- 9/4/2024
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00:00For six years, Harrison Ward-Mullis battled with uncontrollable epilepsy.
00:24His family faced a stark choice, let the fits continue or risk radical surgery.
00:31I was absolutely devastated, absolutely devastated, I mean I just could not take it in.
00:39When they were talking about surgery, I thought they would be taking a piece of the brain
00:44out.
00:45I had no idea that they were going to remove a complete half.
00:49Harrison has coped with the loss of an entire hemisphere.
00:52All our brains have this amazing flexibility.
01:22This splendid house has belonged to the same family for almost 700 years.
01:32Down the distant line of ancestors, many of the family's physical features have been transmitted
01:37in their genes.
01:38The familiar shape of the face, the eyes, looking at their portraits, I can see the
01:43likeness clearly, but I can tell very little about what kind of person each individual
01:52was or how their very different experiences shaped what was going on inside their heads.
02:03The lords and ladies of this ancient family, like all of us, must have been a mixture of
02:08the genes they were born with and the environment in which they were raised.
02:18Our surroundings, our memories, and everything we learn and experience throughout our lives
02:23will all influence who we become.
02:26This sculpting of our individuality takes place in a physical setting, our brains.
02:31I think it is the differences in our brains, the way the connections are configured and
02:34fine-tuned throughout our lives, that makes every one of us unique.
02:42I see each of us as an accumulation of experiences, with our brain constantly adapting to the
02:47unique world in which we live.
02:51We all like to think that life is about how we might leave our mark upon the world, but
02:55the question for me is how does the world leave its mark on each of us?
03:04The gross anatomy of the brain is laid down in our genes.
03:11Scans of the growing foetus reveal how the convoluted folds of the adult cortex gradually
03:16develop.
03:17But what about the brain's internal workings, all the detailed nerve circuits which are
03:23necessary for our mental skills to develop properly?
03:27How much of that is determined by our genes?
03:41Take a universal skill, like recognising another human face.
03:46You might expect a basic brain function, like this, to be hard-wired from birth, but it's not.
03:56At the Birkbeck College Baby Lab in London, researchers are investigating the changes
04:00in brain circuitry as a baby gradually learns to distinguish faces from other shapes.
04:06Surprisingly, they're really rather good at it.
04:14Very early on, the newborn is attracted by anything that has a face-like configuration,
04:20so two blobs for the eyes and a blob for the nose-mouth is enough to attract the newborn's
04:25attention and it will follow it.
04:27Over other shapes, quite interesting shapes, and over other scrambled face-like shapes,
04:31it wants this special configuration.
04:38Over several months, the electrical activity in a baby's brain is monitored.
04:42Then they're shown upright faces compared with upside-down ones.
04:55Newborns respond exactly the same way to both, but by 8 months old, Jessamine's brain seems
05:01to have changed.
05:08When babies are very young, one of the things you see is that they show different patterns
05:14of brain activity when shown a face the right way up and a face upside down.
05:19Now, those are the same features, if you like, just turned in different ways.
05:23So if they were just responding to features, they would show the same brain activity.
05:28The very fact that they show different brain activity with a special peak when it's the
05:32right way up suggests that they really are processing faces in a configurable way as
05:37a whole face and that the upside-down face is just seen as a collection of features.
05:45So how does a baby develop this special response to faces?
05:49What's guiding the change in nerve circuitry of Jessamine's brain?
05:53The researchers here believe that we don't develop these skills automatically.
05:58It's only the repeated exposure to faces which trains the brain.
06:08So genes give a child the potential for mental skills.
06:12Experience determines whether the skills actually develop.
06:20If you want to really understand how a brain emerges rather than is pre-programmed, you
06:25have to look at the child as, in a sense, structuring their own brain.
06:32And that way, the baby's brain is a function of what the baby does.
06:36So the baby is...
06:37One can say the baby builds its own brain.
06:39I don't think that's an exaggeration at all.
06:46So how does experience of the world shape the development of a child's brain?
06:51We're born with almost as many brain cells as we'll ever have.
06:55What changes are the connections between them?
07:08The brain is an ever-changing web of billions of cells.
07:13As each brain cell grows, it forms thousands of connections with its neighbours.
07:22In the first few years of life, there's an explosion of connections between brain cells
07:26as the brain wires itself up.
07:28Each experience, no matter how small, leaves its mark on the brain by stimulating more
07:32connections between brain cells.
07:35With each new experience, some connections are strengthened and others are weakened,
07:40in a constant process of wiring.
07:44Just as we develop connections with the right inputs, so we can also prune them back.
