Computer I (1967)

[Music] we live in an age of cybernetics an age of complex computers electronic brains [Music] this machine can solve in seconds problems that would take a whole group of scientists weeks possibly months to solve within its walls are over a million transistors and memory units miles and miles of wiring it occupies 2200 square feet of space weighs tons when fed information programmed it can analyze absorb memorize compute give answers in split seconds but it does not really think it cannot imagine it does not create it is after all only a creation of another computer the human brain [Music] this computer is small weighs only about two and a half pounds this brain has 13 billion transistors and memory units of its own 13 billion brain cells and millions of miles of wiring small but incredibly complex it has been programmed for hundreds of thousands of years the information it has received and stored has given us great art great music huge bridges majestic cathedrals systems of mathematics and language rockets to the moon and beyond in this age of electronic brains brain of man remains the ultimate but what happens if a part of this marvelous organ is damaged if an electronic brain is short-circuited if a bank of transistors blows out the machine will give false information malfunction so too with the human brain [Music] a part of this child's brain the motor cortex is damaged [Music] he has cerebral palsy there are many kinds of cerebral palsy the form the type the symptoms that occur depend upon the area of the brain affected this part of the brain the cerebellum is concerned with equilibrium and voluntary movements when there is damage here we see a little girl who can't walk steadily and when she tries to write her name she cannot she has a form of cerebral palsy called ataxia in cerebral palsy the damage to the brain may occur before birth a time shortly thereafter deep deep within the brain almost at its center lies the basal ganglia a group of cells comprising part of the old brain that part of the organ that goes back millions of years ago before the development of the outer layer the cortex that enables man to reason to create damage to these cells results in a type of cerebral palsy known as apoptosis [Music] this boy knows what he wants to do he wants to pick up the block [Music] his damaged brain will not direct his movements [Music] often all too often more than one area of the brain is affected [Music] and a young boy may grow up unable to speak unable to walk perhaps unable to fully understand cerebral palsy takes many forms can we do for these children these children who have brain damage this is a small part of a huge computer a micro circuit containing nine transistors this is a minute section of the human brain seen through a microscope in size but a fraction of the micro circuit in thickness only thousandths of an inch yet magnified 35 times we begin to see hundreds of neurons brain cells and an intricate pattern of nerve fibers if in an electronic brain one micro circuit fails we can replace it [Music] but in the human brain we cannot replace a cell or make one grow again unlike other tissues of the body like the skin which heals itself grows new cells to replace those lost brain cells will not regenerate magnified many more times we begin to see the great complexity of single cells the many layers of intricate wiring nerve fiber pathways all in a thickness less than a thousandth of an inch how little we know this marvelous organ which we call the brain how little we know about how it works and why how little about what is normal what is not only research will bring us these answers research a vast ocean of knowledge unexplored unsounded here and there a marker perhaps a small beacon near the shore but on the whole uncharted unknown many men live by the sea the captain bill 4 is a fishing boat out of cape cod massachusetts captain henry klim in command dragging deep plumbing the waters basic level it's aimed the study of life these minute electrodes are probing a single cell of the common skate a member of the shark family this scientist is studying the electrical activity on the surface of that single cell why this study of a single cell of a common fish what is this to do with cerebral palsy what we learn about any cell about how it works what laws it obeys may provide us with basic knowledge about all cells including those of the human brain the squid provides science with unusual opportunities for study of the nervous system its main nerve the axon is large easily accessible in the laboratory this nerve is removed from the squid excess material is cut away leaving it clean when stimulated electrically the nerve fires discharges a series of impulses along its length acting like any nerve receiving stimulation simple as the nervous system of the squid is this basic research will someday help us to understand the function of the nervous system and the human nervous system is a vast complex of nerve pathways extending millions of miles but all leading to and connected to one control center the brain so scientists search for the secrets of life in the simple forms of life yet no matter how simple the animal its mysteries are complex even the workings of a single cell are not yet fully understood higher up the scale of the animal kingdom the monkey helps us to further understand cerebral palsy in these monkeys one side of the visual cortex an area at the rear of the brain has been exposed to at x-rays columbia university's college of physicians and surgeons research investigators are studying the effects of this radiation on the cells of the brain with a research grant from united cerebral palsy this monkey is secured to a table tightly but comfortably the monkey is placed in a shielded chamber electrodes are attached for an electroencephalogram a recording of the brain's electrical activity brain waves in this experiment a strobe light blinks on and off before the monkey's eyes this stimulation can