Narrator: The human body...
A heart that will b*at
some three billion times...
Lungs that deliver breath
through 1,500 miles of airways.
All superbly orchestrated
by billions of nerve cells
And billions of miles
of genetic information,
In combinations that
make each of us unique.
one incredible human body...
Every day it takes us
on a miraculous journey,
Pushing the frontiers,
meeting awesome challenges...
Defying the boundaries
of human achievement.
A basketball star redefines
the limits of peak performance.
PJ Brown: I think
if I could look inside my body,
you'd probably see our heart
just b*ating a lot faster.
Narrator: A childless couple challenges
the odds to create life.
Mark Sauer:
I would say she has at least
a 50-50 chance
of getting pregnant,
but you just don't know going
into it where it's gonna go.
Narrator: A schoolteacher
battles the death
that lurks deep
within his brain.
Frederick Meyer:
How serious is it?
The tumor's gonna k*ll him.
So it's deadly serious.
Lisa Toenies:
It's like I said goodbye
because I didn't know what
he would be like coming out.
Narrator: These are the
daily dramas of human life,
but they take place
inside ourselves,
in realms we could never see.
But now we can.
Today, awesome new technology
allows us to peer inside
our bodies as never before...
to see a brain think,
a heart b*at, a life begin,
to discover
the boundless potential
of the incredible human body.
Donald Coffey:
The human body...
It's mind-boggling to see
how the whole system
is integrated, in a sense.
The heart beats. The brain
is f*ring electrical signals.
Your eyes are capable of
catching all these wavelengths
and storing the light,
retrieving the information.
If you approached me
as an engineer
and said, "make me a system"
"that can retrieve that kind
of information of sound, light,"
"Put it with memory, for
everything you've ever seen"...
This is an amazing
piece of equipment.
And it can all be stored
in these little teeny cells,
which can all come together and form
this beautiful snowflake called a human,
with each one of them
amazingly different.
Narrator:
From a cluster of cells,
a new human being begins
the journey to life
every quarter of a second
somewhere in the world.
To understand the amazing
results of that journey,
we must begin at the beginning,
the miracle of conception.
For some couples,
that seemingly commonplace
miracle seems impossible.
Today, reproductive science -
marrying skill and knowledge
to the magic of nature--
can make the impossible happen.
And here it will provide
a wondrous window
into the beginning
of human life.
Inez: My husband and I
have been together 11 years
and we...we were trying,
but not trying.
And it just dawned on us one day
that something
might be wrong, you know,
that I'm not getting pregnant,
and we decided to investigate.
Sauer: What I want to do
is spend most of the time
talking about in vitro
with you guys...
Narrator: Dr. Mark Sauer
doesn't claim to make miracles,
but about once a week
his fertility team
will help to bring a baby
into the world
through in-vitro fertilization,
or IVF.
With dr. Sauer's help,
Inez and Darryl Pearson
will have a 50-50 chance
at creating a new life.
IVF really is
a natural process,
even though
it's outside the human body,
because it allows us
to put sperm and egg together
and create an embryo,
which is no different
than what happens in nature.
Narrator: But unlike in nature, remarkable
access to dr. Sauer's laboratory
will allow us to observe
the encounter of sperm and egg
in extraordinary detail.
Sauer: So we'll be seeing you
a lot over the next few weeks.
Inez: Okay. We're just
waiting to get started now.
Woman: You can go ahead
and push it back in
and try it again maybe
a little more slowly.
Narrator: Inez begins a regime
of hormone injections
that will stimulate her ovaries
to produce more than
the customary one egg per month.
Inez: Do it like this,
I'll squeeze the skin...
Woman: You'll wipe
with alcohol...
...wipe with alcohol.
Like so, okay?
A little bit faster than that...
Yeah, like that.
Oh my god...
Narrator: It's time.
As hoped, many eggs are ready.
As she is put to sleep,
Inez delivers a drowsy wish.
[Inez speaks]
Man: What was that?
What did she say?
Woman: She said,
"I want a boy."
Man: That's what
I thought she said.
Sauer: We'll start
on the left side.
There's a lot of follicles.
You can see the needle tip
there on the screen.
Narrator: The remarkable egg
that begins human life
is a single cell -
no wider than a hair,
barely visible to the eye.
Coffey: Most people have
no idea how small a cell is.
If I crudely scrape
the inside of my mouth,
I have about 10,000 cells
under my fingertip.
These things are really small!
You can't see that
without a microscope,
and yet, that can make a human.
See how amazing this is?
Narrator: One by one,
When the safety
of the eggs is assured,
Darryl's semen is collected.
will filter out
the dead and less-healthy sperm.
