ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Greg Gage - Neuroscientist
TED Fellow Greg Gage helps kids investigate the neuroscience in their own backyards.

Why you should listen

As half of Backyard Brains, neuroscientist and engineer Greg Gage builds the SpikerBox -- a small rig that helps kids understand the electrical impulses that control the nervous system. He's passionate about helping students understand (viscerally) how our brains and our neurons work, because, as he said onstage at TED2012, we still know very little about how the brain works -- and we need to start inspiring kids early to want to know more.

Before becoming a neuroscientist, Gage worked as an electrical engineer making touchscreens. As he told the Huffington Post: "Scientific equipment in general is pretty expensive, but it's silly because before [getting my PhD in neuroscience] I was an electrical engineer, and you could see that you could make it yourself. So we started as a way to have fun, to show off to our colleagues, but we were also going into classrooms around that time and we thought, wouldn't it be cool if you could bring these gadgets with us so the stuff we were doing in advanced Ph.D. programs in neuroscience, you could also do in fifth grade?" His latest pieces of gear: the Roboroach, a cockroach fitted with an electric backpack that makes it turn on command, and BYB SmartScope, a smartphone-powered microscope.

More profile about the speaker
Greg Gage | Speaker | TED.com
TED2015

Greg Gage: How to control someone else's arm with your brain

Greg Gage: Comment contrôler le bras d'un autre avec votre cerveau

Filmed:
9,669,307 views

Greg Gage s'est donné pour mission de rendre la neuroscience accessible à tous. Dans cette démonstration amusante (et un peu effrayante), le neuroscientifique et TED Senior Fellow utilise un équipement « fais-le toi-même » peu coûteux et simple afin d'enlever le libre arbitre d'un volontaire de l'audience. Ce n'est pas un tour de magie; c'est de la science. Vous devez le voir pour le croire.
- Neuroscientist
TED Fellow Greg Gage helps kids investigate the neuroscience in their own backyards. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:14
The brain is an amazing and complex organ.
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Le cerveau est un organe
fascinant et complexe.
Bien que plusieurs soient
fascinés par celui-ci.
00:17
And while many people
are fascinated by the brain,
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ils ne connaissent pas grand chose
00:20
they can't really tell you that much
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de ses propriétés ou
de son fonctionnement,
00:21
about the properties
about how the brain works
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car on n'enseigne pas la
neuroscience dans les écoles.
00:24
because we don't teach
neuroscience in schools.
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00:26
And one of the reasons
why is that the equipment
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Une des raisons est que l'équipement
00:28
is so complex and so expensive
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est si complexe et coûteux que seulement
00:31
that it's really only done at major
universities and large institutions.
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des universités et des institutions
importantes peuvent se le permettre.
00:35
And so in order to be able
to access the brain,
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Donc, pour vraiment comprendre le cerveau,
00:37
you really need to dedicate your life
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il faut y dédier sa vie
00:39
and spend six and a half years
as a graduate student
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et passer six ans et demi
en tant qu'étudiant
afin de devenir un neuroscientifique
qui a accès à l'équipement.
00:42
just to become a neuroscientist
to get access to these tools.
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00:45
And that's a shame
because one out of five of us,
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Et c'est dommage, car
une personne sur cinq,
00:47
that's 20 percent of the entire world,
will have a neurological disorder.
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soit 20% de la population mondiale,
souffrira de troubles neurologiques.
00:51
And there are zero cures
for these diseases.
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Et il n'y a aucun remède
à ces maladies.
00:54
And so it seems that
what we should be doing
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Il semble donc qu'on devrait
00:57
is reaching back earlier
in the eduction process
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plus tôt dans l'éducation des jeunes
00:59
and teaching students about neuroscience
so that in the future,
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leur enseigner la neuroscience,
afin que plus tard,
01:04
they may be thinking about possibly
becoming a brain scientist.
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ils puissent voir celle-ci comme
une possibilité de carrière.
Lorsqu'on était étudiants de 3e cycle, mon
partenaire de labo, Tim Marzullo, et moi
01:08
When I was a graduate student,
my lab mate Tim Marzullo and myself,
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01:11
decided that what if we took
this complex equipment that we have
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avons décidé de prendre
notre équipement complexe
01:15
for studying the brain and made it simple
enough and affordable enough
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servant à étudier le cerveau et de le
rendre assez simple et peu coûteux
afin que n'importe qui, autant un amateur
