the 25 of October of the year 1906 santiago
ramón y cajal received the Nobel Prize
for what he called the doctrine of the
neuron basically he defined that
our brain was formed by a
series of cells called neurons that
they communicated with each other over a century
then we know that our brain is
about 86 billion of these cells 86
billion of these neurons
communicate with each other through the
synapses and are the ones that harbor our
memories our longings our
memoirs
it is estimated that a single neuron can
get to have 10,000 connections
different with different neurons
forming part of thousands of circuits
this generates that our brain the figure
total connections and contacts between
neurons be 860 billion plus or minus
we can not know for sure either
I know this, I mention it so that you have
tells how complicated it is to investigate
how our our brain works
to understand it a little more
simple I will use an analogy
let’s understand a neuron as if it were a
word in this case as the word
brain this word can be associated with
other different words are going
communicating with each other to form
a phrase and this phrase has a meaning
it has a meaning this same word
brain can be associated with other
different words to get another
sentence the meaning changes but the word
It remains the same
the same goes for another different phrase
in total think that they could be 10,000
different phrases because this happens
with our synapses in the brain
these neurons can form
part of 10,000 different circuits
although the neuron is the same
In addition to this complication we must
add that our brain together with
all these billions of
neurons
there are another 85 billion or so of
other cell types is worth this in this
image that you have of the laboratory then
you see in rosita the astrocytes that are
another type of cell phone – in the brain
I’m telling you all this today for
that take into account the difficult thing what
complicated that is to know how it works
the brain because we do not know it and what
complicated that is much more if it is
of pathological brain of tele or sick
we are in a situation where we
we face diseases whose origin
as a rule we do not know
another problem besides all these
incalculable numbers that I have told you
is that we do not have the technology
not enough, neuroscientists and
neurologists to face these
diseases to see what happens in
these illnesses
Rafael Yuste one of the neuroscientists
most important in the world that is Spanish
but it is investigates in usa personally
always gives an example an example that
I think it’s very clear when we look
the brain either a healthy brain or a
sick brain it ‘s as if I make myself
a screen of this screen as the
that we have here only with technology
currently we can only see one pixel of the
screen we can only see that match
blue dot that you see there we can do it
bigger we can study it from
many points of view but it’s the only thing
that we can see this does that when
we look at the brain we are not seeing the
full picture we do not know what it is that
is really happening in a
how can this disease evoke us
salvador dalí painting persistence
of memory when we look at a brain
with Alzheimer’s we do not see the image
complete
but all this pessimistic message that
I’m counting what it looks like I want
completely change that way of thinking
I’m here today to tell you
a hypothesis that I have a one
hypothesis about a revolution over a
revolution in neuroscience in the
way of understanding the world that is going to be
of these revolutions that are studied in
textbooks in the future or in what
that is in the holograms about what is
use to study the next years
a revolution that is going to change our
way of seeing the world and of understanding ourselves to
ourselves a revolution that
we could call it the revolution like this
flipping a bit of neuroscience
fiction because they are happening
things right now in the labs
that previously belonged only to books
and film fiction movie this
revolution that I defend is based on
three fundamental pillars and I’m going to give
a little of them the first of them
it is investment as not in science
obviously we need the money but
no investment is a very investment
particular and that the main ones
major powers of the world the
major economic powers have been
realized that you have to invest in
know how the brain works then
we will cure it
to see what happens usa has the brain
initiative that is one of the projects
larger economic ones that have
made in the history of mankind
whose head by the way visible is rafael
yuste in europe we have the human brain
project another project that is simply
to know how the brain works to
cure in repeat area
in japan there is a project sean brain
mind korea for example has its project
of the human brain too or projects
like that of the institute to the USA that are
philanthropic projects that also
they investigate the same as I say these are
projects of economic amounts
immense and seeking to know what is
going on in the brain is worth how it works
and you can say here are not all
powers of the world are not lacking
some because Europe is not here is us
is japan korea also it is because
precisely 89 days ago fine has
added this boat without having decided to do
a multi-million dollar investment to know
how the brain works simply
how something as basic functions as is
all these projects those that are
assets for the Chinese have started you
assume roughly 600 million
euros of investment per year each year 600
million 600 million euros we can
to say what atrocity
no, it depends on what we compare it with
if we compare it with the donald wall
trump
right now valued as I wanted it
yesterday at 21,600 million dollars
build a wall is worth and the example of
I brought it to him so he understands
a very important thing in these
research projects investigate
people regardless of their place
of origin of their religion obviously of
their sexual orientation does not matter because the
science is looking to break boundaries
what science does is build bridges
valuable that we have to be very clear
and in fact a phrase that I always
like to repeat insist is that the only
border in which the human being must
investing is at the border of