07:48The brain has no use for too many idle connections, so it cuts back on those that aren't continuously
07:53reinforced with experience.
07:57How our individual brains take shape depends on which connections are reinforced and which
08:02fail to stay the course.
08:04The result is a dynamic, flexible brain.
08:08Just how flexible, we're now beginning to understand, through remarkable cases like
08:13Harrison Ward-Mullis.
08:20Harrison is now six.
08:23Soon after he was born, a blood vessel burst in his brain, which left him with crippling
08:28epilepsy.
08:36Harrison was constantly having seizures, what they called a non-convulsive epileptic state,
08:43in other words, you wouldn't see him having seizures.
08:48And when I said, I used to say to people, my son's got epilepsy, well he looks alright
08:53to me.
08:59He had the sort of seizures that he would sit and chew, but nothing in the mouth.
09:05He would start rocking, and he would do this for about an hour.
09:09He was aggressive, he would all of a sudden see something in a room and aim it towards
09:14anything or anybody, and the behaviour gradually got worse over the years.
09:26The full extent of Harrison's epilepsy became clear when he was wired up for observation
09:32by Dr Frank Bizak at St Peer's Epilepsy Centre in Surrey.
09:37The stream of irregular spikes shows Harrison's brain is in constant turmoil.
09:42He's having small seizures, one after another.
09:45It's a situation that has been very frustrating for years.
09:52When we see it so dramatically on the television screen, it makes it seem real and tangible.
10:00You know, I've been in supermarkets where people have said, well if he was mine I'd
10:04thrash him.
10:05Yes, well thrashing isn't a recognised method of correcting brainwave abnormality to this
10:12extent I'm afraid.
10:13I think it's very difficult for us to put ourselves in Harrison's place, but looking
10:19at these little storms occurring every few seconds as they are right now, if we can imagine
10:24that his brain function for those few seconds is being quite significantly impaired, and
10:30yet people are having normal expectations of him.
10:34And he's switching in and off all the time.
10:46A scan revealed massive damage in the left half of Harrison's brain, but the right looked
10:52normal.
10:53These seizures were probably all originating from the bad brain on the left side of his
11:00head.
11:02So almost certainly the bad brain was sending a storm of abnormal electrical discharges
11:09into the good brain, preventing it from working as well as it would have been otherwise.
11:18Harrison's family were offered a radical treatment, surgery to remove the malfunctioning
11:23half of his brain.
11:26This would be a risky operation.
11:32The big thing for me in deciding whether to have the surgery was the fact that at any
11:40given moment I could have lost him in a seizure anyway.
11:44He could have gone into a major seizure where he could have died.
11:53Since it was the only way to tackle his epilepsy, Harrison's left hemisphere was completely
11:58removed.
12:02But normally, the left side of the brain is vital for speech, and it controls the movement
12:07of the right side of the body.
12:09How badly would its removal affect him?
12:15For three days after the operation, Harrison was unconscious.
12:21All of a sudden, he just made a movement to get up, and I just grabbed him, and he just
12:29started talking.
12:30I then knew that he was out of this almost comatized state.
12:35He spoke.
12:36When he finally came round, for the first time in six years, he put four words together
12:42as a sentence.
12:43And that was instant.
12:45His speech was so much better.
12:53His control of the right side of his brain was very limited.
12:57His control of the right side of his body has been affected by the operation.
13:01But with intensive physiotherapy, Harrison is improving steadily.
13:06It seems that if part of a child's brain is damaged, the rest will automatically rewire
13:11itself, so that vital functions are taken over by the remaining normal tissue.
13:19You can start us off then.
13:20Here we go.
13:21Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are.
13:32Up above the clouds so bright, like a diamond in the sky.
13:41Harrison's story reveals the amazing dynamism of the nerve circuitry in the developing brain.
13:48How I wonder what you are.
14:07Our brains are at their most flexible in childhood.
14:11But throughout our lives, our grey matter is endlessly being shaped by experience
14:16and moulding itself to fit new circumstances.
14:22If you lose a large part of your brain as an adult,
14:25it's unlikely you'll ever fully recover any lost function.
14:28But it would be wrong to think of the brain as a fixed structure,
14:31which when it finishes growing, sets hard.
14:34At the microscopic level, the connections in our brain are constantly changing as we go through life.
14:39That's what learning and memory are all about.
14:42We never lose the ability to learn new skills.
14:46I may be making a hash of this now, but it shouldn't take too many lessons before I get the hang of it.
14:52As I keep trying to get the right pressure on the clay, the nerve circuits in my head are changing.
14:58It's very good. Keep your wheel going fast.
15:03Now I've picked up.
15:06Try and push it down first.
