[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.47,0:00:03.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Other people. Everyone is interested in other people.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:03.28,0:00:05.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Everyone has relationships with other people,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.41,0:00:06.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they're interested in these relationships
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.100,0:00:08.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for a variety of reasons.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.85,0:00:10.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Good relationships, bad relationships,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.86,0:00:14.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,annoying relationships, agnostic relationships,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.01,0:00:17.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and what I'm going to do is focus on the central piece
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.44,0:00:20.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of an interaction that goes on in a relationship.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.74,0:00:23.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I'm going to take as inspiration the fact that we're all
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.07,0:00:25.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,interested in interacting with other people,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.50,0:00:29.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm going to completely strip it of all its complicating features,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.33,0:00:33.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I'm going to turn that object, that simplified object,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.22,0:00:37.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into a scientific probe, and provide the early stages,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.38,0:00:39.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,embryonic stages of new insights into what happens
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.82,0:00:43.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in two brains while they simultaneously interact.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.47,0:00:45.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But before I do that, let me tell you a couple of things
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.77,0:00:47.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that made this possible.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.47,0:00:50.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The first is we can now eavesdrop safely
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.25,0:00:52.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on healthy brain activity.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.96,0:00:55.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Without needles and radioactivity,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.54,0:00:58.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without any kind of clinical reason, we can go down the street
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.40,0:01:01.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and record from your friends' and neighbors' brains
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.52,0:01:04.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while they do a variety of cognitive tasks, and we use
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.06,0:01:07.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a method called functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.80,0:01:10.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You've probably all read about it or heard about in some
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.12,0:01:14.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,incarnation. Let me give you a two-sentence version of it.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.50,0:01:17.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So we've all heard of MRIs. MRIs use magnetic fields
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.98,0:01:20.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and radio waves and they take snapshots of your brain
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.01,0:01:22.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or your knee or your stomach,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.37,0:01:24.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,grayscale images that are frozen in time.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.42,0:01:26.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the 1990s, it was discovered you could use
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.74,0:01:29.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the same machines in a different mode,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.40,0:01:31.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in that mode, you could make microscopic blood flow
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.74,0:01:35.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,movies from hundreds of thousands of sites independently in the brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.04,0:01:38.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay, so what? In fact, the so what is, in the brain,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.24,0:01:42.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,changes in neural activity, the things that make your brain work,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.08,0:01:44.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the things that make your software work in your brain,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.09,0:01:46.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are tightly correlated with changes in blood flow.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.58,0:01:48.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You make a blood flow movie, you have an independent
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.55,0:01:50.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,proxy of brain activity.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.89,0:01:53.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This has literally revolutionized cognitive science.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.92,0:01:55.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Take any cognitive domain you want, memory,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.91,0:01:58.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,motor planning, thinking about your mother-in-law,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.05,0:02:01.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,getting angry at people, emotional response, it goes on and on,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.77,0:02:04.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,put people into functional MRI devices, and
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.86,0:02:08.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,image how these kinds of variables map onto brain activity.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.24,0:02:11.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's in its early stages, and it's crude by some measures,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.09,0:02:13.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but in fact, 20 years ago, we were at nothing.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.66,0:02:16.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You couldn't do people like this. You couldn't do healthy people.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.02,0:02:18.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's caused a literal revolution, and it's opened us up
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.50,0:02:21.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to a new experimental preparation. Neurobiologists,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.32,0:02:25.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as you well know, have lots of experimental preps,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.08,0:02:28.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,worms and rodents and fruit flies and things like this.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.22,0:02:31.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And now, we have a new experimental prep: human beings.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.62,0:02:35.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We can now use human beings to study and model
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.38,0:02:38.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the software in human beings, and we have a few
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.33,0:02:41.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,burgeoning biological measures.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.17,0:02:45.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay, let me give you one example of the kinds of experiments that people do,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:45.05,0:02:47.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it's in the area of what you'd call valuation.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.73,0:02:49.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Valuation is just what you think it is, you know?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.87,0:02:52.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you went and you were valuing two companies against