compare the activity of that side of the brain it has been exposed to x-ray to the normal side the results are recorded on a polygraph now we see a series of brain waves for some weeks after irradiation the side of the brain exposed to x-ray shows only minor changes [Music] but after about 18 weeks startling changes are observed suddenly that side of the brain exposed to x-ray degenerates almost completely nerve cells and their connections break up like so many sticks of kindling wood the upper photograph shows a section of the brain during the 18-week period after x-ray cell structure normal complete no clearly visible signs of degeneration the lower photograph shows the collapse the almost total disintegration of the visual cortex what is happening during this 18-week period between original brain damage and the sudden appearance of extreme change the breaking up of tissue it is this period of apparent dormancy which these investigators are studying what is happening and why in many cases of cerebral palsy brain damage occurs before birth but symptoms may not appear before a child is two or three years old again that period of dormancy during which the infant is rapidly growing if these scientists can determine what is happening during that period of dormancy we will be one step closer to the conquest of cerebral palsy from cell to squid from fish to a monkey science searches out the secrets of life ascending higher and higher up the ladder of evolution like all other forms of life the human being begins with one cell one that becomes two then four and eight sixty four four thousand and ninety six into the billions they multiply forty weeks after conception of the first cell a child is born but some are not so fortunate sent before their time into this breathing world scarce half made up unfinished deprived of their full first nine months of life premature birth is a common denominator in one third of all cerebral palsy children torn from the warmth of the womb unable yet to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide to breathe many of them suffer brain damage [Music] at babies hospital in new york the infants are placed in isolates or respirators they are given oxygen kept warm cared for nurtured [Music] in looking after these children physician and technician act as a team periodically neurological examinations are done testing reflexes muscle tone general conditions the infant's brain waves are recorded and carefully analyzed by the physician who looks for signs of impairment or improvement at babies hospital treatment and research go hand in hand as the infants slowly gain strength the results of neurological examinations electroencephalograms and other tests are carefully studied those babies who have suffered longer periods of oxygen deprivation are more apt to have minute bleeding into the brain resulting in more brain damage more cerebral palsy [Music] [Laughter] [Music] at massachusetts general hospital in boston patients with certain types of brain damage are being treated under a research grant from united cerebral palsy our work here in the neurosurgical laboratories is an attempt to correct the abnormal brain function which produces abnormal movement disorders and cerebral palsy the attempt is to localize specifically within the brain the structures that have to do with the abnormality and to as carefully as possible destroy them with precise surgical techniques [Music] the natural question should emerge as to the basic philosophy of making a destructive lesion in a person who already has a damaged brain and here we are in the ironic situation of not being able to repair the damage but only to add further damage a homely example perhaps is the problem that arises when an automobile horn gets stuck now a quite straightforward way of improving the function of the automobile is to disconnect the horn that point one is without a horn but the total if you will life situation of the automobile is somewhat better it could perform its functions rather better even with an additional slight disability the disability of no horn is less disrupting than the disability of a constant heart so new developments in surgery help a certain few who have brain damage others are helped by physical occupational speech and other therapies in all of these treatment and research go hand in hand each time we turn to surgery for the treatment of an individual we're gaining information that can perhaps be generalized and the way we're doing this is by what our traditional techniques really for studying brain function the unique qualities that they are carried out in man and with his cooperation and with the additional insight and understanding that his ability to communicate gives that we cannot get from the experimental animal the results of these investigators findings are fed back into a computer analyzed average answers come in seconds [Music] and so the brainchild of man the electronic computer helps him in the ultimate understanding of his own brain so the search goes on from the simple forms of life to the human being yet each project is but a building block in the whole the cell may have its own laws but it must obey the larger laws of the tissue the organ the organ works on its own principles but it must fall in line with the whole organism the human being and each and every human being all of us about a society of cells skin cells muscle cells bone cells brain cells all living together working together trying to function efficiently as a whole and every human being every child every adult is but a single unit in a huge design family community city country world a design called society and society too for its own sake in order to thrive and grow must obey its own laws adhere to its own best principles the principles for these children are self-evident to care for them today to help them find a place and a purpose in the world and to continue seeking through research the answer for them tomorrow [Music] hmm [Music] so [Music] you