Prosser: Okay,
this is the "before" sample.
It has not been processed.
And so, from this
we can compare this
with the post-processing sample.
You can see that the sample
is much cleaner,
almost all of the sperm
are motile...
And they look like
happy campers.
Narrator: Dr. Prosser positions
the egg, magnified 400 times,
And readies the single sperm
he has selected
from a pool of hundreds.
the sperm is injected
and the critical moment
for fertilization arrives.
Like a great celestial director,
he repeats the procedure,
guiding sperm to another egg.
If this is the meeting
that proves successful,
we are observing -
in the immediacy of real time -
the first miracle of many
that will lead to
the life of a child.
At this moment,
two human destinies intertwine
as genetic material from Inez's
egg and from Darryl's sperm
are shuffled together.
Each contributes
strands of information
that will soon unite.
Like a microscopic
mountain range,
each chromosome carries genes
built of molecules of DNA -
the most basic design element
of human life.
Together, these molecules
form an intricate instruction manual -
the blueprint for
an entire new human being.
The human body, like a house,
is built from a roll-Up,
rolled-up set of blueprints,
which is rolled up
into a little chromosome
and it's a DNA sequence,
and it says "blue eyes;"
it says "female;"
it says "about five foot eight
with brown hair."
Narrator: The epic accomplishment
of revealing our genome -
the codebook of human life -
may soon open a floodgate
of biological revelations.
Craig Venter is at the crest
of this wave of knowledge.
Venter: A genome is our collection
of all our genetic information.
It's a four-letter alphabet
composing DNA,
and when we sequence the genome,
we determine the exact order
of roughly three billion
of those letters.
It's elegant in it's simplicity.
The genetic code
has four different chemicals;
we substitute A, C, G, and for those.
We attach
four different color dyes -
one color for each of
the letters of the genetic code.
It's like just solving
a jigsaw puzzle,
only the jigsaw puzzle has, in
our case, 27 million pieces...
So it came in a very big box
and there was no picture
on the cover.
Narrator: Putting the pieces
of this puzzle together
has provided knowledge
that will enhance the quality
of human life -
and perhaps even extend it.
Coffey: We're at the
very fundamental first steps
in a very powerful force.
There's some relationship
between aging and our genes.
So if we can control
those genes,
will we be able
to extend the aging process?
Well, it's distant stuff,
but probable.
Knowing the human genome,
and mapping up how it changes,
is a major step forward
in understanding
the making of this wonderful
human body that we've got.
Through the history of time,
the DNA sequence
has been marching down
through generation after
generation of your relatives,
and now it continues
in your offspring.
Narrator: Overnight, DNA from Inez's eggs
and Darryl's sperm unite,
and 13 of the 27 eggs
show the telltale dimple
that indicates success.
It's working.
With exquisite grace,
one cell becomes two,
two become four; each duplicates
the original, unique DNA.
The enchanted progression
of cell division continues.
For five days,
the embryos are monitored.
Finally, the division
creates masses of cells,
known as blastocysts,
and any one
of these blastocysts
may become a part
of the Pearson family.
Prosser: This embryo here...
If you look at the outer shell
on the center embryo,
it's very thin.
The embryo is getting ready
to hatch out of it's shell.
It's a very nice blastocyst.
The inner cell mass is going
to become the embryo itself -
what you normally think of
when you think of a baby...
Arms, head, legs, toes, fingers.
And, actually,
this inner cell mass
is where you find
the embryonic stem cells,
which are very much in the
center of the genetic revolution
that's going on right now.
Narrator: Embryonic stem cells stand
in the vanguard of human life.
These magical
all-purpose cells
will eventually transform into
every cell type in the human body.
This extraordinary potential
of stem cells
has made isolating them one
of the holy grails of science,
Although a controversial one.
Dr. John Gearhart is at the
forefront of that achievement.
Gearhart: These cells
have two properties.
One is that if you
keep them in the dish,
under certain
culture conditions,
they will continue to form
more cells like themselves.
So you can grow a room full
of these embryonic stem cells
and they are undifferentiated
cells; they all look alike.
If you take some
of these cells, though,
and you put them out
in different kinds
of growth conditions,
these cells are capable
of forming all the cell types
that are present
in the human body.
What we are looking at here
are heart muscle cells
that are b*ating as a tissue.
Narrator: Once these were stem cells
with uncharted destinies.
Dr. Gearhart has directed their
development into heart cells,
now able to b*at
in perfect synchrony.