15:09How are our brains physically shaped by the experience of learning new skills?
15:14This issue is explored in some remarkable work with children who have difficulty with reading.
15:20So now all the words you're going to see in this game are made-up words, OK?
15:24And you just read for me...
15:26Cassie is unable to convert an unfamiliar group of letters into the sound of the word.
15:32Instead, she just guesses.
15:34OK.
15:35And just click the mouse when you're ready.
15:41Gloop.
15:42OK.
15:47Whip.
15:53Swag.
15:55Psychologist Bruce McCandless specialises in helping children like Cassie to learn to read.
16:01You didn't like those? Those were hard, huh?
16:03Our brains automatically decode the letters that they see into the sounds of the language
16:09and blend them together into whole words.
16:12If you don't catch on to this skill early on in the reading process,
16:16oftentimes you might get stuck trying to compensate with other strategies.
16:23The word on the screen is pen. Make a new word by taking away the N and add a T.
16:28Bruce is interested in the changes that occur in his students' brains
16:32when they finally learn to read properly.
16:37How about down here, though? What's the end of this word look like?
16:42T and S. How would you say T and S together?
16:51Yeah, that's it.
16:52OK, let's just run through a couple of them and make sure we have that down.
16:56Best.
16:57Yeah.
16:58Best.
17:02You've got to look really carefully at the letters there.
17:04The letters will tell you what word it is.
17:06Bets.
17:07There you go. Great.
17:09Reading is a complex skill which involves hearing, vision, memory and speech.
17:16But Bruce has scanned the brains of good readers and identified one key area
17:21which seems to be active specifically during reading.
17:25He believes this area is involved when we're converting letters into word sounds.
17:30Said Mike, Grace led Mike to the spider club.
17:36Inside the club...
17:39With Bruce's help, Mark has just learned to read in the last few months.
17:44Not me, said Grace. I like spiders.
17:48Mark came in reading at a very low level
17:52and we struggled with a couple of very key letter sound identification concepts with him.
17:58But over the course of the 24 sessions, he started to really catch on
18:03and started to very actively start to decode words on his own,
18:08start to correct his own errors and start to realise the role that each letter played in a word.
18:13OK, great. Come on in here.
18:14Just like last time, you remember the MR centre.
18:17Come up on the bed here and we'll crank it up.
18:20Mark had a brain scan before he did the reading course
18:24and his brain showed no activity in the key area Bruce believes is involved in reading.
18:30Now that he can read, he's having a second scan to compare the pattern of activity.
18:35He's got to be one of our best.
18:37Inside the scanner, Mark does a reading test.
18:40Oh, those are beautiful. Great.
18:42The second scan of Mark's brain, when he was reading well, reveals a clear change.
18:48As he learned the new skill of decoding letters into sounds,
18:52he made new connections in his brain.
18:55I can show you some of the results of what we've found so far.
18:58So first I want to show you...
19:01Check this out right here.
19:03We did the same exact scan with the same exact words
19:07a little while later and look what happened.
19:09What do you see there?
19:11The red dots?
19:13Yeah, that's right. You know what the red dots mean?
19:16That it was working?
19:18That's right. That part of your brain was working pretty hard when you were playing the word game.
19:22So we're really excited about that.
19:24It's an example of learning, changing the pattern of your brain activity.
19:28So what do you think about that?
19:30Seeing the inside of your brain and what's going on as you're thinking about stuff.
19:34Pretty neat.
19:36Yeah?
19:37Yeah.
19:47As we develop into adults, our brains gradually acquire a unique individual personality.
19:54I believe that much of who we become is the result of our brains absorbing what's going on around us.
20:01Mostly we're unaware of this process,
20:04but occasionally something is so significant we know it's altered our brains.
20:10It's become a memory.
20:22Memory, like other aspects of brain function, develops as we grow.
20:27Our entire system for storing and retrieving memories is evolving in the first few years of life.
20:34None of us remember the events from early in our life.
20:38And in fact, if you ask most people how old they were for their earliest memory,
20:42generally it's between two and four years of age.
20:49At his lab in Minnesota, Charles Nelson is testing children of different ages
20:54to see how their brains change as their memories develop.
20:57Our data suggests to us that a baby's memory system is present at birth.
21:02It is far from as developed as it will be,
21:05but the fact is they show evidence of memory at birth.
21:09And the best example of that is they recognise their mother's voice.
21:15This one-month-old baby is hearing short segments of her mother's voice,
21:20alternating with a very similar stranger's voice.
21:23Mommy's baby.
21:25Mommy's baby.
21:27Mommy's baby.
21:29Mommy's baby.
