Il était une fois... la vie (1987–1988): Season 1, Episode 9 - Le cerveau - full transcript
Is life, is life, that's life
Is life, is life, that's life
Sing the song of life
Every heartbeat's a miracle
Feel the rhythm growing
Day by day as we go
Look inside, your body's humming
There are million drums that are drumming
Fill your lungs, get ready
Celebrating the joy, that's life
Is life, is life, that's life
Is life, is life, that's life
THE BRAIN
The human brain.
The most remarkable and complex
organ in the Universe.
Some say it contains
10 billion neurons
while others say it probably
has more than 100 billion
as many as the stars in the galaxy.
End to end, the neurons
of the human brain
equal the distance
from the Earth to the Moon.
How did this human brain develop?
When life began about
3 billion years ago,
first there were algae, then bacteria,
then invertebrates,
then fish,
and then reptiles.
200 million years ago,
the archicortex of the great reptiles
had one goal:
conserving the species.
Its motto: everything, right away.
For example aggressive defense
of territory
fighting, aggressive behavior.
All of which were passed down
to each of us.
100 million years ago
the paleocortex developed.
It was more complete.
Its reactions were less elementary,
Incorporating emotions
such as apprehension
fear and the beginning of memory.
In a situation of danger the instinct
for survival
is demonstrated by flight.
How times flies.
About 100 thousand years ago
the neocortex developed.
It represents 85% of the cerebral
mass of the human brain.
It allows for
the association of ideas.
Inventions!
So subtle, those inventions.
It allows for dreams.
Poetic dreams.
Calculations.
Abstraction.
Art.
It is therefore the neocortex
that makes Man human,
that makes us capable
and civilized.
Well, almost.
The reptilian brain, the palecortex or
primitive mammalian brain
and the neocortex or modern man's brain.
Unfortunately, communication between
them is not always perfect,
allowing for old memories
to resurface.
Look where you're going! You idiot!
Don't let him get away with that!
Is anything the matter?
Well then, move on.
Keep moving, keep moving.
We're approaching the brain. Wonderful.
You'll get to admire
the most perfect organization
in creation.
It has billions of neurons...
with billions and billions of synapses.
You'll see, it’s extraordinary.
How can such a perfect organ need us?
I don't get it.
Don't be silly.
The brain’s needs are really huge.
It uses two thousand liters
of blood a day,
which provides 60 liters of air.
This is 20% of the body's
oxygen requirements.
Without us, if the brain were deprived
of the oxygen for 10 seconds,
you get fainting,
then loss of consciousness.
If the supply were cut off
say a few minutes,
the brain would suffer irreparable damage
and the whole organism would simply die.
Is anything wrong, Professor?
Have you lost your way?
This is not the place to stop
and chat.
Move along now!
Move along!
A little faster there gramps!
Good heavens, what a day and age.
There's no respect for the elderly.
In my day, children were
seen and not heard.
Hey!
Can I help you carry some of your oxygen
bubbles my pretty Globin?
Because...
Calling all organs
and blood population.
Accelerate blood
circulation immediately.
Please respond to an urgent
request from the heart.
Well Professor...
aren't you coming with us?
No children.
You see we are independent
of the rest of the body.
what happens elsewhere doesn't concern us.
Even if it has to do with the heart?
Oh no. The brain doesn't obey,
it commands.
It has absolute priority,
Globin, even over the heart.
Hey you!
-Not you lot.
-Oh!
Take that passage over there.
But why aren’t they coming with us?
Because oxygen is what
the brain needs most,
and also sugar.
But they have to take special
passageways.
Professor, when will we be near enough
to the neurons to give them oxygen?
Never my dear.
Neurons are too sensitive to come
into direct contact with us.
It works rather differently. You'll see.
There you are.
Come on! Hurry up.
Somewhere, inside the dendrite
nerve ending
a little messenger is waiting to relay the
message along the axon.
Thirsty is he!
Right, we’ll transmit that message.
Come on, quickly!
Transmit! Transmit!
