:00:16. > :00:21.-- he appears to be the only choice. Time for Our World. The human brain
:00:21. > :00:27.is unique. It is the most complex organ in the human body. When it
:00:28. > :00:33.goes wrong, it can be devastating. Its true potential is unknown. How
:00:33. > :00:39.do we fix it and how do we keep it at its peak? We are facing a
:00:39. > :00:49.tipping point in where we are up with the search on mental illness.
:00:49. > :01:16.
:01:16. > :01:21.Answers are being found by delving My first major suicide attempt was
:01:22. > :01:31.in 1995. It is like this black hole. You convince your brain that you
:01:32. > :01:39.
:01:39. > :01:44.would be better off dead because that darkness is all-encompassing.
:01:44. > :01:48.This man has been living with bipolar disorder for most of his
:01:48. > :01:53.life. It runs help him but he never knows when he might have another
:01:53. > :01:58.serious but potentially deadly at the so it -- medication helps him.
:01:58. > :02:05.You are introduced to a new medication and you always get that
:02:05. > :02:09.placebo effect. This time it is going to work! And then four weeks
:02:09. > :02:14.later after you get the actual efficacy of the medication and it
:02:14. > :02:17.does not work, you have to come off that medication - slowly because
:02:17. > :02:21.you cannot do anything suddenly because it will push you into an
:02:21. > :02:27.air as though - medication, different combinations of
:02:27. > :02:32.medication... 16 steps down the line after starting the medication,
:02:32. > :02:39.I have come to a place where I am relatively stable. But I never know
:02:39. > :02:42.what will happen tomorrow. There could be hope for people like him.
:02:42. > :02:49.Scientists trying to understand mental disorders like serious
:02:49. > :02:54.depression now have access to powerful new technology. By
:02:54. > :02:59.understanding the mechanisms of the human brain, they are gaining an
:02:59. > :03:06.insight into our minds, changing what happens in the clinic. This is
:03:06. > :03:08.what it is all about - the human brain. This one came from a healthy
:03:08. > :03:16.adult female. Scientists are beginning to understand how it
:03:16. > :03:20.works and what makes it go wrong. This is one of the main technology
:03:20. > :03:25.is giving scientists that fresh insight. The radio with a will
:03:25. > :03:33.inject the individual and then one can record the measurements that
:03:34. > :03:39.come from the subject for the next hour. -- videographer. Using the
:03:39. > :03:44.latest in brain scans, scientists have focused on one area of the
:03:44. > :03:49.brain and that becomes overactive in depression. Area 25. They can
:03:49. > :03:53.actually see what is going wrong and which medication works best.
:03:53. > :03:58.This technology is already having a real impact, significantly
:03:58. > :04:04.improving the way patients are treated. In ground-breaking
:04:04. > :04:09.research, a London team taught computer software to recognise
:04:09. > :04:14.patterns in images. They predict which patients will go on to
:04:14. > :04:19.develop the most serious forms of psychosis. We are showing that when
:04:19. > :04:22.people come to us with their first episode of psychosis, we can
:04:22. > :04:28.already distinguish the people who will do better from the people who
:04:28. > :04:34.will get worse. This will allow us to start thinking about using
:04:34. > :04:39.different treatments for these different groups of people.
:04:39. > :04:43.It is the professor's job to analyse these results. He believes
:04:43. > :04:48.such developments could transform psychiatry.
:04:48. > :04:55.Up until now, our approach to mental disorders has been at a
:04:55. > :05:00.surface level. There was no analysis in the same way that has
:05:00. > :05:07.been there for the last 50 years in medicine. This is an opportunity to
:05:07. > :05:12.take psychiatric diagnosis beyond it the descriptive and into the
:05:12. > :05:16.deep a biological level. It is not just imagine if that is bringing
:05:16. > :05:24.about this revolution. The battle is also being fought in the
:05:24. > :05:32.largest genetic study of people with bipolar disorder is taking
:05:32. > :05:36.place in Cardiff. This man is in charge. We are trying to identify
:05:37. > :05:42.genes and molecules which are involved in bipolar disorder and
:05:42. > :05:48.that will give us a clear and better understanding of some of the
:05:48. > :05:54.causes and triggers of bipolar disorder. One of his patients is a
:05:55. > :06:00.meal and he has returned to Cardiff to give the team an update on his
:06:00. > :06:06.progress. How have things been going over the last four years?