Gearhart: It's always been
the dream of humankind
that someday we'd be able
to replace tissues in the body
that were either damaged
or diseased or simply worn out.
But we really never had the
starting material to do this.
Now we have in the laboratory,
in our dishes, growing nicely,
virtually all the cell types
that are present
in the human body.
Coffey: They make a "you."
A stem cell can make you.
That's pretty powerful!
And I can
control this stem cell
And understand
everything about it?
Now we're set up to answer
one of the first
and basic questions
about how a human is made.
Sauer: As we hoped,
we have very well-formed
And ready-to-transfer
type of blastocysts.
of growth in the lab,
Inez's embryos
are ready for implanting.
She is shown what might turn out
to be her first baby picture.
Sauer: Now, with
embryos of this quality,
if I put in three,
the chance of multiple birth
may be as high as 40
to 50 percent, usually twins.
If that makes you overly nervous,
then I would suggest
putting in two,
which still gives you a very
good rate, but less multiples.
What do you think
about all that?
Ummmm... I think we'll
go with the two.
Okay. Okay.
So we'll do two...
Inez: At first, I was
just going to do two.
I said, "Well, if one doesn't
make it, then one will live."
And, you know, at the last minute
I was sitting here thinking was,
I said, "Well,
it's not that much either."
I mean, for the amount of things
that we had gone through,
to just do one was not
a very smart idea to do.
And then we started
talking about it, I said,
"Wow, two's
not that great either."
So maybe...
I'll do the three.
Sauer: Now you wanna do...
Yeah, I'll do
the three. Yeah.
I'll put in
that new order for you.
Okay.
Bob, she wants
the three now.
Narrator: The three embryos
are put into a single catheter,
and guided onto the lining
of Inez's uterus.
Sauer: There it goes...
So our placement is very good.
Real well... This is what
you hope for when you start.
I really think it's a 50-50
chance for her at this point.
Whether or not
she'll get pregnant,
we'll find out in about 10 days.
Inez: I didn't get,
like, really, really excited
because they said, you know,
there is a chance
that it might not work,
might not be successful,
and we don't want you
to really get
your hopes up too high,
so I just kept it like that.
Narrator:
science has done it's best,
but it will be
a long 10 days for Inez...
Five viable blastocysts...
three now offering Inez
the chance to be a mother.
Scott: Does that look right?
Not really, does it?
Okay, what about
Narrator: Much of what we know about
the way the human body works
emerges when it is
in need of repair.
Scott Toenies, a veteran
and football coach
in rural North Dakota,
is the victim
of debilitating seizures
that have led
to the frightening discovery
of a massive brain tumor.
Two months ago, Scott's tumor
began growing rapidly,
as did the frequency
and severity of his seizures.
Often he would pass out.
If left untreated, Scott may
have less than a year to live.
Scott: I had
three seizures in three weeks.
And all of a sudden,
it was like, "whoa..."
"We need to do something."
Narrator:
Scott and his wife Lisa
travel to
the renowned Mayo Clinic
in Rochester, Minnesota,
where high-risk brain surgery
has been recommended.
The brain is a greedy organ.
While Scott's brain makes up
just two percent of his body weight,
it consumes 20 percent
of the oxygen his body uses.
Floating within his skull,
it's two hemispheres
contain 100 billion cells
and the eager connections
between these cells
bring consciousness.
But if these connections are
interrupted by disease or tumor,
the brain misfires
and electrical storms
can create havoc within.
Witner: Mr. Toenies?
Yes.
My job here today
is to put these markers on.
Okay.
Okay? And they create a reference
mark on the MRI images.
Narrator: Knowing the exact
location of the tumor is vital.
One wrong move in any direction
could leave Scott paralyzed,
remove crucial brain cells,
or worse.
Witner: And you're all set.
Narrator: The MRI scan shows
the location of the tumor.
But it is essential to identify
the specific functions
of the area it occupies,
and to do so
in three dimensions.
From these scans,
a startling 3-D visualization
of Scott's brain
is prepared for his surgeons.
This will enable them
to see inside from any angle,
as if his skull and brain
were transparent.
when I first came to Mayo,
I was doing some imaging,
early three-dimensional imaging,
and was talking
to a neurosurgeon,
and showed him
some of my visualizations
of the brain and the tumor.
And he told me something
I've never forgotten:
if I can see it,
I can fix it.
What you can see, is that
you can remove any plane you want to.
So if I want
to get the skull off,
and then I want
to get the covering off
and I want to move down,
I just hit buttons
that will move me down to
just the area I'm working on.
It's a totally different picture.
It's the same as walking inside a building,
versus standing on the outside.
