為什麼我們不能移植大腦？：英語精讀講義

Two days before Christmas Day in 1954,

1954年聖誕節的前兩天，

the first organ transplant was achieved when a kidney was transplanted from a man called Ronald Herrick into his identical twin Richard at a hospital in Boston. 文法

波士頓一家醫院成功進行了首例器官移植，將羅納德·赫里克的腎臟移植給了他的同卵雙胞胎兄弟理查德。

In 1963,

1963年，

the first human lung transplant was performed at the University of Mississippi.

密西西比大學進行了首例人類肺移植手術。

The liver transplant came next in 1967, 片語搭配

緊接著是1967年的肝臟移植，

also in the US,

同樣在美國，

and that same year a heart was transplanted

同年，一例心臟移植手術在

at a hospital in Cape Town,

開普敦的一家醫院進行，

South Africa.

位於南非。

We can now transplant other organs such as pancreas,

現在我們可以移植胰腺、

intestine, and thymus

腸道和胸腺等其他器官，

with the kidneys, liver, and heart 文法

其中腎臟、肝臟和心臟

being the most frequently transplanted organs.

是最常被移植的器官。

Tissues can also be transplanted

組織同樣可以被移植，

and right now scientists are even working on ways to 3D print human tissue. 片語搭配

而現在科學家們甚至在研究如何3D列印人類組織。

But there's one thing humans haven't cracked 用詞

但有一件事人類還沒能攻克，

and that's the organ that makes us more us than any other. 慣用語

那就是那個比任何器官都更能定義我們自身的器官。

Today we'll find out why.

今天我們將揭曉原因。

In this episode of The Infographics Show,

在本期《The Infographics Show》中，

why can't we transplant brains?

為什麼我們不能移植大腦？

Don't forget to subscribe and click the bell button

別忘了訂閱並點擊小鈴鐺按鈕，

so that you can be part of our notification squad.

這樣你就能加入我們的通知小分隊。

First of all, 表達脈絡

首先，

we should look at what the brain actually does.

我們應該看看大腦到底是做什麼的。

This thing inside our skulls that weighs on average about 3.3 lb

這個位於我們頭骨內、平均重約3.3磅的東西，

is larger in humans than any other vertebrate

在人類身上的比例比任何其他脊椎動物都要大

when compared to body weight. 片語搭配

（與體重相比）。

That's why we are so brainy.

這就是為什麼我們如此聰明。

The busy brain is our command center for our nervous system, 慣用語

忙碌的大腦是我們神經系統的指揮中心，

which takes in data from our body 片語動詞

它從我們的身體接收數據，

and gives directions to our muscles.

並向我們的肌肉下達指令。

In fact,

事實上，

it does so much work it requires about 20%

它的工作量非常大，需要消耗我們大約20%

of our energy to run it.

的能量來運轉。

When we are brain dead, 用詞

當我們腦死時，

we no longer have any neurological activity.

我們就不再有任何神經活動。

With the help of machines,

在機器的幫助下，

we can be kept alive for a short time,

我們可以被維持生命一小段時間，

but within a week the body will not be able to function.

但在不到一週內，身體將無法繼續運作。

While we may still be alive in some sense for that week, 文法

雖然在那一週裡，從某種意義上說我們可能還活著，

we are technically dead when the brain is dead.

但當大腦死亡時，我們在技術上就已經死亡了。

Some good news is that during the time we are kept alive,

一個好消息是，在我們的生命被維持期間，

some of our other organs can be donated.

我們的其他一些器官可以被捐獻。

But why can't we accept someone else's brain?

但為什麼我們不能接受別人的大腦呢？

When we transplant something such as a heart,

當我們進行心臟等移植手術時，

surgeons use a mechanical pump to keep blood flowing through the body 文法

外科醫生會使用機械幫浦來保持血液在體內流動，

while the new heart is being put in. 文法

與此同時植入新的心臟。

The new heart is then connected to the major blood vessels

隨後將新的心臟與主要血管連接起來，

and this might take several hours.

這可能需要幾個小時。

You'll stay in the hospital for 1 to 2 weeks

你將在醫院住院1到2週，

and if your body doesn't reject its new heart,

如果你的身體不排斥新心臟，

it's said 87 out of 100 people will make it through the year 慣用語

據說100人中有87人能撐過這一年，

and 60 out of 100 get through another decade.