knowledge is worth and this what what
does science that’s the power
transformer that has
frontier knowledge is what goes
the second pillar of this hypothesis that
Today I am telling you and it is that I
I called interdisciplinarity
wanted to choose an easy word for
say a talk complexion then
interdisciplinarity to hate again is
that is needed here I mean with that to
that the way of working in the
laboratories has changed before they were
the biochemical cell biologists
molecular biologists and so on now in
a neuroscience lab you can
find the neuroscientist at
neurologist but also the physical at
mathematical to the computer engineer
even the philosopher the artist this is
generating that some things are happening
amazing to things that I already tell you that
they are pure and hard science fiction by
example the brain-computer interfaces
all these letters that have here
is simply to accompany what
I will say next is
getting thanks to computers
supply functions that our brain has
lost either by accident or by
disease here I mean with this I
I mean people who before a
amputation in an accident you will be
put neuroprosthetics that can move
with your brain that’s very easy
but you can already feel what
that are touching to feel warm in
these bionic fingers ok I’m talking
of investigations like any of the
they wanted here that they have gotten that
quadriplegic people can move a
robotic arm and eat again from a
arm that are moving with your brain
ok but it’s more than last year
that same research group
got a quadriplegic person
can move his own arms again
all that is with a system
computer that reconnects what
is offline ok we are talking
of research that I already tell you that
it looks like frank stein or something like that but it’s
totally real indeed one of the
articles since I dedicate myself to
investigation the most beautiful I think that
I read is this one that has here is from the
magazine ‘new england journal of
medicine ‘ the best magazine in the world is
the most important in the world in science
is this magazine in it present the
case of a patient called gene
that of bruijn that has sclerosis
amyotrophic lateral is behind the famous
illness suffering from stephen hawking and
a lot of other people who are a
disease that affects your motor neurons
and what it does is that you’re losing the
mobility of muscles but you
brain is
this woman came to carry a point
it is at a point of the disease that
I could not communicate with the environment
outside or had it very difficult thank you
to a computer brain interface
they got connecting a system to their
brain when you already use a thought
very ingrained a thought that is
very very very basic in your brain like
was to open and close a hand could
move a course on a keyboard in
a screen only with their brains to with
with his zero he could move the keyboard and
re-communicate the potential that
have these investigations is really
is brutal to me fascinates me and in fact to
example in this is investing
very much and not facebook for example
because I’m interested that we can
write directly with the mind and
this is real science and the last point
of this hypothesis that I saying that
the way of understanding the
brain is the human factor is the people
or that is the most important thing here
using adapting a phrase very
mythical of eduardo galeano that says I
nothing is well set as well as many
small scientists in small places
doing small things are those that
they are changing the world here I
I would add many small senses in
small places with financing to
times
ridiculous are those that are changing the
world what do I mean we live in a
time of humanity’s stress in which
there is the time of the history of the
science that more people are
investigating the brain all these
things that I have told you that are in
giant laboratories or laboratories
little ones like the one we have in town
real where Alzheimer’s is researched
investigates parkinson tumor is investigated
brain we are talking about nuclei of
research that are emerging by
all of Africa throughout Southeast Asia
throughout Latin America around the world
there are people investigating and the most beautiful thing
of all this is that the knowledge that
we generate is global is shared, that is
we publish our results
and another person may come after
pick them up and keep investigating that and that
it’s fantastic and this also the community
scientist does not move to tell a thing
very important and that is that we must
we are almost forced to go out to the
street and tell what we do already
tell what is science here have
a couple of images of some
activities we do in real city
because because we are some
love what we do but we have to
convince people that science
of the simple science that science
it’s affordable because it’s the way
start our politicians so that
invest in it I always talk about
a hypothesis or whatever you want to call it
who calls it as the hypothesis of the
talk to us researchers
more or less we make one we carry a
career that is classic you do not get with
bachelor’s degree you get a master’s degree
you really get a Ph.D. and you start
to investigate more or less you can be
investigating then 40 years more if 40 45
It depends on how well the thing goes
over the years it happens to generate
global case knowledge but the impact
what society can have is very much
greater if you dedicate part of your time
always free time by the way in going to
institutes colleges to tell what
You have to plant in those kids the
seed of curiosity and that those people
with one in every thousand are dedicated to
investigate are dedicated to making
this global knowledge your impact will
multiply then it is definitely
on what the revolution is based that I
I’m showing today first investment
and investment in basic science in knowing
how the brain works to know what
the interdisciplinarity is happening
this word so precious the factor
human, all this is going to generate
the revolution a revolution in the
knowledge about our brain and it’s
that as he said long ago that the
sagan we are the means for the cosmos
discover yourself today here in
apple groves to April 14 I think that
We can affirm that we are the means to
that the brain discovers itself
thank you very much
