, perhaps, 1038 00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:29,166 just like you have a sense of sight or smell and so on. 1039 00:44:29,166 --> 00:44:31,500 Sometimes, you have visual illusions. 1040 00:44:31,500 --> 00:44:33,333 It's similar with a sense of agency. 1041 00:44:33,333 --> 00:44:36,233 I can manipulate your sense of agency. 1042 00:44:36,233 --> 00:44:37,866 But that doesn't mean that we never 1043 00:44:37,866 --> 00:44:39,500 have a sense of agency. 1044 00:44:39,500 --> 00:44:41,033 ♪ ♪ 1045 00:44:41,033 --> 00:44:43,800 BERLIN: Your brain is a meaning-maker machine. 1046 00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:46,333 And creating a sense of agency 1047 00:44:46,333 --> 00:44:49,833 is one of the ways it makes meaning out of your daily life. 1048 00:44:51,066 --> 00:44:54,200 BANAJI: There is no way in which I can operate 1049 00:44:54,200 --> 00:44:55,700 without understanding 1050 00:44:55,700 --> 00:44:58,366 what is happening and why I'm doing it. 1051 00:44:58,366 --> 00:45:02,100 It's the filling-in of the blanks that is necessary 1052 00:45:02,100 --> 00:45:05,033 in some ways for survival, to give meaning, to make sense 1053 00:45:05,033 --> 00:45:07,733 of the cause and effect of things. 1054 00:45:07,733 --> 00:45:10,033 KASTHURI: Perhaps we have that feeling of consciousness 1055 00:45:10,033 --> 00:45:12,633 because it gives me a sense of agency. 1056 00:45:12,633 --> 00:45:16,133 It allows me to pretend like I'm the one making decisions 1057 00:45:16,133 --> 00:45:18,033 and I'm the one reaping the rewards 1058 00:45:18,033 --> 00:45:21,766 or the failures of that particular decision. 1059 00:45:21,766 --> 00:45:24,333 BERLIN: There are parts of the brain that allow you 1060 00:45:24,333 --> 00:45:27,166 to feel like the author of your own life. 1061 00:45:27,166 --> 00:45:29,766 But that's only part of the story. 1062 00:45:29,766 --> 00:45:31,600 (echoing): Each of our minds is actually composed 1063 00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:33,833 of lots of different pieces that are doing different things. 1064 00:45:33,833 --> 00:45:36,466 This illusion that there's a single person 1065 00:45:36,466 --> 00:45:38,600   inside our skulls. 1066 00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:40,566 MARLIN: We know how environment 1067 00:45:40,566 --> 00:45:43,800 and how traumatic events change people. 1068 00:45:43,800 --> 00:45:45,766 Our brains are, in detail, influenced 1069 00:45:45,766 --> 00:45:48,633 by the expectations of the people around us. 1070 00:45:48,633 --> 00:45:53,100 But of course, most of our brain activity is unconscious. 1071 00:45:53,100 --> 00:45:55,500   (playing slow tune) 1072 00:45:55,500 --> 00:45:58,500 BERLIN: But there are some situations where letting go 1073 00:45:58,500 --> 00:46:01,633 of conscious control can have amazing results. 1074 00:46:04,466 --> 00:46:06,466 LIMB: When you're playing the blues, 1075 00:46:06,466 --> 00:46:08,433 you have this kind of well-known musical structure, 1076 00:46:08,433 --> 00:46:10,633 this template, and then you use that 1077 00:46:10,633 --> 00:46:12,000 as a launchpad for improvisation, 1078 00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:14,266 for innovation, and for new ideas. 1079 00:46:14,266 --> 00:46:17,766   BERLIN: Charles Limb is a neuroscientist 1080 00:46:17,766 --> 00:46:20,600 trying to understand how our brain operates 1081 00:46:20,600 --> 00:46:22,633 when we are being truly creative. 