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.67,0:02:55.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one another, you'd want to know which was more valuable.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.41,0:02:59.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Cultures discovered the key feature of valuation thousands of years ago.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.28,0:03:01.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you want to compare oranges to windshields, what do you do?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.98,0:03:04.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, you can't compare oranges to windshields.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.33,0:03:06.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They're immiscible. They don't mix with one another.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.59,0:03:08.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So instead, you convert them to a common currency scale,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.94,0:03:11.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,put them on that scale, and value them accordingly.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.64,0:03:15.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, your brain has to do something just like that as well,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.08,0:03:17.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we're now beginning to understand and identify
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.57,0:03:19.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,brain systems involved in valuation,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.70,0:03:22.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and one of them includes a neurotransmitter system
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.34,0:03:24.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whose cells are located in your brainstem
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.97,0:03:28.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and deliver the chemical dopamine to the rest of your brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.14,0:03:30.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I won't go through the details of it, but that's an important
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.58,0:03:32.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,discovery, and we know a good bit about that now,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.74,0:03:34.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it's just a small piece of it, but it's important because
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.97,0:03:38.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,those are the neurons that you would lose if you had Parkinson's disease,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.25,0:03:40.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they're also the neurons that are hijacked by literally
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.26,0:03:42.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,every drug of abuse, and that makes sense.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.50,0:03:44.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Drugs of abuse would come in, and they would change
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.83,0:03:46.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the way you value the world. They change the way
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.62,0:03:49.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you value the symbols associated with your drug of choice,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.82,0:03:52.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they make you value that over everything else.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.33,0:03:55.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here's the key feature though. These neurons are also
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.35,0:03:58.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,involved in the way you can assign value to literally abstract ideas,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.86,0:04:00.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I put some symbols up here that we assign value to
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.90,0:04:03.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for various reasons.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.62,0:04:06.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We have a behavioral superpower in our brain,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.30,0:04:08.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it at least in part involves dopamine.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.06,0:04:12.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We can deny every instinct we have for survival for an idea,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.25,0:04:16.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for a mere idea. No other species can do that.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.25,0:04:19.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1997, the cult Heaven's Gate committed mass suicide
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.86,0:04:22.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,predicated on the idea that there was a spaceship
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.07,0:04:25.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hiding in the tail of the then-visible comet Hale-Bopp
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.86,0:04:30.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,waiting to take them to the next level. It was an incredibly tragic event.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.13,0:04:33.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,More than two thirds of them had college degrees.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.62,0:04:37.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the point here is they were able to deny their instincts for survival
Dialogue: 0,0:04:37.34,0:04:40.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,using exactly the same systems that were put there
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.20,0:04:44.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to make them survive. That's a lot of control, okay?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.25,0:04:46.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One thing that I've left out of this narrative
Dialogue: 0,0:04:46.34,0:04:48.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is the obvious thing, which is the focus of the rest of my
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.57,0:04:50.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,little talk, and that is other people.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.73,0:04:53.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These same valuation systems are redeployed
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.72,0:04:56.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when we're valuing interactions with other people.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:56.22,0:04:59.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So this same dopamine system that gets addicted to drugs,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.49,0:05:02.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that makes you freeze when you get Parkinson's disease,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.01,0:05:05.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that contributes to various forms of psychosis,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:05.09,0:05:09.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is also redeployed to value interactions with other people
Dialogue: 0,0:05:09.01,0:05:11.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to assign value to gestures that you do
Dialogue: 0,0:05:11.90,0:05:14.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when you're interacting with somebody else.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.48,0:05:17.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let me give you an example of this.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:17.06,0:05:20.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You bring to the table such enormous processing power
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.02,0:05:22.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in this domain that you hardly even notice it.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.65,0:05:24.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let me just give you a few examples. So here's a baby.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:24.11,0:05:27.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She's three months old. She still poops in her diapers and she can't do calculus.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.84,0:05:31.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She's related to me. Somebody will be very glad that she's up here on the screen.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:31.20,0:05:33.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can cover up one of her eyes, and you can still read
Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.57,0:05:36.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,something in the other eye, and I see sort of curiosity