ramón y cajal received the Nobel Prize
for what he called the doctrine of the
neuron basically he defined that
our brain was formed by a
series of cells called neurons that
they communicated with each other over a century
then we know that our brain is
about 86 billion of these cells 86
billion of these neurons
communicate with each other through the
synapses and are the ones that harbor our
memories our longings our
memoirs
it is estimated that a single neuron can
get to have 10,000 connections
different with different neurons
forming part of thousands of circuits
this generates that our brain the figure
total connections and contacts between
neurons be 860 billion plus or minus
we can not know for sure either
I know this, I mention it so that you have
tells how complicated it is to investigate
how our our brain works
to understand it a little more
simple I will use an analogy
let’s understand a neuron as if it were a
word in this case as the word
brain this word can be associated with
other different words are going
communicating with each other to form
a phrase and this phrase has a meaning
it has a meaning this same word
brain can be associated with other
different words to get another
sentence the meaning changes but the word
It remains the same
the same goes for another different phrase
in total think that they could be 10,000
different phrases because this happens
with our synapses in the brain
these neurons can form
part of 10,000 different circuits
although the neuron is the same
In addition to this complication we must
add that our brain together with
all these billions of
neurons
there are another 85 billion or so of
other cell types is worth this in this
image that you have of the laboratory then
you see in rosita the astrocytes that are
another type of cell phone – in the brain
I’m telling you all this today for
that take into account the difficult thing what
complicated that is to know how it works
the brain because we do not know it and what
complicated that is much more if it is
of pathological brain of tele or sick
we are in a situation where we
we face diseases whose origin
as a rule we do not know
another problem besides all these
incalculable numbers that I have told you
is that we do not have the technology
not enough, neuroscientists and
neurologists to face these
diseases to see what happens in
these illnesses
Rafael Yuste one of the neuroscientists
most important in the world that is Spanish
but it is investigates in usa personally
always gives an example an example that
I think it’s very clear when we look
the brain either a healthy brain or a
sick brain it ‘s as if I make myself
a screen of this screen as the
that we have here only with technology
currently we can only see one pixel of the
screen we can only see that match
blue dot that you see there we can do it
bigger we can study it from
many points of view but it’s the only thing
that we can see this does that when
we look at the brain we are not seeing the
full picture we do not know what it is that
is really happening in a
how can this disease evoke us
salvador dalí painting persistence
of memory when we look at a brain
with Alzheimer’s we do not see the image
complete
but all this pessimistic message that
I’m counting what it looks like I want
completely change that way of thinking
I’m here today to tell you
a hypothesis that I have a one
hypothesis about a revolution over a
revolution in neuroscience in the
way of understanding the world that is going to be
of these revolutions that are studied in
textbooks in the future or in what
that is in the holograms about what is
use to study the next years
a revolution that is going to change our
way of seeing the world and of understanding ourselves to
ourselves a revolution that
we could call it the revolution like this
flipping a bit of neuroscience
fiction because they are happening
things right now in the labs
that previously belonged only to books
and film fiction movie this
revolution that I defend is based on
three fundamental pillars and I’m going to give
a little of them the first of them
it is investment as not in science
obviously we need the money but
no investment is a very investment
particular and that the main ones
major powers of the world the
major economic powers have been
realized that you have to invest in
know how the brain works then
we will cure it
to see what happens usa has the brain
initiative that is one of the projects
larger economic ones that have
made in the history of mankind
whose head by the way visible is rafael
yuste in europe we have the human brain
project another project that is simply
to know how the brain works to
cure in repeat area
in japan there is a project sean brain
mind korea for example has its project
of the human brain too or projects
like that of the institute to the USA that are
philanthropic projects that also
they investigate the same as I say these are
projects of economic amounts
immense and seeking to know what is
going on in the brain is worth how it works
and you can say here are not all
powers of the world are not lacking
some because Europe is not here is us
is japan korea also it is because
precisely 89 days ago fine has
added this boat without having decided to do
a multi-million dollar investment to know
how the brain works simply
how something as basic functions as is
all these projects those that are
assets for the Chinese have started you
assume roughly 600 million
euros of investment per year each year 600
million 600 million euros we can
to say what atrocity
no, it depends on what we compare it with
if we compare it with the donald wall
trump
right now valued as I wanted it
yesterday at 21,600 million dollars
build a wall is worth and the example of
I brought it to him so he understands
a very important thing in these
research projects investigate
people regardless of their place
of origin of their religion obviously of
their sexual orientation does not matter because the
science is looking to break boundaries
what science does is build bridges
valuable that we have to be very clear
and in fact a phrase that I always
like to repeat insist is that the only
border in which the human being must
investing is at the border of
knowledge is worth and this what what
does science that’s the power