1082 00:46:22,633 --> 00:46:25,733 CHRIS EMDIN: ♪ It's gon' be ill in the MRI ♪ 1083 00:46:25,733 --> 00:46:27,200 BERLIN: And today, 1084 00:46:27,200 --> 00:46:29,366 he's using a scanner to peer into the brain 1085 00:46:29,366 --> 00:46:32,566 of educator and freestyle rapper Chris Emdin. 1086 00:46:32,566 --> 00:46:35,400 ♪ I wonder if I'm going insane as I'm freestyling, profiling ♪ 1087 00:46:35,400 --> 00:46:37,166 ♪ Still wilin', it's gon' be ill ♪ 1088 00:46:37,166 --> 00:46:39,100 You ready for me? WOMAN: Yes. 1089 00:46:42,233 --> 00:46:44,433 LIMB: Okay, remember, keep your head still 1090 00:46:44,433 --> 00:46:47,200 during the entire thing and try not to move your feet 1091 00:46:47,200 --> 00:46:49,366 or your hands at all during the rapping. 1092 00:46:49,366 --> 00:46:50,966 EMDIN (on speaker): Okay, doing the best I can. 1093 00:46:50,966 --> 00:46:52,666 Yeah, awesome, thank you. 1094 00:46:52,666 --> 00:46:57,400 BERLIN: First, Charles asks Chris to perform a memorized piece. 1095 00:46:57,400 --> 00:46:59,700 Now, that memory means you're going to do the memorized lyrics 1096 00:46:59,700 --> 00:47:01,133 the way you originally wrote them. 1097 00:47:01,133 --> 00:47:04,133 Okay? EMDIN: Okay. 1098 00:47:04,133 --> 00:47:06,033 LIMB: Memory. 1099 00:47:06,033 --> 00:47:08,533 EMDIN: ♪ I'm a physicist, lyricist, spitting this ridiculousness ♪ 1100 00:47:08,533 --> 00:47:10,600 ♪ So witness the ignorance I dismiss ♪ Up a little bit? 1101 00:47:10,600 --> 00:47:12,666 ♪ Feelings and emotion is the topic of the course ♪ 1102 00:47:12,666 --> 00:47:15,300 ♪ Staying motionless to handle balanced force ♪ 1103 00:47:15,300 --> 00:47:18,233 BERLIN: Next, he gives him a prompt and asks him 1104 00:47:18,233 --> 00:47:23,366 to improvise-- to create a new, original piece on the spot. 1105 00:47:23,366 --> 00:47:25,166 He doesn't know what's coming. Mm-hmm. 1106 00:47:25,166 --> 00:47:27,233 And that's going to be his cues for that. 1107 00:47:27,233 --> 00:47:29,966 LIMB: Freestyle: physicist. 1108 00:47:29,966 --> 00:47:32,466 EMDIN: ♪ Physicist, lyricist ♪ 1109 00:47:32,466 --> 00:47:34,300 ♪ Emcees like this will always be kicking this ♪ 1110 00:47:34,300 --> 00:47:35,966 ♪ After all of that it'll all be over ♪ 1111 00:47:35,966 --> 00:47:39,300 ♪ Lucky like I picked a four-leaf clover ♪ 1112 00:47:39,300 --> 00:47:41,266 ♪ Can't move my shoulder ♪ 1113 00:47:41,266 --> 00:47:43,366 ♪ 'Cause the MRI machine won't let me do it ♪ 1114 00:47:43,366 --> 00:47:45,833 ♪ But you wouldn't know what it is that it's like ♪ (laughs) 1115 00:47:45,833 --> 00:47:48,533 ♪ I'm like a baseball player the way I strike ♪ 1116 00:47:48,533 --> 00:47:50,066 ♪ With the raps... ♪ LIMB: Stop. 1117 00:47:50,066 --> 00:47:52,000 (chuckles): He's good. 1118 00:47:53,100 --> 00:47:56,966 BERLIN: So, what does improvisation or spontaneous creativity 1119 00:47:56,966 --> 00:47:59,533 look like in the brain? 1120 00:47:59,533 --> 00:48:01,000 LIMB: What we found was that 1121 00:48:01,000 --> 00:48:04,800 the prefrontal cortex that appears to be linked 1122 00:48:04,800 --> 00:48:07,366 to effortful self-monitoring 1123 00:48:07,366 --> 00:48:09,433 seemed to be turning off, 1124 00:48:09,433 --> 00:48:12,300 deactivating, in a pretty intense way 1125 00:48:12,300 --> 00:48:14,233 in these highly trained professional musicians 1126 00:48:14,233 --> 00:48:16,733 when they start improvising. 