21:31Mommy's baby.
21:33Mommy's baby.
21:35Her brainwaves are different for the two voices.
21:39Even at this age, a baby can store a clear record of the sound of her mother's voice.
21:47You're putting the honey on his forehead?
21:49Lucas is three.
21:51His brain is capable of storing more complex visual and emotional information.
22:00Even though these faces are all unfamiliar,
22:03he's able to remember whether he's seen the same expression earlier.
22:19The research shows that as our brains develop,
22:22they respond faster to something familiar
22:25and more areas of the brain become involved in storing and retrieving a memory.
22:34The final triumph is that we become aware of what we remember.
22:38By age nine, Andy has a different brainwave for a familiar image
22:43and at the same time, he indicates that he has a memory of it.
22:49So babies do one thing, and three and four-year-olds do another,
22:53and children of, say, seven or eight or nine do yet another,
22:56and adults do yet another.
22:58And that's the magic of recording brain activity
23:01because we are now able to do the same thing at all these different ages
23:04and track the development of how the brain responds
23:08to a stimulus that should be recognized as familiar.
23:11Andy's brainwaves are very similar.
23:14His brainwaves are very similar.
23:16And the stimulus that should be recognized as familiar.
23:19In the brain, the essence of a memory is always the same.
23:23When we become familiar with something,
23:26the connections between a circuit of neurons are reinforced
23:29as they fire in synchrony.
23:32Each time we trigger the memory, the same circuit is activated.
23:40Why is it then, if basic memories are being formed
23:43long before we're aware of them,
23:44that we can't retrieve them later in life?
23:49One possibility is that they're erased,
23:52that they're formed initially, but then they just disappear.
23:55And we know that occurs in the brain, and adults do the same thing.
23:58Another possibility is that they still exist,
24:01but they're transported to some part of the brain
24:04and we no longer have the key to unlock the location,
24:07akin perhaps to storing something in a filing cabinet
24:10and forgetting where in the filing cabinet you stored it.
24:12It's a fascinating idea
24:15that my brain might still carry traces from earliest infancy
24:19in a form that my adult memory system can't now access.
24:27These films from my childhood bring back strong memories.
24:34When I recall a birthday party like this,
24:37or an outing to the beach,
24:39I'm doing far more than remembering bare facts.
24:52Retrieving a memory of a specific event in the past
24:55is an impressive mental achievement.
24:58It means reliving the moment
25:01with all the emotional force
25:04and personal connotations attached to it.
25:07How does the brain do this?
25:18So, Claire, what is it that you want me to do?
25:21OK, I'm going to ask you to learn some names first.
25:24I'm going to ask you to learn the names of four people.
25:27A minister, a doctor, a postman and a paperboy.
25:31This is a very simple test,
25:33but it illustrates the intriguing way the brain stores memories.
25:37I'm not going to test your memory for the photograph.
25:40The photograph is just there to help you remember the names.
25:43I just want you to concentrate
25:45on remembering the forename and the surname.
25:48This is the doctor. His name is Jim Green.
25:54This is the minister. His name is Cuthbert Catamon.
25:59This is the postman.
26:01His name is Tom Webster.
26:04And this is the paperboy. His name's Philip Armstrong.
26:08Now, let's see if you can remember them.
26:11What was the name of the doctor?
26:14Jim Green.
26:16And what was the minister's name?
26:18Cuthbert Catamon.
26:20What was the postman's name?
26:22Tom Webster.
26:24What was the paperboy's name?
26:26Philip Armstrong.
26:28Very impressive.
26:29I'm all right now.
26:31You're all right. You passed that one.
26:33Superficially, it seems that I've just stored the names as bare facts.
26:38But in my mind, each memory exists as a combination
26:42of their face, clothes,
26:44and the particular sound of Claire speaking their name.
26:47We could call it a mini-event.
26:49Only by pulling together all these fragments
26:52can we remember the name.
26:54His name is Cuthbert Catamon.
26:55John Forbes has been shown these cards many times before.
27:00This is the postman.
27:02His name is Tom Webster.
27:05OK, so one more time.
27:07What was the name of the doctors?
27:12I can't remember his Christian name now.
27:14Green.
27:15Green.
27:24The doctor.
27:32What was the minister's name?
27:41Pass.
27:42John has a very rare kind of brain damage,
27:45which has helped reveal how memories are normally stored.
27:48Pass.
27:50And what was the paperboy's name?
27:52Tim.
27:55Pass.
27:57OK, well done. You're doing really well.
28:00It's really tough, like that.
28:02Let's try it one more time.
28:08John's brain was damaged as a baby.