qu'un étudiant du secondaire,
01:19
that anyone that you know, an amateur
or a high school student,
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01:22
could learn and actually participate
in the discovery of neuroscience.
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puisse apprendre et participer à
la découverte de la neuroscience.
01:25
And so we did just that.
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Et c'est ce que nous avons fait.
Il y a quelques années, nous avons lancé
une entreprise, Backyard Brains.
01:27
A few years ago, we started
a company called Backyard Brains
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01:30
and we make DIY neuroscience equipment
and I brought some here tonight,
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Nous avons créé les équipements de
neuroscience « fais-le toi-même » que voici.
01:34
and I want to do some demonstrations.
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Je veux faire des démonstrations.
01:37
You guys want to see some?
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Voulez-vous les voir?
01:38
So I need a volunteer.
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J'ai besoin d'un volontaire.
Donc, avant — Quel est ton nom? —
(Applaudissements)
01:41
So right before -- what is your name?
(Applause)
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01:44
Sam Kelly: Sam.
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Sam Kelly: Sam.
01:45
Greg Gage: All right, Sam, I'm going
to record from your brain.
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Greg Gage: Parfait, Sam, je vais
enregistrer ton cerveau.
01:48
Have you had this before?
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Est-ce ta première fois?
01:49
SK: No.
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SK: Oui.
GG: J'ai besoin que tu allonge
ton bras au nom de la science.
01:50
GG: I need you to stick out
your arm for science,
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01:53
roll up your sleeve a bit,
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Roule un peu ta manche.
01:54
So what I'm going to do,
I'm putting electrodes on your arm,
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Je m'apprête à mettre
des électrodes sur ton bras,
01:57
and you're probably wondering,
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et tu te demandes sans doute
01:59
I just said I'm going to record from your
brain, what am I doing with your arm?
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pourquoi sur ton bras, alors que j'ai dit
que j'allais enregistrer ton cerveau?
02:02
Well, you have about 80 billion neurons
inside your brain right now.
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En fait, tu as environ 80 milliards de
neurones dans ton cerveau.
02:06
They're sending electrical messages
back and forth, and chemical messages.
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Ils envoient des messages
chimiques — aller-retour —
02:09
But some of your neurons
right here in your motor cortex
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Et certains de tes neurones
dans ton cortex moteur
02:12
are going to send messages down
when you move your arm like this.
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vont envoyer des messages lorsque
tu bouges ton bras comme ceci.
02:15
They're going to go down
across your corpus callosum,
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Ceux-ci vont descendre le long
de ton corps calleux,
02:17
down onto your spinal cord
to your lower motor neuron
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de ta moelle épinière, de
tes neurones moteurs inférieures
02:20
out to your muscles here,
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jusqu'à ton muscle ici.
02:21
and that electrical discharge
is going to be picked up
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Là, la décharge électrique va
être enregistrée
02:24
by these electrodes right here
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par ces électrodes
02:25
and we're going to be able to listen
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et nous pourrons écouter
02:27
to exactly what your brain
is going to be doing.
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ce que ton cerveau est en train de faire.
02:29
So I'm going to turn this on for a second.
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Donc, je vais les allumer pour un instant.
02:31
Have you ever heard
what your brain sounds like?
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As-tu déjà entendu le
bruit de ton cerveau?
02:34
SK: No.
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SK: Non.
02:35
GG: Let's try it out.
So go ahead and squeeze your hand.
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GG: Essayons.
Vas-y, serre ton poing.
02:37
(Rumbling)
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(Grondement)
02:38
So what you're listening to,
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Ce que l'on entend,
02:40
so this is your motor units
happening right here.
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ce sont tes unités motrices
qui agissent.
02:44
Let's take a look at it as well.
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Maintenant, observons-les.
02:46
So I'm going to stand over here,
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Je vais me mettre ici,
02:49
and I'm going to open up our app here.
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et je vais ouvrir l'application.
02:52
So now I want you to squeeze.
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Maintenant, serre le poing.
02:53
(Rumbling)
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(Grondement)
02:54
So right here, these are the motor units
that are happening