:06:06. > :06:13.think I am starting to see the green shoots of getting better. The
:06:13. > :06:18.last four years have been challenging. At times, desperate.
:06:18. > :06:23.Some of the genetic findings particularly from start -- Family
:06:23. > :06:28.Studies let us know how to identify people at high risk of illness and
:06:28. > :06:33.some of those things we already used in the clinic from day to day.
:06:33. > :06:38.We are finding that some of the genes that appear to be important
:06:38. > :06:44.in the susceptibility to bipolar disorder have a wider roles in the
:06:44. > :06:47.human brain and can also affect rates of schizophrenia and
:06:47. > :06:53.Recurrent Depression. We are now beginning to understand why people
:06:53. > :07:00.have such a complex mix of symptoms that do not fit easily into one
:07:00. > :07:06.diagnostic box. As scientists begin to undertake
:07:06. > :07:11.the workings of the human brain, the challenge is to find new and
:07:11. > :07:15.more effective treatments. Up until now, it has been hit and miss,
:07:16. > :07:20.stumbling across medications that happened to work. With a new tools
:07:20. > :07:24.like brain scans and genetics, scientists can talk about a more
:07:24. > :07:30.sophisticated approach, bringing the medicine of mental health out
:07:30. > :07:39.of the Dark Ages and into the 21st century.
:07:39. > :07:45.At his country retreat, a professor is brainstorming with a select
:07:45. > :07:51.group of UK scientists. As head of a $1 billion Agency in the US, his
:07:51. > :07:55.opinion carries some weight. Their job today is to come up with new
:07:55. > :08:05.ways to treat people. What is really intriguing is the
:08:05. > :08:06.
:08:06. > :08:13.development of new compounds. There works within three hours, instead
:08:13. > :08:17.of six weeks. Is that the same cat to mean that is used as a horse
:08:17. > :08:21.tranquilliser? It has been around for decades. People believe it
:08:21. > :08:28.affects a target in the brain that will change within six weeks of
:08:28. > :08:33.treatment with conventional anti- depressants. The drug itself is not
:08:33. > :08:37.safe long-term and people relapse after a week. But it is one example
:08:37. > :08:43.of how scientists are coming up with faster and more effective
:08:43. > :08:47.treatments. That is what has them excited. This is a potentially
:08:47. > :08:52.deadly illness for which you would want to have treatments that do not
:08:52. > :08:57.take six for eight weeks to work. You want something that works
:08:57. > :09:04.quickly. In that sense, this is a game change it. It is that kind of
:09:04. > :09:09.advance scientists hope we all think about -- scientists hope will
:09:09. > :09:15.change the way we all think about mental illness. That he is not
:09:15. > :09:20.something in the mind that people should pull themselves together
:09:20. > :09:24.over. Over the next generation, we will move to a situation where
:09:24. > :09:30.psychiatry is much more like cardiology or other medical
:09:30. > :09:34.specialists, where we have a range of tests like imaging tests of the
:09:34. > :09:38.way the brain functions, blood- testing know about susceptibility
:09:39. > :09:45.functions -- factors and other sorts of psychological well tests
:09:45. > :09:52.that will help to wrecked us to the diagnosis and allow us to know more
:09:52. > :10:01.accurately how to help people -- held direct us to the diagnosis.
:10:01. > :10:06.For meal, that is the goal of the project. Hundreds of people will
:10:06. > :10:10.try to commit suicide. I am not saying they are all bipolar
:10:10. > :10:16.disorder patients but they will have something wrong with them in
:10:16. > :10:20.another way. If we can do something about that, that will be good.
:10:20. > :10:25.Scientists have no way of saying if knowing what is happening inside
:10:25. > :10:30.the human brain will answer all of our questions about mental illness.
:10:30. > :10:34.But with these new technologies at their disposal, science is changing
:10:34. > :10:44.the approach. And for many people, that will be the difference between
:10:44. > :10:47.