Narrator: Scott and Lisa
meet with dr. Frederick Meyer
who will perform
the difficult surgery.
Meyer:
Scott has a brain tumor
that's infiltrated through
the dominant part of his brain.
to the part of the brain
that controls movement
to the right side of the body,
and it's very close
to his language centers.
And it's sitting within an area
that helps initiate and coordinates
motor activity, movements.
We can see it starting...
this white area here,
this is the left
side of the brain.
This is all tumor here, and
here, and here, and here...
Okay.
Meyer: ...and here, and here.
Narrator: The image grimly reveals
how difficult the surgery will be.
Scott's tumor is in a
particularly dangerous location
in the cerebrum,
the brain's outermost layer -
thought to be
the "thinking" brain.
The massive tumor lies between
the crucial regions controlling
speech and movement -
and it is perilously intertwined
with healthy brain tissue.
To avert damage to these areas,
the surgeons
will need to be able
to speak to Scott as they work
and that means
Scott will have to stay awake
through most of the operation.
It is his best chance
for a return to normal life.
Meyer: This is
all very controversial.
I think it's
a very difficult decision.
I mean, it's an awful decision
that no one should have to make.
How serious is it?
If he doesn't have successful
treatment of his tumor,
whatever that treatment
is or consists of,
the tumor's going to k*ll him.
And he's a young man,
so it's deadly serious.
Lisa: Those words just hit me
like a ton of bricks.
The things that ran through
my mind were my kids -
my family - and...is this gonna
be our last Christmas together?
Narrator:
It's been 10 days
and the big moment
for Inez nears
as she awaits the results
of her pregnancy test.
I just want to let you know
that your pregnancy test
was positive...
...which is wonderful.
Congratulations.
Inez: Thank you.
All right. Okay.
Well, give me a hug!
Inez: Yes, I was surprised. Yeah
but, you know, I saw everybody.
Nobody looked sad or anything
when I walked into the office,
And I said,
"It must be good news!"
So that kind of
gave it away a little bit.
Everybody was like, you know,
acting normal...
Too normal for me, you know,
and I kind of, like, said,
"I guess everything
must be okay."
Inez: Hello?
What're you doing?
Mm... Hmm. Well, I got good news
for you. I'm pregnant.
Why are you laughing?
He said, "You're pregnant?
Ahhh!" And he was laughing.
He was like,
"Oh, that's so nice."
Sauer:
This is where the fun begins
because now we have
something to track.
It's real, it's a pregnancy,
That's what
everybody's been hoping for.
Watching this embryo
take form to a fetus,
and the fetus
hopefully later to baby
is really the fun part
of this job.
Thorton: Now the first thing
you're gonna notice
is that right here
is the pregnancy sac.
Inez: Okay.
Thorton: Okay? And you see the little
area kinda fluttering right there?
That's the heartbeat
of the baby.
Inez: Can I get
a picture of that?
Thorton: I'm gonna give you
lots of pictures here.
Now, you have some...
god has truly blessed you.
You actually have two...
'cause you see,
There's one baby there, okay?
And then you see
the other baby over here.
Let me get a nice view.
Right there, you can see
the heartbeat fluttering.
See that? By the "x"?
So you have twins.
I hope that's good news.
Yeah!
Inez: That was my first time
ever seeing a heartbeat,
So...that was, like, pretty
amazing. It's just a wonder.
You look at that
and you're like...
It's a living baby growing
inside of you, with a heartbeat.
That's when it
really hits you, yeah.
This is the
best sh*t, here...this one.
Gearhart:
It's during this period
where all of a sudden the
first system you see kicking in
is the circulatory system.
You see
blood vessels form,
The heart is in there beginning
to...beginning to b*at,
and it's very critical, because
an embryo can only grow so large
Without it's own
circulatory system.
Narrator: At 22 days,
the tiny heart -
no bigger than a poppy seed -
begins to b*at.
Soon the embryo
is pumping it's own blood
through the umbilical cord
back to it's mother
for a fresh supply
of oxygen and nutrients.
Now just a simple tube,
this heart will grow into
a four-chamber structure
able to b*at
In a 70-year lifespan,
the human heart will b*at
three billion times,
which may explain why yogis like
to measure time not in days,
but in heartbeats.
NBA players count the minutes
they play on the court...
And on this night, the aerobic
limits of the Charlotte hornets
are being put to severe test.
They are competing in
what will be the longest game
in team history -
a triple overtime
that will force
even these top
professional athletes
to push their bodies
to the limits.
How do they do it?
Charging down the court,
they will pump
over 30 quarts
of blood per minute.