Dialogue: 0,0:05:36.33,0:05:39.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in one eye, I see maybe a little bit of surprise in the other.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:39.92,0:05:43.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here's a couple. They're sharing a moment together,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:43.10,0:05:44.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we've even done an experiment where you can cut out
Dialogue: 0,0:05:44.42,0:05:47.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,different pieces of this frame and you can still see
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.43,0:05:49.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they're sharing it. They're sharing it sort of in parallel.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:49.93,0:05:52.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, the elements of the scene also communicate this
Dialogue: 0,0:05:52.40,0:05:54.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to us, but you can read it straight off their faces,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:54.63,0:05:58.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and if you compare their faces to normal faces, it would be a very subtle cue.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:58.13,0:06:01.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here's another couple. He's projecting out at us,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.48,0:06:04.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and she's clearly projecting, you know,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.37,0:06:06.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,love and admiration at him.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:06.63,0:06:10.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here's another couple. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:06:10.27,0:06:15.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I'm thinking I'm not seeing love and admiration on the left. (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:06:15.42,0:06:17.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, I know this is his sister, and you can just see
Dialogue: 0,0:06:17.98,0:06:20.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,him saying, "Okay, we're doing this for the camera,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:20.49,0:06:26.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then afterwards you steal my candy and you punch me in the face." (Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:06:26.19,0:06:28.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He'll kill me for showing that.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:28.30,0:06:31.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All right, so what does this mean?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:31.09,0:06:34.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It means we bring an enormous amount of processing power to the problem.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:34.44,0:06:38.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It engages deep systems in our brain, in dopaminergic
Dialogue: 0,0:06:38.09,0:06:40.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,systems that are there to make you chase sex, food and salt.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:40.91,0:06:43.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They keep you alive. It gives them the pie, it gives
Dialogue: 0,0:06:43.80,0:06:46.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that kind of a behavioral punch which we've called a superpower.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:46.71,0:06:50.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So how can we take that and arrange a kind of staged
Dialogue: 0,0:06:50.36,0:06:53.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,social interaction and turn that into a scientific probe?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:53.06,0:06:55.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the short answer is games.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:55.75,0:07:00.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Economic games. So what we do is we go into two areas.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:00.16,0:07:03.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One area is called experimental economics. The other area is called behavioral economics.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:03.49,0:07:07.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And we steal their games. And we contrive them to our own purposes.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:07.57,0:07:10.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So this shows you one particular game called an ultimatum game.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:10.54,0:07:12.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Red person is given a hundred dollars and can offer
Dialogue: 0,0:07:12.38,0:07:16.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a split to blue. Let's say red wants to keep 70,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:16.10,0:07:20.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and offers blue 30. So he offers a 70-30 split with blue.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.19,0:07:23.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Control passes to blue, and blue says, "I accept it,"
Dialogue: 0,0:07:23.04,0:07:24.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which case he'd get the money, or blue says,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:24.100,0:07:29.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I reject it," in which case no one gets anything. Okay?
Dialogue: 0,0:07:29.30,0:07:32.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So a rational choice economist would say, well,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:32.70,0:07:34.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you should take all non-zero offers.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:34.75,0:07:38.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What do people do? People are indifferent at an 80-20 split.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:38.51,0:07:42.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At 80-20, it's a coin flip whether you accept that or not.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:42.04,0:07:44.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why is that? You know, because you're pissed off.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:44.93,0:07:48.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You're mad. That's an unfair offer, and you know what an unfair offer is.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:48.54,0:07:51.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is the kind of game done by my lab and many around the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:51.24,0:07:53.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That just gives you an example of the kind of thing that
Dialogue: 0,0:07:53.79,0:07:57.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,these games probe. The interesting thing is, these games
Dialogue: 0,0:07:57.52,0:08:01.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,require that you have a lot of cognitive apparatus on line.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:01.23,0:08:04.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You have to be able to come to the table with a proper model of another person.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:04.16,0:08:07.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You have to be able to remember what you've done.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:07.37,0:08:08.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You have to stand up in the moment to do that.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:08.79,0:08:12.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Then you have to update your model based on the signals coming back,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:12.14,0:08:15.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you have to do something that is interesting,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:15.11,0:08:17.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is you have to do a kind of depth of thought assay.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:17.71,0:08:21.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That is, you have to decide what that other person expects of you.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:21.04,0:08:23.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You have to send signals to manage your image in their mind.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:23.100,0:08:26.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like a job interview. You sit across the desk from somebody,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:26.85,0:08:28.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they have some prior image of you,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:28.22,0:08:30.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you send signals across the desk to move their image
Dialogue: 0,0:08:30.97,0:08:34.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of you from one place to a place where you want it to be.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:34.89,0:08:38.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We're so good at this we don't really even notice it.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:38.28,0:08:42.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These kinds of probes exploit it. Okay?