Our messenger is now arriving
at the end of the axon
Each nerve cell has 100 thousand
synaptic connections
for each of the brain's
100 billion nerve cells.
Try to imagine how many
that makes!
Give it a try!
Our chemical messengers have arrived.
-So, what are they asking for?
-We're thirsty, boss.
Yes, we're so hot.
Shall we ask for the breathing
to speed up?
And also for a rise in temperature?
We’ll send messages to the heart, the
lungs and the diaphragm.
Right, boss?
Have you finished showing off?
Those aren't your problems.
Your job is to transmit to the medulla.
It will decide the rest.
Now move!
Sugars for the cortical zone R12.
Faster pulse for 4,30.
Insufficient permeability
of ions in sector 2003.
He’s thirsty, boss.
What shall I do?
Transmit to the hypothalamus
that it must order him to drink.
Oh, no. We'd waste time doing that,
-it’s not that urgent.
-Now, look here.
-we've already made the temperature rise.
-And also asked for perspiration.
And the acceleration...
of breathing.
But I still say we must transmit
the order to drink.
No, we must first ask
the heart to beat faster.
And the lungs to breathe harder
and the thermal regulation center.
Oh no, no, no, no.
We can’t ask for everything all at once.
We must get our priorities right.
Oh, you old fool.
You’re the old fool.
-Quiet, idiots!
-Now wait.
We’ll transmit everything to the forebrain
and it will make the right decisions.
What a good idea. Bravo. Bravo.
But what about our responsibility?
Wow, these neurotransmitters move fast.
Yes, at least 1,000 times
faster than we do.
Yes, but that’s only the transmission
of the orders.
Each order relies on previous
knowledge, memory,
experience and reason.
How does the brain manage to know so much?
That, Globin, is the great
mystery of the brain.
The quantity of data that it is capable
of storing defies imagination.
Oh please tell us more, Professor!
Um, well let me see...
What was I...?
Move along there please, hurry up.
Well... the brain receives information
from all the senses and organs.
It then distributes the information among
its neurons, or nerve cells,
if you prefer
It’s thought
to happen more or less as follows.
For example...
Ouch!
Transmit pain.
First, we must register
that a thorn pricks.
Ow!
Register that the prick of a thorn hurts.
A thorn prick causes a wound that bleeds.
Please commence manufacture
of proteins
for the storage of this information
Well, where are those proteins,
we must hurry, the information
to be stored is arriving.
This way, memory proteins.
A thorn pricks... that way.
This way for pain, please.
Straight ahead for bleeding.
-Blood is red, this way.
-Blood is viscous, this way.
Bloodstains, this way please.
Blood is hot, this way.
Hot, hot!
Oh, here we are.
Well that's not too complicated.
Sounds quite simple.
Oh no, Globin it's not that simple at all,
Because when a thorn pricks you it isn’t
just the few messengers
that carry the necessary information
to the brain
for storage but,
thousands upon thousands.
Each one carries a different message.
The information about this drop of blood
will be filed under a great many
headings, such as, smell, taste
temperature and composition,
and who knows what else.
Oh yes, that's how the brain works.
A rose smells good, register that.
Ah! Register that a rose is soft.
Register that a rose is beautiful.
Yippee!
Register that a rose is
as light as a feather.
Register that a rose is fragile.
Careful. Thorns can hurt.
Register that.
-A rose is pink.
-What? A rose is white.
No, red
-No, a rose is yellow.
-No, it's not, it's white.
Stop, stop, that's enough now!
Stop arguing, in fact you are all correct
Because roses can be all those colors.
-Huh?
-What?
All the colors she saw must be
registered. Get with it!
But Professor, how does the brain manage
to store all that information,
and what happens to it?
Oh dear, you have not been
paying attention!
We believe that, for example,
the eye receives information
or perceives danger,
it sends this message to the brain,
which draws on its stored knowledge
and orders the necessary
action to be taken.
A thorn pricks!
Let's transmit this.
Transmit that she must be careful.
Thorns prick.
Inform the cerebellum immediately that
he might lose his balance.