In that same minute,
even the most excited spectator
will move only about five.
Hawkins: I think you feel
your heart b*ating, you know,
especially if it's
a pressure game,
or if you have
one of them spells
where you're up and down
the court a lot -
yeah, you can definitely
feel your heart,
and it feels like it's about
to come out of your chest.
Brown: I think
if I could look inside my body,
or any one of my peers' body,
I just think our heart,
and you compare a normal person,
you'd probably just see our
heart just b*ating a lot faster.
Narrator: Heartbeat
is controlled by the brain
and adjusted
to the body's demands.
During exercise, when the
muscles require extra oxygen,
messages are sent to speed up
the heart rate accordingly.
For the hornets, these last
will tax their hearts
and muscles as never before.
Their coach summons
his exhausted players
for final instructions.
Final score:
bulls 95, hornets 102.
Wesley:
It was a long game.
Um, I'm feeling
a little dehydrated...
Feeling a little
sick to my stomach.
My ankles hurt, my feet hurt,
and my back hurts.
This is the agony of victory.
Sigmon: I'm really impressed
by what NBA players
do with their bodies;
it's just incredible.
I think they are the
best athletes in the world,
without a doubt.
How they do it night in,
night out is just fascinating.
They're running faster,
they're jumping higher
because I think we're able
to train the human body.
It's doing things that we
didn't think it was able to do
maybe 10, 20 years ago.
Narrator: How does the human form
reach such peaks of performance?
We know the bodies of
professionals like PJ Brown
Are expertly tuned -
his muscles accounting for more
than half of his body weight;
his bones many times stronger
than a steel bar
of the same weight.
Together, they're trained
to move with eloquent precision.
But is it more than fitness that
sets these top players apart?
Scientists and athletes alike
suspect that it is the
interplay between body and mind
that matters most.
Mabloire: I feel that I've been
playing this game so long
that everything is just
a reaction at this point.
You know, I'm taking
You know, eventually,
it's just a part of you.
Narrator: This endless
repetition off the court
creates much quicker
reaction time on the court.
It is as if extensive training
hardwires the brain.
Gage: A professional basketball
player that trains hard
in many ways is a genius
in the sense that
they can run down the court,
dribble at the same time,
and see all the players at the
same time, and sh**t the ball,
in ways that people
that don't train never could.
We're beginning
to try to understand
the implications of the fact
that what you do
can influence the structure
of your brain.
And very specifically,
voluntary exercise
can actually increase the number
of cells in the brain.
Coffey: When you have a cell,
and it's called a neuron,
this little thing puts out
arms just like a tree branches.
And as you watch it
on the microscope,
it's doing
feely-touchy everywhere,
and it reaches out... gulp...
And as soon as it
touches another one,
it knows what it's touched,
and it's wired itself.
And then it begins
to stretch through
so it can sense the periphery,
your fingertips,
and your tongue -
they all come back
to the spinal cord
and they all make their way
up here finally to the brain.
And the brain is where
all these collective properties
are putting all this together.
Says, "Now I can
sense the universe."
"Wow! I don't know
what that is."
I know that
it's these cells that do this.
But how does that brain inside
the cavity in the head work?
Some strange things
goin' on there.
So what the frontier, of course is,
is understanding the brain.
Duffy: Spell the word "man."
M-A-N.
Narrator:
Back at the Mayo Clinic,
Scott is less than
a day away from surgery.
To give doctors
a better understanding
of how
his particular brain works,
he undergoes a series of basic
cognitive and language tests.
Duffy: Say
"They raise good potatoes."
They raise good potatoes.
Duffy: "Will you
answer the telephone?"
Will you answer the telephone?
Duffy:
"I ordered a ham sandwich,"
"A glass of milk,
and a piece of apple pie."
I ordered a ham sandwich...
a piece of apple pie...
And...a glass of milk.
Penguin...
Narrator: This knowledge
will enable the surgical team
to perceive change -
signs of danger -
as they talk to Scott
throughout the operation.
Lisa: I wish
he didn't have to be awake
And he could
just put him to sleep
and do it and be over with it
but yet have the same results.
I mean, it's gonna be tough.
Scott: I need to be conscious
through the whole thing.
I'm not sure exactly
how it's all going to go,
but that's very intimidating.
Coffey:
Do you know how many images
your eye has seen
since you were born?
sounds you've heard?
How in the world could you have
stored all of those sounds,
and all of those images -
in French, German, English,
or whatever
you're storing it in -
and be able to retrieve it
when I just say the word?