並且100人中有60人能活過下一個十年。

So wouldn't it just be possible to open the skull 文法

那麼，難道不能直接打開頭骨，

and connect a new brain where the removed brain was connected?

在切除大腦的位置連接上一個新的大腦嗎？

This question was asked to a professor of neurosurgery at Yale in 2013.

2013年，這個問題被拋給了耶魯大學的一位神經外科教授。

He actually did say that one day this operation might be successful, 文法

他確實說過，也許有一天這種手術能成功，

but right now we are not even close. 片語搭配

但現在我們還差得很遠。

The reason is because it's just too darn difficult to connect nerve fibers 講解

原因在於，將神經纖維

from the new brain to the native spinal cord. 用詞

從新大腦連接到原來的脊髓實在是太難了。

This, he said,

他說，這正是

is why spinal cord injuries can be so devastating.

脊髓損傷具有如此破壞性的原因。

If we could transplant brains, 文法

如果我們可以移植大腦，

we would likely not have so many people that are disabled due to spinal injuries.

我們可能就不會有那麼多因脊髓損傷而殘疾的人了。

Another professor of neurosurgery,

另一位神經外科教授

speaking in the same article,

在同一篇文章中表示，

said that what might be more feasible is a whole body transplant, 文法

更可行的也許是全身移植，

which means a healthy brain being given a new body,

即給一個健康的大腦換上一個新的身體，

which could be natural or artificial.

身體可以是自然的或人造的。

We dug a little deeper and found that indeed 慣用語

我們進一步挖掘後發現，確實

some fairly amazing transplants have been done with brains or heads.

已經進行過一些涉及大腦或頭部的相當驚人的移植手術。

In the 1950s, Russian scientist Vladimir Demikhov

在20世紀50年代，俄羅斯科學家弗拉基米爾·德米霍夫

created what has been called Frankenstein's dog 文法

創造了被稱為「科學怪狗」的生物，

when he transplanted the head of one dog onto another,

當時他將一隻狗的頭部移植到另一隻狗身上，

giving it two heads. 文法

使其擁有了兩個頭。

Later, American scientist Robert White

後來，美國科學家羅伯特·懷特

controversially transplanted the head of monkeys

備受爭議地將猴子的頭部

from one to another,

從一隻移植到了另一隻身上，

but the monkey was paralyzed as its spinal cord had been severed 文法

但這隻猴子因脊髓被切斷而癱瘓，

and it died in a few days.

並在幾天後死亡。

Basically,

基本上，

you can transplant a brain or a head,

你可以移植大腦或頭部，

but doing it successfully is going to be a problem. 文法

但要成功做到這一點卻是個大難題。

She believes that we won't even go there 慣用語

她認為我們甚至不會涉足這個領域，

because it is just too gruesome and the public won't like it.

因為這太令人毛骨悚然了，而且大眾也不會喜歡。

Everyone seems to come to the same conclusion 片語搭配

似乎每個人都得出了相同的結論，

and that if you sever the nerves in the central nervous system,

那就是如果你切斷了中樞神經系統中的神經，

the transplanted brain could not be reconnected.

移植的大腦將無法重新連接。

All the neurosurgeons out there seem to agree

所有的神經外科醫生似乎都一致認為，

that we just do not have anything near the technology 片語搭配

我們的技術還遠遠達不到

to reattach the brain's veins and cranial nerves,

重新連接大腦靜脈和腦神經、

the spinal cord, and the four major arteries.

脊髓以及四條主要動脈的水平。

One particular scientist paints a very bleak picture 慣用語

一位科學家描繪了一幅非常慘淡的圖景：

wherein we successfully attached a brain to the arteries and veins.

假設我們成功地將大腦與動脈和靜脈連接了起來。

You'd be thinking,

你可能會有意識在思考，

but according to him,

但根據他的說法，

you'd have a person in utter sensory isolation and paralysis,

你將變成一個完全感官隔離和癱瘓的人，

locked-in syndrome, 文化背景

陷入閉鎖症候群，

only worse.

甚至更糟。

He believed a full head transplant would be easier.