Oh, I don’t think we need to
worry about that, boss.
Surely he will react by reflex straight
from the spinal cord.
Let's not take any chances, shall we?
Transmit to the concerned regions.
This is the Cerebellum Control Room.
Risk of loss of balance.
Automatic regulation through reflex
action.
Inform the cortex to take
emergency measures.
This is the Cortex Control Room.
Order left leg to move forward quickly.
Instruct the hypothalamus to order
the adrenal glands to pump adrenaline.
As a precaution, bring
the arms forward in order to absorb
the shock if he should fall.
So the brain knows, controls
and stores everything.
It knows mainly those things we
consciously inform it of.
For the rest, it stores a tiny bit
of what we unconsciously perceive.
Because the brain receives all the
information at the same time:
shape,
color,
touch, noise, feelings,
association of ideas.
It only keeps the most important
information.
But which part of the brain
gives orders, Professor?
Well, each part of the body is controlled
by a specific area of the brain.
A larger area is required by the more
sensitive parts of the body.
For example, the face
or the hands.
-Hey!
-What is it?
Tell me, sir, does the brain
control the whole individual?
Well, uh... that's more or less right.
There's not always perfect harmony
between its different parts.
You see,
the primitive part
always tries to dominate.
I'll show them.
I'm really going to show them!
Did you hear that?
Speed up the pulse.
Increase the blood pressure.
Make more sugar.
Get ready to attack!
Now, now, calm down.
Don’t get all worked up to it.
Slow the heart down.
Get rid of the extra sugar.
Why doesn't he mind his own business?
Want to fight?
The brain contains
100 billion cells.
10 billion billion billion
billion billion connections.
It is capable of a million
reactions per minute.
To write the number
of possible combinations
it could make up,
you would need a figure
with 10 million kilometers of zeros,
or 26 times the distance
between the Earth and the Moon.
And all this thanks to the neurons.
But that's another story
for another time.
Take a road to wonder
Where the whys and the wherefores hide
Join us and discover
Celebrating the joy, that's life
Is life, is life, that's life
Is life, is life, that's life
Sing the song of life
Every heartbeat's a miracle
Feel the rhythm growing
Day by day as we go
Look inside, your body's humming
There are million drums that are drumming
Fill your lungs, get ready
Celebrating the joy, that's life
Is life, is life, that's life
Is life, is life, that's life
THE BRAIN
The human brain.
The most remarkable and complex
organ in the Universe.
Some say it contains
10 billion neurons
while others say it probably
has more than 100 billion
as many as the stars in the galaxy.
End to end, the neurons
of the human brain
equal the distance
from the Earth to the Moon.
How did this human brain develop?
When life began about
3 billion years ago,
first there were algae, then bacteria,
then invertebrates,
then fish,
and then reptiles.
200 million years ago,
the archicortex of the great reptiles
had one goal:
conserving the species.
Its motto: everything, right away.
For example aggressive defense
of territory
fighting, aggressive behavior.
All of which were passed down
to each of us.
100 million years ago
the paleocortex developed.
It was more complete.
Its reactions were less elementary,
Incorporating emotions
such as apprehension
fear and the beginning of memory.
In a situation of danger the instinct
for survival
is demonstrated by flight.
How times flies.
About 100 thousand years ago
the neocortex developed.
It represents 85% of the cerebral
mass of the human brain.
It allows for
the association of ideas.
Inventions!
So subtle, those inventions.
It allows for dreams.
Poetic dreams.
Calculations.
Abstraction.
Art.
It is therefore the neocortex
that makes Man human,
that makes us capable
and civilized.
Well, almost.
The reptilian brain, the palecortex or
primitive mammalian brain
and the neocortex or modern man's brain.
Unfortunately, communication between
them is not always perfect,
allowing for old memories
to resurface.
Look where you're going! You idiot!
Don't let him get away with that!
Is anything the matter?
Well then, move on.
Keep moving, keep moving.
We're approaching the brain. Wonderful.