If I say "Saturn's rings,"
how are you able,
in the length of time it took
the sound wave to hit your ear,
to retrieve that?
It is so astounding
when we take a look at...
At how fast the brain works
and how amazing it is.
Narrator: How, and where, the brain
achieves this complex feat of memory
has puzzled scientists
for centuries.
Science is on the trail
of this great mystery
and an unexpected answer
comes from an unlikely source...
London's legendary taxi drivers
are the Olympic athletes
of memory.
Navigating the intimidating labyrinth
that is central London,
they must create
an intricate mental map,
consisting of thousands of
streets, landmarks, and locations.
Kelly: London
is such an enormous city.
It's a massive area,
chaotic geography...
And it's grown up organically.
There's no real planning to it.
So the streets bend,
they twist.
Osborne: I mean,
in London we've got streets
Where on one side of the street
it's called one name,
And on the other side of the
street it's got another name.
Lee: London wasn't laid out for
the traffic that we've got now.
It was laid out for
horses and carts, and whatever.
And it's adapted
to a large extent.
So we've had to adapt to it
as well, you know?
Narrator: University of London
scientist studying the shape of memory
found ideal subjects
right in their own backyard.
For 150 years,
every new cab driver
has had to pass a grueling exam,
known to Londoners
simply as "the knowledge."
It takes most hopefuls
at least two years to master -
giving researchers
a superb opportunity
to look at how the brain
adapts when required
to retain vast amounts
of information.
Lee: I don't think there's
any other city in the world
where the cab drivers have to
take as much of a test as we do.
Man: Thanks, mate,
can you take me to Albert Hall...
Lee: When somebody gets
in your cab,
they'll say,
"Take me to so-and-so,"
It's got to be like that,
you've got to know instantly
where you're going,
which way to be pointing.
So there's a lot of retention -
you've got to retain a lot
of what you've learned as well.
Narrator: Here are ordinary
people whose jobs depend on
exercising their brains
in an extraordinary way.
Scientists suspect that
a particular region
of their brains -
called the hippocampus - might be
the key to their success.
Frackowiac: The hippocampus is a part
of the brain deep in the brain.
It's on the insides of what
we call the temporal lobes,
which are the parts of the brain
immediately to either
side of the temple,
just behind the bone there.
It's two structures,
one on each side,
critical for laying down
new memories.
Instructor: Now, run me
to the nearest police station.
Student: Leave by Waterloo Bridge,
forward Lancaster Place...
Narrator: If memory
depends upon the hippocampus,
at the knowledge point school,
drivers-in-training
surely give this part of
their brains a good workout.
Student: ...Lower Roberts Street...
Student 2: ...right, um,
York Way...
...left Shaftsbury Avenue
left Great Windmill Street...
...right into
[?] And set down on the left.
Derek: Dave, give me the name of
a restaurant on Portland Road
With a lady's name.
Dave: Chutney Mary's
Derek: Hereford Road -
Where would you give me?
Student: veronica's.
Derek: Denise,
South Hampton Road
contains a restaurant
with a lady's name.
Would that
be Denise's restaurant?
Derek: If I then said to you
Zaffarono's restaurant?
Zaffaren restaurant?
Zukor, Zoe... I now want zinc.
It's very important,
with all these points,
that you keep them in your mind
and see them in your eyes, okay?
That's it. Thank you for
attending and keep these sheets.
Anything we didn't note,
please go out and look for it.
Thank you very much.
Narrator: After class,
students like Andy Miller
take to the streets.
Since visual processing
occupies more brain activity
than all the other
senses combined,
it is not surprising
that direct experience
is an essential part
of the knowledge training.
You start off
learning all the roads.
Then you have to learn
all the places on every road.
With all the routes that you
have to do for the knowledge,
you couldn't possibly
do it on a map.
You have to get out
on your bike,
in the rain, the cold, the snow.
You learn it bit by bit.
The brain is gradually gathering
more and more
and more information.
As long as you keep remembering
and revising streets,
they will stay in your brain.
Narrator: But how does the brain retain
and order all that information?
As the scientists suspected,
mastering the knowledge
may have a physical impact
on the brain itself.
Their study concluded
that part of the hippocampus
was, indeed, larger-than-average
in these drivers.
In fact,
the most dramatic differences
were seen in the drivers
who were on the job the longest.
Smith: The hippocampus
has a spatial map in it.
And what seems to be happening
in the taxi drivers
is that the spatial map
is laid out of central London,
and laying this down caused
the connections to develop
and grow,
and more of them to form,
and that makes part
of the hippocampus get bigger.