他認為完整的頭部移植會更容易些。

By the way,

順帶一提，

you might have read that an Italian neurosurgeon called Sergio Canavero performed a head transplant recently,

你可能讀過新聞說一位名叫塞吉奧·卡納維羅的義大利神經外科醫生最近進行了一項頭部移植手術，

but that transplant wasn't on living people,

但那次移植並不是在活人身上進行的，

it was on corpses.

而是針對屍體。

We are not LEGO. 慣用語

我們不是樂高玩具。

Just sticking things together doesn't mean they work with us humans. 文法

僅僅把部件拼在一起並不意味著在人類身上就能起作用。

For the most part, 表達脈絡

在很大程度上，

the great head transplant story is now being received as fake news.

那個轟動的換頭故事現在被當成了假新聞。

So, with billions of neurons

所以，大腦皮層中擁有數十億個神經元，

each with trillions of synapses in the cerebral cortex,

每一個都有數萬億個突觸，

we can't really just expect to hook a new brain up to another body. 片語動詞

我們實在不能指望簡單地把一個新的大腦連接到另一個身體上。

But never say never. 慣用語

但凡事無絕對。

While brain transplants might sound like science fiction, 片語搭配

儘管大腦移植聽起來像科幻小說，

what might happen if we did successfully manage to rewire a brain in another body? 片語搭配

如果我們真的成功地將大腦在另一個身體中重新連接，會發生什麼呢？

No one really knows,

沒人真正知道，

but there is a lot of speculation out there.

但外界存在著大量的猜測。

It seems some people agree you'd just be you in another body.

似乎有些人同意你會變成在另一個身體裡的你。

By that,

也就是說，

you'd be the brain in another body

你將是另一個身體裡的大腦，

and the person whose brain was removed,

而那個被切除大腦的人，

while looking like the survivor, 文法

雖然看起來像倖存者，

would in fact be the person who had gone.

實際上已經是離世的人了。

The brain rules. 用詞

大腦主導一切。

Another thing people talk about is the fact that brains grow with bodies in tune. 慣用語

人們討論的另一件事是，大腦與身體是協調成長的。

So if one brain was put in another body,

因此，如果把一個大腦放入另一個身體，

things might not just run like clockwork. 慣用語

一切可能不會像上發條那樣順利運轉。

It could produce a kind of trauma,

這可能會產生一種創傷，

even if all the right bits were connected.

即使所有正確的部位都被連接起來了。

And that could only happen if the huge doses of immunosuppressants 用詞

而且只有在服用大劑量免疫抑制劑，

could ensure the immune system doesn't attack the new brain or head.

能夠確保免疫系統不會攻擊新大腦或頭部的情況下，這才能發生。

Even if you did do that, 文法

即使你做到了這一點，

one scientist said this year that by putting a new chemical environment 文法

一位科學家今年表示，將具有新神經輸入的大腦置於

with new neurological input would just lead to a very mentally messed up Frankenstein. 用詞

全新化學環境中，只會導致一個精神極度紊亂的「科學怪人」。

We'd have no continuity and might end up feeling like Mary Shelley's creation, 講解

我們將失去連續性，最後可能感覺就像瑪麗·雪萊筆下的造物，

who once asked,

他曾經問道，

"Was I then a monster,

「難道我是一個怪物，

a blot upon the earth from which all men fled 講解

一個讓所有人都避之不及、

and whom all men disowned?"

被所有人拋棄的地球汙點嗎？」

In conclusion, 表達脈絡

總而言之，

we are not even close to brain transplants or head transplants.

我們距離大腦移植或頭部移植還差得很遠。

We are not sure how they could be done successfully

我們不確定如何才能成功進行，

and we are very afraid of trying.

並且對於嘗試感到非常害怕。

What do you think about the idea?

你對這個想法有什麼看法？

Let us know in the comments.

在留言區告訴我們吧。

Also, be sure to check out our other video called

同時，請務必去看看我們的另一部影片，名為

Worst Prison Experiments conducted on humans.

《最糟糕的人類監獄實驗》。

Thanks for watching and as always,

感謝觀看，一如既往地，

don't forget to like, share, and subscribe.

別忘了按讚、分享和訂閱。

See you next time.

我們下次見。