28:10But it was only several years later,
28:13around the time of this video,
28:15that he became aware that he had virtually no memory.
28:19Normal people, they can just...
28:21They've got several things milling around in their head
28:24and they can store something and not forget about it
28:26and just have their mind completely on something else
28:29and then when they're asked about this other thing,
28:31they can just, boom,
28:33oh, yes, that was with me
28:35because my memory's so much less.
28:39It's very difficult for me to remember something.
28:50It's like having a cabinet of memories
28:55and losing the back pages every now and again.
28:58Someone just leafing through,
29:00what shall we chuck, chuck that, chuck that, chuck that
29:02and being left with like a skeleton of memories.
29:04His family first noticed John's amnesia
29:07when they saw that he couldn't cope
29:09away from the familiar surroundings of home.
29:13I think we first realised
29:15there was a problem with John's memory
29:17when we were on holiday one year
29:19and he was about nine
29:21and he would permanently keep getting lost.
29:23We went to a holiday camp
29:25when his younger sister,
29:27who's three years younger,
29:29would be able to find her way around quite easily.
29:31John would have problems
29:32every time he came in the room.
29:34In the dining room,
29:36he wouldn't know where we were sitting.
29:38If he went out to the toilet midway through,
29:40he'd come back in and not be able to find us again.
29:42And even at the end of the first week,
29:44he was still doing that.
29:46That's how we realised
29:48that he couldn't find his way around
29:50and he couldn't remember as much
29:52as we thought he should be able to.
29:57John still has virtually no ability
29:59to navigate his way around
30:00even familiar situations.
30:03His memory has no structure to it
30:05so he can't piece together
30:07fragments he remembers
30:09to see the bigger picture.
30:12Things that come out of the blue
30:14are really difficult to handle.
30:16They just throw me completely
30:18whereas most people can adjust.
30:20It's very difficult for me to adjust.
30:22So it's like being a train.
30:24Slam!
30:26And I'm thrown completely
30:28and it can be really
30:29it can really get unbalanced.
30:31John came to us first
30:33when he was
30:35around 13 or 14 years of age
30:37and at that time
30:39he had been seen by a neurologist
30:41and the major complaint
30:43really was his memory problem.
30:47John is now 22
30:49and he's been visiting Dr Varga Kadem
30:51for several years.
30:54He still needs to follow
30:56precise step-by-step instructions
30:57to find his way.
30:59Even though John
31:01can function very well
31:03for example
31:05the route from his home
31:07to here involves a train change
31:09and he's been taught
31:11how to cope
31:13but if for example
31:15the platform changes
31:17for one reason or another
31:19on that particular day
31:21then that's enough
31:23for John to get completely lost.
31:25His system only works
31:27when you try and change
31:29one element
31:31and then John is completely lost
31:33and he has to start
31:35all over again
31:37from the very beginning.
31:41What John has lost
31:43is the ability to bring together
31:45the different components
31:47of a memory.
31:49This is because of damage
31:51to one particular area
31:53of his brain.
31:55And as you can see
31:57in this view
31:59you can see
32:01the full length
32:03of the hippocampus
32:05and you see
32:07how full and fleshy it is.
32:09So let's have a look
32:11at yours now.
32:13The effects of the damage
32:15to John's hippocampus
32:17shed light on the workings
32:19of the brain's memory systems.
32:21And here,
32:23that's right.
32:24It seems that the hippocampus
32:26plays an essential role
32:28in orchestrating
32:30the storage and retrieval
32:32of all the emotional
32:34and sensory aspects
32:36of an experience.
32:38Without a normal hippocampus
32:40John can't form
32:42truly vivid memories
32:44with personal meaning for him.
32:46His jumbled storage system
32:48won't allow him to travel
32:50back in time
32:52to relive his past.
32:53It allows us to go back
32:55and look at
32:57the particular episodes
32:59that are meaningful to us.
33:01We really
33:03do not get any indication
33:05from John
33:07that he's doing this
33:09when he's trying to tell us
33:11about events that have
33:13happened to him in the past.
33:15They seem to be
33:17renditions of stories
33:19that he has listened to
33:21about himself
33:22and he's trying to
33:24recreate the situation
33:26because when he
33:28tells you
33:30of these events
33:32and episodes
33:34there is very little
33:36emotional involvement.
33:38It's almost like
33:40he's reading a story.
33:42I'm very cautious
33:44personality-wise,
33:46very defensive
33:48and I think that's
33:50part of
33:52how you link
33:54into relationships
33:56because they're not there.
33:58That then
34:00puts me at a disadvantage.
