Entri ini dalam Bahasa Inggeris. Sebab penyoalnya pun bertanya dalam Bahasa Inggeris. Entri ini adalah jawapan kepada kita yang mungkin tertanya-tanya seperti penyoal yang kurang yakin dengan perkembangan bidang neuroscience mutakhir ini.
Disertakan skrip soalan dan respons agar kita lebih yakin.
Question: “There’s nothing new here—all this brain-based stuff is a bunch of hype. What do you think Doc?”
Response: I strongly disagree. Whenever someone claims there’s nothing new, I reply with this abbreviated list of “Top 8 New Discoveries About the Brain,” all of which have come to light during the past 10 years:
1. We have discovered that the human brain can and does grow new neurons, that these neurons become functional and are highly correlated with memory, and that this process can be regulated.
2. We have discovered that aggressive behavioural therapies, new drugs, and revolutionary stem-cell implantation can be used to influence, regulate, and even repair brain-based disorders, including fetal alcohol syndrome, autism, retardation, strokes, and spinal cord injury.
3. We have discovered that “teenage behaviour” may result from a complex array of fast-changing factors – not just hormones.
4. We have discovered that genes are not fixed. Evidence suggests that both gene expression and genetic makeup can be altered.
5. We have assembled tomes of evidence to support the delicate interplay between emotional states and cognition.
6. We have confirmed that music can affect cognition.
7. We have confirmed that software programs that use brain plasticity to retrain the visual and auditory systems really can improve attention, hearing, and reading ability.
8. We have discovered that humans with implanted “brain chips” can operate thought- controlled mechanical interfaces; in other words, they can guide a robotic arm merely by thinking. The implications of these findings could revolutionize life for the physically disabled.
Anyone who says there’s nothing new in brain research must have been living in a denial. The past 10 years have been the most explosive and hopeful in the entire history of neuroscience.
Respons di atas mengajak kita untuk berfikir kembali tentang anugerah hebat yang Allah kurniakan kepada kita – otak. Mari kita terus perkasakan kurniaan hebat ini agar kita tidak ketinggalan. Jangan berhenti belajar.