You'll get to admire
the most perfect organization
in creation.
It has billions of neurons...
with billions and billions of synapses.
You'll see, it’s extraordinary.
How can such a perfect organ need us?
I don't get it.
Don't be silly.
The brain’s needs are really huge.
It uses two thousand liters
of blood a day,
which provides 60 liters of air.
This is 20% of the body's
oxygen requirements.
Without us, if the brain were deprived
of the oxygen for 10 seconds,
you get fainting,
then loss of consciousness.
If the supply were cut off
say a few minutes,
the brain would suffer irreparable damage
and the whole organism would simply die.
Is anything wrong, Professor?
Have you lost your way?
This is not the place to stop
and chat.
Move along now!
Move along!
A little faster there gramps!
Good heavens, what a day and age.
There's no respect for the elderly.
In my day, children were
seen and not heard.
Hey!
Can I help you carry some of your oxygen
bubbles my pretty Globin?
Because...
Calling all organs
and blood population.
Accelerate blood
circulation immediately.
Please respond to an urgent
request from the heart.
Well Professor...
aren't you coming with us?
No children.
You see we are independent
of the rest of the body.
what happens elsewhere doesn't concern us.
Even if it has to do with the heart?
Oh no. The brain doesn't obey,
it commands.
It has absolute priority,
Globin, even over the heart.
Hey you!
-Not you lot.
-Oh!
Take that passage over there.
But why aren’t they coming with us?
Because oxygen is what
the brain needs most,
and also sugar.
But they have to take special
passageways.
Professor, when will we be near enough
to the neurons to give them oxygen?
Never my dear.
Neurons are too sensitive to come
into direct contact with us.
It works rather differently. You'll see.
There you are.
Come on! Hurry up.
Somewhere, inside the dendrite
nerve ending
a little messenger is waiting to relay the
message along the axon.
Thirsty is he!
Right, we’ll transmit that message.
Come on, quickly!
Transmit! Transmit!
Our messenger is now arriving
at the end of the axon
Each nerve cell has 100 thousand
synaptic connections
for each of the brain's
100 billion nerve cells.
Try to imagine how many
that makes!
Give it a try!
Our chemical messengers have arrived.
-So, what are they asking for?
-We're thirsty, boss.
Yes, we're so hot.
Shall we ask for the breathing
to speed up?
And also for a rise in temperature?
We’ll send messages to the heart, the
lungs and the diaphragm.
Right, boss?
Have you finished showing off?
Those aren't your problems.
Your job is to transmit to the medulla.
It will decide the rest.
Now move!
Sugars for the cortical zone R12.
Faster pulse for 4,30.
Insufficient permeability
of ions in sector 2003.
He’s thirsty, boss.
What shall I do?
Transmit to the hypothalamus
that it must order him to drink.
Oh, no. We'd waste time doing that,
-it’s not that urgent.
-Now, look here.
-we've already made the temperature rise.
-And also asked for perspiration.
And the acceleration...
of breathing.
But I still say we must transmit
the order to drink.
No, we must first ask
the heart to beat faster.
And the lungs to breathe harder
and the thermal regulation center.
Oh no, no, no, no.
We can’t ask for everything all at once.
We must get our priorities right.
Oh, you old fool.
You’re the old fool.
-Quiet, idiots!
-Now wait.
We’ll transmit everything to the forebrain
and it will make the right decisions.
What a good idea. Bravo. Bravo.
But what about our responsibility?
Wow, these neurotransmitters move fast.
Yes, at least 1,000 times
faster than we do.
Yes, but that’s only the transmission
of the orders.
Each order relies on previous
knowledge, memory,
experience and reason.
How does the brain manage to know so much?
That, Globin, is the great
mystery of the brain.
The quantity of data that it is capable
of storing defies imagination.
Oh please tell us more, Professor!
Um, well let me see...
What was I...?
Move along there please, hurry up.
Well... the brain receives information
from all the senses and organs.
It then distributes the information among
its neurons, or nerve cells,
if you prefer
It’s thought
to happen more or less as follows.