Dialogue: 0,0:08:42.04,0:08:43.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In doing this, what we've discovered is that humans
Dialogue: 0,0:08:43.85,0:08:46.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are literal canaries in social exchanges.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:46.18,0:08:49.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Canaries used to be used as kind of biosensors in mines.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:49.58,0:08:53.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When methane built up, or carbon dioxide built up,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:53.14,0:08:57.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or oxygen was diminished, the birds would swoon
Dialogue: 0,0:08:57.32,0:08:59.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before people would -- so it acted as an early warning system:
Dialogue: 0,0:08:59.65,0:09:02.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hey, get out of the mine. Things aren't going so well.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:02.63,0:09:05.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People come to the table, and even these very blunt,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:05.58,0:09:08.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,staged social interactions, and they, and there's just
Dialogue: 0,0:09:08.57,0:09:11.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,numbers going back and forth between the people,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:11.59,0:09:13.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they bring enormous sensitivities to it.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:13.79,0:09:16.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So we realized we could exploit this, and in fact,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:16.48,0:09:19.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as we've done that, and we've done this now in
Dialogue: 0,0:09:19.03,0:09:21.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,many thousands of people, I think on the order of
Dialogue: 0,0:09:21.73,0:09:23.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,five or six thousand. We actually, to make this
Dialogue: 0,0:09:23.89,0:09:26.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a biological probe, need bigger numbers than that,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:26.12,0:09:29.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,remarkably so. But anyway,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:29.79,0:09:31.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,patterns have emerged, and we've been able to take
Dialogue: 0,0:09:31.80,0:09:35.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,those patterns, convert them into mathematical models,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:35.63,0:09:38.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and use those mathematical models to gain new insights
Dialogue: 0,0:09:38.32,0:09:40.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into these exchanges. Okay, so what?
Dialogue: 0,0:09:40.45,0:09:43.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, the so what is, that's a really nice behavioral measure,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:43.76,0:09:47.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the economic games bring to us notions of optimal play.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:47.08,0:09:49.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We can compute that during the game.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:49.57,0:09:52.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And we can use that to sort of carve up the behavior.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:52.52,0:09:56.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here's the cool thing. Six or seven years ago,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:56.85,0:09:59.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we developed a team. It was at the time in Houston, Texas.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:59.40,0:10:02.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's now in Virginia and London. And we built software
Dialogue: 0,0:10:02.79,0:10:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that'll link functional magnetic resonance imaging devices
Dialogue: 0,0:10:06.00,0:10:10.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,up over the Internet. I guess we've done up to six machines
Dialogue: 0,0:10:10.04,0:10:12.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at a time, but let's just focus on two.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:12.02,0:10:15.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it synchronizes machines anywhere in the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:15.08,0:10:18.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We synchronize the machines, set them into these
Dialogue: 0,0:10:18.24,0:10:20.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,staged social interactions, and we eavesdrop on both
Dialogue: 0,0:10:20.23,0:10:21.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the interacting brains. So for the first time,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:21.89,0:10:25.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we don't have to look at just averages over single individuals,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:25.50,0:10:28.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or have individuals playing computers, or try to make
Dialogue: 0,0:10:28.40,0:10:31.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,inferences that way. We can study individual dyads.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:31.16,0:10:33.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We can study the way that one person interacts with another person,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:33.94,0:10:36.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,turn the numbers up, and start to gain new insights
Dialogue: 0,0:10:36.51,0:10:39.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into the boundaries of normal cognition,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:39.02,0:10:41.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but more importantly, we can put people with
Dialogue: 0,0:10:41.76,0:10:45.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,classically defined mental illnesses, or brain damage,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:45.09,0:10:48.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into these social interactions, and use these as probes of that.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:48.64,0:10:50.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So we've started this effort. We've made a few hits,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:50.99,0:10:53.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a few, I think, embryonic discoveries.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:53.44,0:10:56.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We think there's a future to this. But it's our way