transformer that has
frontier knowledge is what goes
the second pillar of this hypothesis that
Today I am telling you and it is that I
I called interdisciplinarity
wanted to choose an easy word for
say a talk complexion then
interdisciplinarity to hate again is
that is needed here I mean with that to
that the way of working in the
laboratories has changed before they were
the biochemical cell biologists
molecular biologists and so on now in
a neuroscience lab you can
find the neuroscientist at
neurologist but also the physical at
mathematical to the computer engineer
even the philosopher the artist this is
generating that some things are happening
amazing to things that I already tell you that
they are pure and hard science fiction by
example the brain-computer interfaces
all these letters that have here
is simply to accompany what
I will say next is
getting thanks to computers
supply functions that our brain has
lost either by accident or by
disease here I mean with this I
I mean people who before a
amputation in an accident you will be
put neuroprosthetics that can move
with your brain that’s very easy
but you can already feel what
that are touching to feel warm in
these bionic fingers ok I’m talking
of investigations like any of the
they wanted here that they have gotten that
quadriplegic people can move a
robotic arm and eat again from a
arm that are moving with your brain
ok but it’s more than last year
that same research group
got a quadriplegic person
can move his own arms again
all that is with a system
computer that reconnects what
is offline ok we are talking
of research that I already tell you that
it looks like frank stein or something like that but it’s
totally real indeed one of the
articles since I dedicate myself to
investigation the most beautiful I think that
I read is this one that has here is from the
magazine ‘new england journal of
medicine ‘ the best magazine in the world is
the most important in the world in science
is this magazine in it present the
case of a patient called gene
that of bruijn that has sclerosis
amyotrophic lateral is behind the famous
illness suffering from stephen hawking and
a lot of other people who are a
disease that affects your motor neurons
and what it does is that you’re losing the
mobility of muscles but you
brain is
this woman came to carry a point
it is at a point of the disease that
I could not communicate with the environment
outside or had it very difficult thank you
to a computer brain interface
they got connecting a system to their
brain when you already use a thought
very ingrained a thought that is
very very very basic in your brain like
was to open and close a hand could
move a course on a keyboard in
a screen only with their brains to with
with his zero he could move the keyboard and
re-communicate the potential that
have these investigations is really
is brutal to me fascinates me and in fact to
example in this is investing
very much and not facebook for example
because I’m interested that we can
write directly with the mind and
this is real science and the last point
of this hypothesis that I saying that
the way of understanding the
brain is the human factor is the people
or that is the most important thing here
using adapting a phrase very
mythical of eduardo galeano that says I
nothing is well set as well as many
small scientists in small places
doing small things are those that
they are changing the world here I
I would add many small senses in
small places with financing to
times
ridiculous are those that are changing the
world what do I mean we live in a
time of humanity’s stress in which
there is the time of the history of the
science that more people are
investigating the brain all these
things that I have told you that are in
giant laboratories or laboratories
little ones like the one we have in town
real where Alzheimer’s is researched
investigates parkinson tumor is investigated
brain we are talking about nuclei of
research that are emerging by
all of Africa throughout Southeast Asia
throughout Latin America around the world
there are people investigating and the most beautiful thing
of all this is that the knowledge that
we generate is global is shared, that is
we publish our results
and another person may come after
pick them up and keep investigating that and that
it’s fantastic and this also the community
scientist does not move to tell a thing
very important and that is that we must
we are almost forced to go out to the
street and tell what we do already
tell what is science here have
a couple of images of some
activities we do in real city
because because we are some
love what we do but we have to
convince people that science
of the simple science that science
it’s affordable because it’s the way
start our politicians so that
invest in it I always talk about
a hypothesis or whatever you want to call it
who calls it as the hypothesis of the
talk to us researchers
more or less we make one we carry a
career that is classic you do not get with
bachelor’s degree you get a master’s degree
you really get a Ph.D. and you start
to investigate more or less you can be
investigating then 40 years more if 40 45
It depends on how well the thing goes
over the years it happens to generate
global case knowledge but the impact
what society can have is very much
greater if you dedicate part of your time
always free time by the way in going to
institutes colleges to tell what
You have to plant in those kids the
seed of curiosity and that those people
with one in every thousand are dedicated to
investigate are dedicated to making
this global knowledge your impact will
multiply then it is definitely
on what the revolution is based that I
I’m showing today first investment
and investment in basic science in knowing
how the brain works to know what
the interdisciplinarity is happening
this word so precious the factor
human, all this is going to generate
the revolution a revolution in the
knowledge about our brain and it’s
that as he said long ago that the
sagan we are the means for the cosmos
discover yourself today here in
apple groves to April 14 I think that
We can affirm that we are the means to
that the brain discovers itself
thank you very much
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