34:02It's hard to imagine
34:04what it's like
34:06to look back at your life
34:08as isolated facts
34:10with no sense
34:12of ever having been there.
34:14We take lots of
34:16photographs
34:18and keep showing him
34:20them and we could
34:21remember occasions
34:23and incidents.
34:25We continually talk about
34:27them if they're
34:29important to him.
34:31This is our way
34:33of being able to
34:35give him memories
34:37that when he looks
34:39back on his life
34:41he has something
34:43that he can remember.
34:51One of the most
34:53remarkable aspects
34:55of the brain's memory
34:57systems is that
34:59they select
35:01what we remember.
35:03After all,
35:05storing everything
35:07would be as
35:09unhelpful as
35:11storing nothing.
35:13Somehow our brains
35:15automatically keep
35:17the memories which
35:19are important to us
35:20as a special
35:22significance.
35:24It was in this very
35:26room that I first
35:28dissected a human
35:30brain. I was even
35:32sitting at this very
35:34bench and I remember
35:36it really clearly.
35:38For example,
35:40I had the thought
35:42as I held the brain,
35:44what if I got a
35:46bit under my
35:48fingernail? Would
35:49my brain have isolated
35:51this event and kept
35:53it fresh in my memory
35:55because it was so
35:57important to me?
35:59But our brains
36:01don't just accumulate
36:03memories of significant
36:05events. We're all
36:07equipped with a second
36:09very different kind
36:11of memory system
36:13which forms the
36:15basis of our
36:17knowledge.
36:19We learn from all
36:21our experiences,
36:23extracting information and
36:25developing insights about
36:27the world around us.
36:29Our brains build up
36:31huge databases about
36:33our personal
36:35environment. We
36:37can't say how or
36:39when we learn
36:41these truths but
36:43we gradually
36:45absorb them.
36:47And knowledge of
36:48how our brains make
36:50sense of the world.
36:52It's a living
36:54database, our
36:56accumulated knowledge
36:58of the difference
37:00between a flower
37:02and a tree, a
37:04bike and a car,
37:06a dog and a cat.
37:08It's how we cope
37:10with the endless
37:12stream of new
37:14objects and experiences
37:16which we encounter
37:17every day.
37:19And this wealth
37:21of knowledge must
37:23somehow be stored
37:25in the constantly
37:27updating pattern
37:29of neuron connections
37:31in our heads.
37:33Tragically,
37:35those very
37:37connections are
37:39unravelling in
37:41Ivor's brain.
37:43This long process
37:45started ten years
37:46ago.
37:48Physically,
37:50fortunately,
37:52he is fine
37:54and quite
37:56dexterous and not
37:58clumsy. He still
38:00plays some golf
38:02and walking.
38:04And, you know,
38:06these problems
38:08regarding fitness
38:10are intact,
38:12they're fine.
38:14Ivor has semantic
38:15loss. He is
38:17slowly losing
38:19the part of his
38:21memory that
38:23allows us to
38:25distinguish one
38:26thing from another.
38:28Dementia is
38:30the term we give
38:32to any kind
38:34of progressive
38:35deterioration in mental
38:37function. And
38:39one of the big
38:41conceptual developments
38:43of the last
38:45thousand years
38:47is that
38:49Ivor's
38:51dementia
38:52is the result
38:54of a specific
38:55area of cell
38:56death in his
38:57left temporal
38:58lobe. The
38:59millions of cells
39:00here are the
39:01core of the
39:02brain's physical
39:03system for
39:04storing knowledge.
39:05As these cells
39:06die, Ivor's
39:07loss of
39:08understanding is
39:09exactly the
39:10reverse of
39:11the stages a
39:12child's brain
39:13goes through
39:14when they
39:15think of
39:16an animal,
39:17for instance.
39:18They're quite
39:19happy to say
39:20it's a dog
39:21or it's a
39:22cat for
39:23any animal
39:24because there
39:25is some
39:26preservation of
39:27knowledge,
39:28enough to
39:29identify it as
39:30an animal,
39:31and the most
39:32prototypic
39:33first-acquired
39:34concept of
39:35animals tends
39:36to be dog,
39:37cat and
39:38horse.
39:39This test
39:40reveals how
39:41Ivor's grasp
39:42of the world
39:43has changed.
39:44It's not that
39:45Ivor has
39:46forgotten the
39:47words, he's
39:48actually lost
39:49the knowledge
39:50of what each
39:51animal is.
39:52Ivor's
39:53loss of
39:54understanding
39:55is exactly
39:56the
39:57reverse of
39:58the stages
39:59a
40:00child's
40:01brain
40:02goes through
40:03when they
40:04think of
40:05an
40:06animal,
40:07for instance.