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Donc, ici, ce sont les unités motrices qui
agissent
02:57
from her spinal cord
out to her muscle right here,
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à partir de sa moelle épinière
jusqu'à son muscle.
03:00
and as she's doing it,
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Et lorsqu'elle le fait,
03:01
you're seeing the electrical activity
that's happening here.
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on peut voir l'activité électrique
qui se déplace.
03:04
You can even click here
and try to see one of them.
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On peut même cliquer
et essayer d'en voir un.
03:06
So keep doing it really hard.
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Continue de serrer fort.
03:08
So now we've paused
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J'ai fait pause
03:09
on one motor action potential that's
happening right now inside of your brain.
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lors d'une action motrice potentielle qui
se produit en ce moment dans son cerveau.
03:13
Do you guys want to see some more?
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Voulez-vous vous en voir plus?
03:15
(Applause)
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(Applaudissements)
03:16
That's interesting,
but let's get it better.
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Rendons les choses un
peu plus intéressantes.
03:18
I need one more volunteer.
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Un autre volontaire?
03:21
What is your name, sir?
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Quel est votre nom, Monsieur?
03:24
Miguel Goncalves: Miguel.
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Miguel Goncalves: Miguel.
03:25
GG: Miguel, all right.
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GG: Miguel, parfait.
03:26
You're going to stand right here.
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Placez-vous ici.
03:27
So when you're moving your arm like this,
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Donc, lorsque tu bouges ton bras,
03:29
your brain is sending a signal
down to your muscles right here.
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ton cerveau envoie un signal
jusqu'à tes muscles.
03:33
I want you to move your arm as well.
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S'il-te-plaît, bouge ton bras aussi.
03:34
So your brain is going to send
a signal down to your muscles.
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Ton cerveau envoie donc un signal
à tes muscles.
03:37
And so it turns out that there is
a nerve that's right here
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En fait, il y a un nerf
juste ici
03:41
that runs up here that innervates
these three fingers,
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qui remonte et est relié à
ces trois doigts.
03:44
and it's close enough to the skin
that we might be able
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Il est si près de la peau que nous pouvons
03:47
to stimulate that so that what we can do
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le stimuler de tel sorte que,
03:49
is copy your brain signals
going out to your hand
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en copiant les signaux de ton cerveau
vers ta main
nous pouvons les injecter dans ta main.
03:52
and inject it into your hand,
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03:54
so that your hand will move
when your brain tells your hand to move.
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Ta main va donc bouger lorsqu'elle
va dire à sa main de bouger.
03:57
So in a sense, she will take away
your free will
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Donc, on peut dire qu'elle va
t'enlever ton libre arbitre
04:00
and you will no longer have
any control over this hand.
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et tu n'auras plus aucun contrôle
sur cette main.
04:03
You with me?
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Tu me suis?
04:05
So I just need to hook you up.
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Je dois juste te brancher.
04:07
(Laughter)
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(Rire)
04:09
So I'm going to find your ulnar nerve,
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Je dois trouver ton nerf cubital,
04:11
which is probably right around here.
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qui doit être proche d'ici.
04:14
You don't know what you're signing up for
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Tu ne savais pas dans quoi
tu t'embarquais
04:16
when you come up.
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lorsque tu es venu.
04:17
So now I'm going to move away
and we're going to plug it in
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Maintenant, je vais m'éloigner
et brancher cela
04:20
to our human-to-human interface over here.
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dans notre interface
humain-à-humain ici.
04:24
Okay, so Sam, I want you
to squeeze your hand again.
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Okay, Sam, serre le poing.
04:29
Do it again. Perfect.
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Fais-le encore. Parfait.
04:31
So now I'm going to hook you up
over here so that you get the --
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Maintenant, je vais te brancher
ici afin que tu ressentes
04:34
It's going to feel
a little bit weird at first,
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— ça va être une drôle de
sensation au début,
04:36
this is going to feel like a --
(Laughter)
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puis, tu vaste sentir comme —