Dialogue: 0,0:10:56.26,0:10:58.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of going in and redefining, with a new lexicon,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:58.82,0:11:02.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a mathematical one actually, as opposed to the standard
Dialogue: 0,0:11:02.84,0:11:05.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ways that we think about mental illness,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:05.42,0:11:07.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,characterizing these diseases, by using the people
Dialogue: 0,0:11:07.48,0:11:10.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as birds in the exchanges. That is, we exploit the fact
Dialogue: 0,0:11:10.49,0:11:14.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the healthy partner, playing somebody with major depression,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:14.73,0:11:17.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or playing somebody with autism spectrum disorder,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:17.64,0:11:21.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or playing somebody with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:21.49,0:11:24.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we use that as a kind of biosensor, and then we use
Dialogue: 0,0:11:24.71,0:11:27.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,computer programs to model that person, and it gives us
Dialogue: 0,0:11:27.36,0:11:29.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a kind of assay of this.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:29.83,0:11:31.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Early days, and we're just beginning, we're setting up sites
Dialogue: 0,0:11:31.96,0:11:35.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,around the world. Here are a few of our collaborating sites.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:35.37,0:11:37.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The hub, ironically enough,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:37.68,0:11:40.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is centered in little Roanoke, Virginia.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:40.56,0:11:42.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's another hub in London, now, and the rest
Dialogue: 0,0:11:42.83,0:11:46.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are getting set up. We hope to give the data away
Dialogue: 0,0:11:46.84,0:11:50.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at some stage. That's a complicated issue
Dialogue: 0,0:11:50.52,0:11:53.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about making it available to the rest of the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:53.51,0:11:55.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But we're also studying just a small part
Dialogue: 0,0:11:55.36,0:11:57.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of what makes us interesting as human beings, and so
Dialogue: 0,0:11:57.62,0:11:59.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I would invite other people who are interested in this
Dialogue: 0,0:11:59.66,0:12:02.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to ask us for the software, or even for guidance
Dialogue: 0,0:12:02.23,0:12:04.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on how to move forward with that.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:04.45,0:12:06.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let me leave you with one thought in closing.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:06.79,0:12:08.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The interesting thing about studying cognition
Dialogue: 0,0:12:08.74,0:12:12.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has been that we've been limited, in a way.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:12.47,0:12:15.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We just haven't had the tools to look at interacting brains
Dialogue: 0,0:12:15.41,0:12:16.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,simultaneously.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:16.61,0:12:19.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The fact is, though, that even when we're alone,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:19.08,0:12:23.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we're a profoundly social creature. We're not a solitary mind
Dialogue: 0,0:12:23.19,0:12:27.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,built out of properties that kept it alive in the world
Dialogue: 0,0:12:27.56,0:12:31.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,independent of other people. In fact, our minds
Dialogue: 0,0:12:31.51,0:12:34.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,depend on other people. They depend on other people,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:34.38,0:12:35.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they're expressed in other people,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:35.92,0:12:39.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so the notion of who you are, you often don't know
Dialogue: 0,0:12:39.58,0:12:42.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who you are until you see yourself in interaction with people
Dialogue: 0,0:12:42.26,0:12:44.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that are close to you, people that are enemies of you,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:44.67,0:12:47.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people that are agnostic to you.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:47.22,0:12:50.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So this is the first sort of step into using that insight
Dialogue: 0,0:12:50.99,0:12:54.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into what makes us human beings, turning it into a tool,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:54.29,0:12:56.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and trying to gain new insights into mental illness.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:56.26,0:12:59.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thanks for having me. (Applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:12:59.38,0:13:02.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)