For example...
Ouch!
Transmit pain.
First, we must register
that a thorn pricks.
Ow!
Register that the prick of a thorn hurts.
A thorn prick causes a wound that bleeds.
Please commence manufacture
of proteins
for the storage of this information
Well, where are those proteins,
we must hurry, the information
to be stored is arriving.
This way, memory proteins.
A thorn pricks... that way.
This way for pain, please.
Straight ahead for bleeding.
-Blood is red, this way.
-Blood is viscous, this way.
Bloodstains, this way please.
Blood is hot, this way.
Hot, hot!
Oh, here we are.
Well that's not too complicated.
Sounds quite simple.
Oh no, Globin it's not that simple at all,
Because when a thorn pricks you it isn’t
just the few messengers
that carry the necessary information
to the brain
for storage but,
thousands upon thousands.
Each one carries a different message.
The information about this drop of blood
will be filed under a great many
headings, such as, smell, taste
temperature and composition,
and who knows what else.
Oh yes, that's how the brain works.
A rose smells good, register that.
Ah! Register that a rose is soft.
Register that a rose is beautiful.
Yippee!
Register that a rose is
as light as a feather.
Register that a rose is fragile.
Careful. Thorns can hurt.
Register that.
-A rose is pink.
-What? A rose is white.
No, red
-No, a rose is yellow.
-No, it's not, it's white.
Stop, stop, that's enough now!
Stop arguing, in fact you are all correct
Because roses can be all those colors.
-Huh?
-What?
All the colors she saw must be
registered. Get with it!
But Professor, how does the brain manage
to store all that information,
and what happens to it?
Oh dear, you have not been
paying attention!
We believe that, for example,
the eye receives information
or perceives danger,
it sends this message to the brain,
which draws on its stored knowledge
and orders the necessary
action to be taken.
A thorn pricks!
Let's transmit this.
Transmit that she must be careful.
Thorns prick.
Inform the cerebellum immediately that
he might lose his balance.
Oh, I don’t think we need to
worry about that, boss.
Surely he will react by reflex straight
from the spinal cord.
Let's not take any chances, shall we?
Transmit to the concerned regions.
This is the Cerebellum Control Room.
Risk of loss of balance.
Automatic regulation through reflex
action.
Inform the cortex to take
emergency measures.
This is the Cortex Control Room.
Order left leg to move forward quickly.
Instruct the hypothalamus to order
the adrenal glands to pump adrenaline.
As a precaution, bring
the arms forward in order to absorb
the shock if he should fall.
So the brain knows, controls
and stores everything.
It knows mainly those things we
consciously inform it of.
For the rest, it stores a tiny bit
of what we unconsciously perceive.
Because the brain receives all the
information at the same time:
shape,
color,
touch, noise, feelings,
association of ideas.
It only keeps the most important
information.
But which part of the brain
gives orders, Professor?
Well, each part of the body is controlled
by a specific area of the brain.
A larger area is required by the more
sensitive parts of the body.
For example, the face
or the hands.
-Hey!
-What is it?
Tell me, sir, does the brain
control the whole individual?
Well, uh... that's more or less right.
There's not always perfect harmony
between its different parts.
You see,
the primitive part
always tries to dominate.
I'll show them.
I'm really going to show them!
Did you hear that?
Speed up the pulse.
Increase the blood pressure.
Make more sugar.
Get ready to attack!
Now, now, calm down.
Don’t get all worked up to it.
Slow the heart down.
Get rid of the extra sugar.
Why doesn't he mind his own business?
Want to fight?
The brain contains
100 billion cells.
10 billion billion billion
billion billion connections.
It is capable of a million
reactions per minute.
To write the number
of possible combinations
it could make up,
you would need a figure
with 10 million kilometers of zeros,
or 26 times the distance
between the Earth and the Moon.
And all this thanks to the neurons.
But that's another story
for another time.
Take a road to wonder
Where the whys and the wherefores hide
Join us and discover
Celebrating the joy, that's life
Is life, is life, that's life