(Rire)
04:38
You know, when you lose your free will,
and someone else becomes your agent,
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Tu sais, quand tu perds ton libre arbitre
et qu'une personne prend le contrôle,
04:42
it does feel a bit strange.
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ça fait un peu bizarre.
04:44
Now I want you to relax your hand.
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Maintenant, relaxe ta main.
04:46
Sam, you're with me?
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Sam, toujours partant?
04:47
So you're going to squeeze.
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Donc, serre le poing
forme un poing.
04:48
I'm not going to turn it on yet,
so go ahead and give it a squeeze.
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Je ne l'allume pas tout de suite,
donc serre le poing.
04:52
So now, are you ready, Miguel?
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Maintenant, es-tu prêt Miguel?
04:54
MG: Ready as I'll ever be.
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MG: Autant que je puisse l'être.
04:56
GG: I've turned it on, so go ahead
and turn your hand.
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GG: Je l'ai allumé,
tu peux y aller Sam.
04:59
Do you feel that a little bit?
MG: Nope.
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Est-ce que tu le sens?
MG: Non.
05:01
GG: Okay, do it again?
MG: A little bit.
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GG: Okay, encore une fois.
MG: Un peu.
05:03
GG: A little bit? (Laughter)
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GG: Un peu? (Rire)
05:04
So relax.
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Relaxe-toi.
05:05
So hit it again.
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Fais-le encore.
05:07
(Laughter)
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(Rire)
05:08
Oh, perfect, perfect.
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Oh! Parfait, parfait.
05:10
So relax, do it again.
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Relaxe-toi, fais-le encore.
05:12
All right, so right now,
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Parfait, donc en ce moment,
05:14
your brain is controlling your arm
and it's also controlling his arm,
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ton cerveau est en train de contrôler
à la fois ton bras et le sien.
05:19
so go ahead and just do it one more time.
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Fais-le encore une fois.
05:21
All right, so it's perfect. (Laughter)
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C'est parfait. (Rire)
05:23
So now, what would happen
if I took over my control of your hand?
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Mais que se passerait-il si c'était moi
qui contrôlait ta main?
05:27
And so, just relax your hand.
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Relaxe-toi.
05:29
What happens?
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Et qu'arrive-t-il?
05:31
Ah, nothing.
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Rien.
05:32
Why not?
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Pourquoi?
Parce qu'il faut que
ça vienne du cerveau.
05:34
Because the brain has to do it.
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05:35
So you do it again.
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Fais-le encore.
05:37
All right, that's perfect.
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C'est parfait.
05:39
Thank you guys for being
such a good sport.
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Merci à vous d'avoir participé.
Voici ce qui est en train de se passer
partout dans le monde:
05:42
This is what's happening
all across the world --
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05:44
electrophysiology!
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l'électrophysiologie!
05:45
We're going to bring on
the neuro-revolution.
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Nous allons mener à une révolution
des neurosicences.
05:48
Thank you.
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Merci.
05:49
(Applause)
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(Applaudissements)
Translated by Florence Marcotte
Reviewed by Serge Brosseau

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Greg Gage - Neuroscientist
TED Fellow Greg Gage helps kids investigate the neuroscience in their own backyards.

Why you should listen

As half of Backyard Brains, neuroscientist and engineer Greg Gage builds the SpikerBox -- a small rig that helps kids understand the electrical impulses that control the nervous system. He's passionate about helping students understand (viscerally) how our brains and our neurons work, because, as he said onstage at TED2012, we still know very little about how the brain works -- and we need to start inspiring kids early to want to know more.

Before becoming a neuroscientist, Gage worked as an electrical engineer making touchscreens. As he told the Huffington Post: "Scientific equipment in general is pretty expensive, but it's silly because before [getting my PhD in neuroscience] I was an electrical engineer, and you could see that you could make it yourself. So we started as a way to have fun, to show off to our colleagues, but we were also going into classrooms around that time and we thought, wouldn't it be cool if you could bring these gadgets with us so the stuff we were doing in advanced Ph.D. programs in neuroscience, you could also do in fifth grade?" His latest pieces of gear: the Roboroach, a cockroach fitted with an electric backpack that makes it turn on command, and BYB SmartScope, a smartphone-powered microscope.

More profile about the speaker
Greg Gage | Speaker | TED.com