Kelly: It's almost like
you've somehow, somewhere
up in your brain,
you've created enough space
to sort of slip this map in,
a little bit of software.
Osborne: You've got
to see it in your head...
On a map in your head.
You've built up a big picture
of London as a map in your mind,
and you can see the lines
and the wiggles of the streets,
so that you can see
exactly where everything is.
Narrator: This study suggests something
we presumed not possible -
That the adult brain can
re-fashion it's basic anatomy
according to the requirements
of it's owner.
Smith: I think
it's a very important study
Because it's shown
for the first time - in man -
that the hippocampus
can reorganize itself.
But what does it mean?
It means that the hippocampus
is changeable.
We say in science it's plastic,
like a little plasticine, you know.
It actually can change shape.
Lee: I definitely feel as if
I've got a larger hippocampus
than most people.
In fact, it's been said.
I've had people
get in the cab and say,
"I've noticed you've got"
"a larger hippocampus
than most others."
It's quite interesting really
because we just set out
to do the knowledge,
to learn it for our job.
And now we're being told
that we've exercised
part of our brain
which is enlarged now
and... you know,
it's going to be
a bonus isn't it?
Narrator: If human existence
can be described
as the sum of our memories,
the implications of the study
are dramatic and far-reaching.
Once we wouldn'thave dared to dream
our brains might possess
this kind of adaptability.
Now we dream.
Can these insights be used
to help restore
the minds of stroke victims,
Alzheimer's patients, and
those suffering brain traumas?
Mikkaela: I do know that
he's going to have surgery
And I know he's
going to stay in the hospital
for a couple of days.
And I know that
he might have to learn
how to read and write again,
a little bit.
So I might have
to read him some books
and teach him
how to write again.
And I know that
he's kinda scared about this,
And my mom is too.
Narrator: It's been a sleepless
night for Scott Toenies,
so being awake for surgery
at 6 am is not a problem.
Lisa: Right now I just...
I'm to the point now
where I want to
get it over with
just 'cause I know
what he's going through.
We know and we were told
that he will be banged up
for a little while.
But how long
is that going to take?
And how much is it going to be?
That's the scary part.
I was calm
until I saw him walk away.
I tried to follow
as far as I could,
and I knew I couldn't
go any farther
when he got into the pre-op.
It's like I said "goodbye,"
because I didn't know
what he would be like
coming out.
Scott: I'm very scared. There's
a reason you have a skull.
It's to protect your brain.
And then all of a sudden
they're going to cr*ck that open
and go into your brain and
take something out of there.
You know, the thought that
someone that I've only met once
is gonna... I'm trustingmy head to be dug around in
by this person...
it's a scary thought.
Narrator: Scott must remain absolutely
still for the surgery,
which could last as long
as six hours...
So his head
is bolted into place.
The dots from
the previous day's scan
allow surgeons to align
the images of his brain
with his actual brain.
Scott is briefly put to sleep
while his skull
is being opened for surgery.
The doctors will soon wake him
for the rest of the operation.
Meyer: First thing
we're gonna do, I think,
is we'll go ahead
and stimulate...
confirm the pre-central gyrus
as a start.
Narrator: Guided by
the extraordinary 3-D images
to see where his eyes cannot,
Dr. Meyer is able to close in
on the borders of the tumor.
Meyer:
We come to the tumor...
Looks like we're
just on the outside of it...
And anteriorly,
there's the border,
just as you would predict.
So the tumor
goes from here...
from here, all the way
up to about here.
And, of course,
it's going down deep, too.
All right, we're gonna start
the stimulation then, okay?
Narrator: Electrical impulses will
briefly shut down brain activity
in the specific area
being tested
allowing dr. Meyer
to see how far he can cut
without significant loss.
A few millimeters to the left
could impinge speech,
a few millimeters to the right
could impede movement.
Meyer: On...
Scott: Numb...numb...
numb...my arm...
Soo: Numbness of the arm...
There's a jerk
at the forearm and the elbow.
Meyer:
This area caused movement
of his arm, his hand, his
fingers and thumb, all in here.
And it's always amazing,
I think, to all of us,
that such a little part of
the brain has so much function,
sort of a miraculous thing.
Narrator: It will be hours
before Lisa will hear any news.
Lisa: I could sit for maybe
but then I would have
to do something else.
I tried to keep myself occupied
but it was hard.
I kept looking at my watch
and... I was scared, very scared.
Narrator: As dr. Meyer
cuts with his scalpel,
dr. Duffy keeps a vigil
to verify that language
is not lost.
Duffy: "Please sit down."
Scott: Please sit down.
"They raise good potatoes."