40:08This test
40:09reveals how
40:10Ivor's
40:11grasp of
40:12the world
40:13has changed.
40:14Ivor's
40:15loss of
40:16understanding
40:17is exactly
40:18the
40:19reverse of
40:20the
40:21stages
40:22a
40:23child's
40:24brain
40:25goes through
40:26when they
40:27think of
40:28an
40:29animal,
40:30for instance.
40:31This test
40:32reveals how
40:33Ivor's
40:34loss of
40:35understanding
40:36is exactly
40:37the
40:38reverse of
40:39the
40:40stages
40:41a
40:42child's
40:43brain
40:44goes through
40:45when they
40:46think of
40:47an
40:48animal,
40:49for instance.
40:50This test
40:51reveals how
40:52Ivor's
40:53loss of
40:54understanding
40:55is exactly
40:56the
40:57reverse of
40:58the
40:59stages
41:00a
41:01child's
41:02brain
41:03goes through
41:04when they
41:05think of
41:06an
41:07animal,
41:08for instance.
41:09This test
41:10reveals how
41:11Ivor's
41:12loss of
41:13understanding
41:14is exactly
41:15the
41:16reverse of
41:17the
41:18stages
41:19a
41:20child's
41:21brain
41:22goes through
41:23when they
41:24think of
41:25an
41:26animal,
41:27for instance.
41:28This test
41:29reveals how
41:30Ivor's
41:31loss of
41:32understanding
41:33is exactly
41:34the
41:35reverse of
41:36the
41:37stages
41:38a
41:39child's
41:40brain
41:41goes through
41:42when they
41:43think of
41:44an
41:45animal,
41:46for instance.
41:47This test
41:48reveals how
41:49Ivor's
41:50loss of
41:51understanding
41:52is exactly
41:53the
41:54reverse of
41:55the
41:56stages
41:57a
41:58child's
41:59brain
42:00goes through
42:01when they
42:02think of
42:03an
42:04animal,
42:05for instance.
42:06This test
42:07reveals how
42:08Ivor's
42:09loss of
42:10understanding
42:11is exactly
42:12the
42:13reverse of
42:14the
42:15stages
42:16a
42:17child's
42:18brain
42:19goes through
42:20when they
42:21think of
42:22an
42:23animal,
42:24for instance.
42:25This test
42:26reveals how
42:27Ivor's
42:28loss of
42:29understanding
42:30is exactly
42:31the
42:32reverse of
42:33the
42:34stages
42:35a
42:36child's
42:37brain
42:38goes through
42:39when they
42:40think of
42:41an
42:42animal,
42:43for instance.
42:44This test
42:45reveals how
42:46Ivor's
42:47loss of
42:48understanding
42:49is exactly
42:50the
42:51reverse of
42:52the
42:53stages
42:54a
42:55child's
42:56brain
42:57goes through
42:58when they
42:59think of
43:00an
43:01animal,
43:02for instance.
43:03This test
43:04reveals how
43:05Ivor's
43:06loss of
43:07understanding
43:08is exactly
43:09the
43:10reverse of
43:11the
43:12stages
43:13a
43:14child's
43:15brain
43:16goes through
43:17when they
43:18think of
43:19an
43:20animal,
43:21for instance.
43:22This test
43:23reveals how
43:24Ivor's
43:25loss of
43:26understanding
43:27is exactly
43:28the
43:29reverse of
43:30the
43:31stages
43:32a
43:33child's
43:34brain
43:36goes through
43:37when they
43:38think of
43:39an
43:40animal,
43:41for instance.
43:42This test
43:43reveals how
43:44Ivor's
43:45loss of
43:46understanding
43:47is exactly
43:48the
43:49reverse of
43:50the
43:51stages
43:52a
43:53child's
43:54brain
43:55goes through
43:56when they
43:57think of
43:58an
43:59animal,
44:00for instance.
44:01This test
44:02reveals how
44:03Ivor's
44:04loss of
44:05understanding
44:06is exactly
44:07the
44:08reverse of
44:09the
44:10stages
44:11a
44:12child's
44:13brain
44:14goes through
44:15when they
44:16think of
44:17an
44:18animal,
44:19for instance.
44:20This test
44:21reveals how
44:22Ivor's
44:23loss of
44:24understanding
44:25is exactly
44:26the
44:27reverse of
44:28the
44:29stages
44:30a
44:31child's
44:32brain
44:33goes through
44:34when they
44:35think of
44:36an
44:37animal,
44:38for instance.