1127 00:48:16,733 --> 00:48:21,633 So in some sense, by letting go, by decreasing activation 1128 00:48:21,633 --> 00:48:23,533 in the prefrontal cortex, 1129 00:48:23,533 --> 00:48:26,333 we can sort of gain control of our lives in a way. 1130 00:48:26,333 --> 00:48:28,433 LIMB: In fact, if you're too self-conscious 1131 00:48:28,433 --> 00:48:30,166 and you're unable to relax and let go, 1132 00:48:30,166 --> 00:48:32,700 you can't do something like this. 1133 00:48:32,700 --> 00:48:35,100 When you start trying to put conscious control mechanism, 1134 00:48:35,100 --> 00:48:36,733 your performance goes down-- you get worse. 1135 00:48:36,733 --> 00:48:38,566 So would you say this goes to, to any activity, 1136 00:48:38,566 --> 00:48:41,766 really, if you're, for a professional tennis player 1137 00:48:41,766 --> 00:48:43,566 or if you're trying to do a physical activity, 1138 00:48:43,566 --> 00:48:46,233 that the more you're able to practice letting go, 1139 00:48:46,233 --> 00:48:49,666 once you've learnt the skill, the better you'll be. Exactly. 1140 00:48:49,666 --> 00:48:53,966 LIMB: Free throw shooters that are able to shoot 99% free throws, 1141 00:48:53,966 --> 00:48:55,566 all of a sudden, when you tell them 1142 00:48:55,566 --> 00:48:57,133 you're going to get a million dollars 1143 00:48:57,133 --> 00:48:58,733 if you make the next one... Mm-hmm. 1144 00:48:58,733 --> 00:49:01,500 Then all of a sudden, you inject conscious control over something 1145 00:49:01,500 --> 00:49:03,900 that's much better just to left to its own subconsciousness. 1146 00:49:03,900 --> 00:49:05,333 And then your performance gets worse, 1147 00:49:05,333 --> 00:49:06,800 and you're more likely to choke. 1148 00:49:06,800 --> 00:49:09,633 BERLIN: Surprisingly, the parts of your brain 1149 00:49:09,633 --> 00:49:13,466 that are usually in control can get in your way. 1150 00:49:13,466 --> 00:49:16,366 Your prefrontal cortex, the decision maker, 1151 00:49:16,366 --> 00:49:20,466 can make you overthink something you've done a thousand times. 1152 00:49:22,733 --> 00:49:24,466 LIMB: Freestyle: stay. 1153 00:49:24,466 --> 00:49:26,300 EMDIN: ♪ Yes, you want me to stay ♪ 1154 00:49:26,300 --> 00:49:28,400 ♪ Relaxed, but I won't never play ♪ 1155 00:49:28,400 --> 00:49:32,300 LIMB: Every human being is creative. 1156 00:49:32,300 --> 00:49:34,000 Whether they're creative artistically or not 1157 00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:36,233 is another question, but we're all creative. 1158 00:49:36,233 --> 00:49:38,233 We have to be, because all day long, we're doing 1159 00:49:38,233 --> 00:49:40,800 unscripted things that we didn't know we would be doing. 1160 00:49:40,800 --> 00:49:43,233 Life is not scripted. 1161 00:49:43,233 --> 00:49:44,733 And so no matter who you are 1162 00:49:44,733 --> 00:49:48,333 in this world, you're doing things that are unplanned. 1163 00:49:49,333 --> 00:49:51,800 BERLIN: All day long, we're balancing forces 1164 00:49:51,800 --> 00:49:54,566 that push us around, even if we're not aware of them, 1165 00:49:54,566 --> 00:49:58,066 from past trauma to the emotions of others, 1166 00:49:58,066 --> 00:50:01,666 and all the hidden forces affecting your brain. 1167 00:50:01,666 --> 00:50:04,900 KASTHURI: I'd like to believe that I am in charge of my life, 1168 00:50:04,900 --> 00:50:07,566 that I am the agent of my life, 1169 00:50:07,566 --> 00:50:10,033 that I actually can control my emotions, 1170 00:50:10,033 --> 00:50:12,100 my abilities, my desires. 