They raise
good potatoes.
"Will you answer the telephone?"
Will you answer the telephone?
Scott: Acorn...whoa, my leg,
my leg, my leg, my leg...
Duffy: Your leg?
Scott: ...My leg, my leg...
it's tightening up.
Duffy: He feels
tightness in his right leg.
Meyer: Okay.
Duffy:
Spell the word "watch."
Scott: w-A-T-C-H.
Duffy: The word "yellow."
Scott: Y-E-Yell...
y-E-Yell...y-E-L-L-O-W.
Meyer: Is everything okay?
Soo: The right leg is getting
a little bit weaker.
Scott: That one
got a lot weaker.
Meyer: A lot or a little?
Scott: A lot.
Soo: It's about moderate.
It's about a minus two.
Meyer: Okay, so we'll stop
our re-section in that area.
Your speech is just fine,
obviously. Your arm's okay,
But we're not gonna resect any
more in that leg region, okay?
For what it's worth, Scott,
We're getting a very big
removal of your tumor.
Scott: Okay.
Meyer: I think
if we go any more,
we're gonna really probably
guarantee giving you a paralysis,
And I don't think
that's a good trade-Off.
If I were in your shoes,
i'd want me to stop.
Meyer: What patients go through
is really an awful event.
It's an awful experience.
And I think it's helpful
for them to visually see...
"Gosh, this was in me
and now it's out."
Duffy: Can you see that?
Scott: Yes, I can.
That's the tumor, huh?
That's the tumor.
Cool. Okay...
Okay? All right.
Seen enough, huh?
Meyer: Ah, there you are.
He's doing just fine.
Everything went as well
as we could hope for.
It looks like
well over 90 percent
of the tumor's been removed,
which is better than I thought
we would do, as you know.
In terms of his function, um,
I think it's sort of as
I predicted to you, but better.
His language is fine.
His arm's normal...
Lisa: I was very nervous when
dr. Meyer came and talked to us
Because I was expecting
dreaded news.
But as he kept talking, it kept
looking better and better...
Got a little bit
of the brick off my shoulder.
Meyer: We would never say
that this is a cure,
but, I think, in terms
of the spectrum of things,
I think what we did today
has given him a good sh*t
to try to b*at it.
Meyer: Okay? Okay,
we'll let you be.
Lisa: I was scared to see him,
what he would look like.
I walked around the corner slow
because I knew what was ahead,
but I didn't know.
I expected his face
to be swollen up
and on oxygen
and things like that,
but when I saw him, I was, like,
relieved. I could handle it.
Hey, you...
You made it.
Scott: What I'm feeling right
now is...a little headache.
A little headache?
Yeah.
Lisa: He sounded very good.
He squeezed my hand
and it was pretty tight
for having some weakness
from the swelling.
Narrator: Having come
very close to facing death,
Scott is able to speak and move.
Without awake surgery
and the images that rendered
his brain transparent,
the result might have been
disastrously different.
Lisa: It's good
to see him smile 'cause he's,
you know... it's been hard
for him to smile lately.
Lisa: I love you.
I love you, too.
Narrator:
Six months later,
Scott returns to teaching
and coaching football.
Someday, his children's
generation will inhabit a world
where the leaps of science that
saved him will seem commonplace,
surpassed by new ones
now unimaginable to us.
Coffey: Each time a tool
comes into place,
it expands what we can do.
It's like the internet;
it constantly is expanding.
So what I have seen happen in my
lifetime in biological science
is the change from a horse and
carriage to a space shuttle.
The computer changes are minor
compared to what
we've been able to see
change in
biological understanding.
Narrator:
for Inez and Darryl,
This understanding
has begotten two lives -
lives that quickly reveal
their own resilience.
Born prematurely
by emergency caesarian,
Kayla and Kasim Pearson
spend their first weeks
in the hospital,
but soon grow
healthy and strong.
Coffey: Is it magic?
It's like when you hold
your baby for the first time.
You could say, "oh, this is
just DNA dividing cells..."
Wait a minute -
this is pretty amazing.
This goes beyond
just a simple dividing DNA.
Where in here does something
become "miracle or magic?"
A human, when it
all comes together,
makes something that's more than
the sum of it's parts.
And that something
is consciousness,
is the ability to store
information, to think,
to create, and
to conceive the universe.
This is the mystery
of the human.
We do not know
what the human potential is.
Everything we think
is a roadblock
to what a human can do
physically and mentally,
Is proven to be wrong.
And this just means the
limitations that we have set
can be overcome.
National Geographic: The Incredible Human Body (2002)
Moderator: Maskath3