44:39This test
44:40reveals how
44:41Ivor's
44:42loss of
44:43understanding
44:44is exactly
44:45the
44:46reverse of
44:47the
44:48stages
44:49a
44:50child's
44:51brain
44:52goes through
44:53when they
44:54think of
44:55an
44:56animal,
44:57for instance.
44:58This test
44:59reveals how
45:00Ivor's
45:01loss of
45:02understanding
45:03is exactly
45:04the
45:05reverse of
45:06the
45:07stages
45:08a
45:09child's
45:10brain
45:11goes through
45:12when they
45:13think of
45:14an
45:15animal,
45:16for instance.
45:17This test
45:18reveals how
45:19Ivor's
45:20loss of
45:21understanding
45:22is exactly
45:23the
45:24reverse of
45:25the
45:26stages
45:27a
45:28child's
45:29brain
45:30goes through
45:31when they
45:32think of
45:33an
45:34animal,
45:35for instance.
45:36This test
45:37reveals how
45:38Ivor's
45:39loss of
45:40understanding
45:41is exactly
45:42the
45:43reverse of
45:44the
45:45stages
45:46a
45:47child's
45:48brain
45:49goes through
45:50when they
45:51think of
45:52an
45:53animal,
45:54for instance.
45:55This test
45:56reveals how
45:57Ivor's
45:58loss of
45:59understanding
46:00is exactly
46:01the
46:02reverse of
46:03the
46:04stages
46:05a
46:06child's
46:07brain
46:08goes through
46:09when they
46:10think of
46:11an
46:12animal,
46:13for instance.
46:14This test
46:15reveals how
46:16Ivor's
46:17loss of
46:18understanding
46:19is exactly
46:20the
46:21reverse of
46:22the
46:23stages
46:24a
46:25child's
46:26brain
46:27goes through
46:28when they
46:29think of
46:30an
46:31animal,
46:32for instance.
46:33This test
46:34reveals how
46:35Ivor's
46:36loss of
46:37understanding
46:38is exactly
46:39the
46:40reverse of
46:41the
46:42stages
46:43a
46:44child's
46:45brain
46:46goes through
46:47when they
46:48think of
46:49an
46:50animal,
46:51for instance.
46:52This test
46:53reveals how
46:54Ivor's
46:55loss of
46:56understanding
46:57is exactly
46:58the
46:59reverse of
47:00the
47:01stages
47:02a
47:03child's
47:04brain
47:05goes through
47:06when they
47:07think of
47:08an
47:09animal,
47:10for instance.
47:11This test
47:12reveals how
47:13Ivor's
47:14loss of
47:15understanding
47:16is exactly
47:17the
47:18reverse of
47:19the
47:20stages
47:21a
47:22child's
47:23brain
47:24goes through
47:25when they
47:26think of
47:27an
47:28animal,
47:29for instance.
47:30This test
47:31reveals how
47:32Ivor's
47:33loss of
47:34understanding
47:35is exactly
47:36the
47:37reverse of
47:38the
47:39stages
47:40a
47:41child's
47:42brain
47:43goes through
47:44when they
47:45think of
47:46an
47:47animal,
47:48for instance.
47:49This test
47:50reveals how
47:51Ivor's
47:52loss of
47:53understanding
47:54is exactly
47:55the
47:56reverse of
47:57the
47:58stages
47:59a
48:00child's
48:01brain
48:02goes through
48:03when they
48:04think of
48:05an
48:06animal,
48:07for instance.
48:08This test
48:09reveals how
48:10Ivor's
48:11loss of
48:12understanding
48:13is exactly
48:14the
48:15reverse of
48:16the
48:17stages
48:18a
48:19child's
48:20brain
48:21goes through
48:22when they
48:23think of
48:24an
48:25animal,
48:26for instance.
48:27This test
48:28reveals how
48:29Ivor's
48:30loss of
48:31understanding
48:32is exactly
48:33the
48:34reverse of
48:35the
48:36stages
48:37a
48:38child's
48:39brain
48:40goes through
48:41when they
48:42think of
48:43an
48:44animal,
48:45for instance.
48:46This test
48:47reveals how
48:48Ivor's
48:49loss of
48:50understanding
48:51is exactly
48:52the
48:53reverse of
48:54the
48:55stages
48:56a
48:57child's
48:58brain
48:59goes through
49:00when they
49:01think of
49:02an
49:03animal,
49:04for instance.
49:05This test
49:06reveals how
49:07Ivor's
49:08loss of
49:09understanding
49:10is exactly
49:11the
49:12reverse of
49:13the
49:14stages
49:15a
49:16child's
49:17brain
49:18goes through
49:19when they
49:20think of
49:21an
49:22animal,
Recommended
48:49
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