1171 00:50:12,100 --> 00:50:14,700 And the more I learn about brains, the more I realize 1172 00:50:14,700 --> 00:50:16,000 that this is probably not true. 1173 00:50:17,000 --> 00:50:19,066 SETH: We can be influenced by our social networks, 1174 00:50:19,066 --> 00:50:22,300 by our culture, by our genetics, 1175 00:50:22,300 --> 00:50:26,066 by our development, by our childhood. 1176 00:50:26,066 --> 00:50:28,100 (clock ticking) 1177 00:50:28,100 --> 00:50:30,900 BERLIN: Your brain is a complicated collection 1178 00:50:30,900 --> 00:50:33,200 of these intricate parts, 1179 00:50:33,200 --> 00:50:35,433 many of which you have no awareness of, 1180 00:50:35,433 --> 00:50:38,466 and they all work together in a delicate dance 1181 00:50:38,466 --> 00:50:42,966 to create your perception of you. 1182 00:50:42,966 --> 00:50:45,033 KANWISHER: The brain is who you are. 1183 00:50:45,033 --> 00:50:47,500 It's really different than any other organ in that sense. 1184 00:50:48,500 --> 00:50:50,400 MARTINEZ-CONDE: We know that every experience, 1185 00:50:50,400 --> 00:50:53,900 every thought, every memory, 1186 00:50:53,900 --> 00:50:57,466 every sensation has its origin in the brain. 1187 00:50:58,566 --> 00:51:01,366 KASTHURI: The brain is made of almost 90 billion neurons, 1188 00:51:01,366 --> 00:51:02,766 but it produces the idea 1189 00:51:02,766 --> 00:51:05,200 that there's a single thing inside my head. 1190 00:51:05,200 --> 00:51:07,600 My particular pattern of neuronal connections, 1191 00:51:07,600 --> 00:51:09,600 it actually creates me. 1192 00:51:09,600 --> 00:51:12,000 And your particular pattern of neuronal connections 1193 00:51:12,000 --> 00:51:15,100 actually creates you. 1194 00:51:15,100 --> 00:51:18,666 BERLIN: Years of studying the brain have humbled me. 1195 00:51:18,666 --> 00:51:20,133 BERLIN: He looks scared. 1196 00:51:20,133 --> 00:51:22,933 BERLIN: You can't control everything 1197 00:51:22,933 --> 00:51:25,100 that makes you who you are. 1198 00:51:25,100 --> 00:51:29,233 But the unconscious you is still you. 1199 00:51:29,233 --> 00:51:32,233 BANAJI: The vast majority 1200 00:51:32,233 --> 00:51:36,033 of the brain's work is happening outside conscious awareness. 1201 00:51:36,033 --> 00:51:38,900 (crowd groans) LIMB: If you try to over-control some things, 1202 00:51:38,900 --> 00:51:40,866 you actually will decrease your performance. 1203 00:51:40,866 --> 00:51:43,266 LIMB: You have to let go 1204 00:51:43,266 --> 00:51:45,500 of conscious self-monitoring to just kind of, like, 1205 00:51:45,500 --> 00:51:47,633 go with the flow. 1206 00:51:47,633 --> 00:51:49,400 It could be scary to say and scary to hear, 1207 00:51:49,400 --> 00:51:51,500 but we are not just our own. 1208 00:51:52,633 --> 00:51:55,333 WHEATLEY: We are all multifaceted, multi-dimensional people. 1209 00:51:56,666 --> 00:51:58,500 BERLIN: And by becoming more aware 1210 00:51:58,500 --> 00:52:02,100 of the unconscious processes in your own brain, 1211 00:52:02,100 --> 00:52:04,566 you can become more aware of what drives you, 1212 00:52:04,566 --> 00:52:09,533 and what you ultimately can control. 1213 00:52:31,866 --> 00:52:39,400 ♪ ♪ 1214 00:52:43,233 --> 00:52:50,766 ♪ ♪ 1215 00:52:52,400 --> 00:52:59,933 ♪ ♪ 1216 00:53:01,633 --> 00:53:09,166 ♪ ♪ 1217 00:53:14,900 --> 00:53:22,066 ♪ ♪