:10:47. > :10:54.Most of us want to reach our true potential, now science and
:10:54. > :11:04.technology is offering to take us beyond human. Drugs to turbocharger
:11:04. > :11:11.
:11:11. > :11:16.our brains. Just how far do we want to go? You are a fighter pilot on a
:11:16. > :11:21.long demanding mission. Your life and that of your colleagues depends
:11:21. > :11:28.on you being awake and alert all of the time. There are drugs you can
:11:29. > :11:36.take to keep you focused, would you take them? This is one of those
:11:36. > :11:41.drugs, modafinil, normally prescribed for wakefulness with
:11:41. > :11:47.people with sleeping disorders. It is being tested to see if it can
:11:47. > :11:52.improve performance. There is an underground movement of people
:11:52. > :11:56.taking it because they believe it is improving their cognitive powers.
:11:56. > :12:03.I have come to the Centre for Brain And mind sciences, I will try it
:12:03. > :12:09.for myself. I have taken modafinil a few times, primarily for its
:12:09. > :12:16.ability to increase wakefulness. To allow me to concentrate and stay
:12:16. > :12:25.awake for 20-38 hours at a time. Laurie Pycroft is in his second
:12:25. > :12:31.year at Oxford University. He sees no real difference between taking
:12:31. > :12:36.modafinil. He is getting hold of the drugs over the internet. If I
:12:36. > :12:46.was going to take modafinil, there are a variety of websites available
:12:46. > :12:48.
:12:48. > :12:52.online which one can at size, you can purchase the deals. -- access.
:12:52. > :12:59.It is pretty easy for someone with a credit card or a bit of cash to
:12:59. > :13:09.pay someone. Anders Sandberg has a background in computing and
:13:09. > :13:09.
:13:09. > :13:17.neuroscience. He is a researcher at humanity is issued. He talks openly
:13:17. > :13:22.drugs. I suspect that the advantage is smaller than I would like it to
:13:22. > :13:32.be. In that case they might not be much of an ethical problem here. --
:13:32. > :13:39.there might. There is a question of using the drugs in the best way.
:13:39. > :13:49.Dusting up on my studying might not slate to consolidate your memory.
:13:49. > :13:50.
:13:50. > :13:56.Some cognitive enhance us like Ritalin are prohibited to buy
:13:56. > :14:00.without as -- a prescription. I am back in Cambridge to find out the
:14:00. > :14:08.effects the cognitive enhancing drug has on me. There are safety
:14:08. > :14:12.concerns. James Rowe is a neurologist, part of a research
:14:12. > :14:22.team testing cognitive enhance as light van to see if they help
:14:22. > :14:24.
:14:24. > :14:34.people with Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's. -- like modafinil. If
:14:34. > :14:35.
:14:35. > :14:41.you would like to take that. Here we go. How do we actually conduct
:14:41. > :14:45.the test? This is the second Test at the Cambridge unit, I am about
:14:45. > :14:55.to take the tablets. I do not know
:14:55. > :14:56.
:14:56. > :15:06.modafinil. I have got to wait for a co cours for the drug to
:15:06. > :15:07.
:15:07. > :15:12.take effect. This professor is part of the Cambridge team working with
:15:12. > :15:17.ep deprived surprived surorm better on
:15:17. > :15:26.van. She thinks these drugs could play a far wider role in society.
:15:26. > :15:30.think we have undervalued them. -- better on modafinil. We have seen a
:15:30. > :15:35.10% improvement on memory score could lead to a higher A-level
:15:35. > :15:41.grade. That is a big improvement. As a society we could move forward
:15:41. > :15:51.if we all had a form of cognitive and has meant that was a. Taking
:15:51. > :16:01.
:16:01. > :16:06.drugs to enhance cognition... -- enhance ment that was safe. Back in
:16:06. > :16:11.1998 Kevin Warwick became the world's first cyborg. Part human,
:16:11. > :16:18.part robot. He had a chip in planted in his arm and wide up into
:16:18. > :16:21.his nervous system. His wife had a similar operation. There is became
:16:21. > :16:31.the first central nervous systems to communicate electronically over
:16:31. > :16:36.
:16:36. > :16:39.the internet. -- theirs. The next step is brain to brain. The big
:16:39. > :16:45.advantage is that we will not have to communicate in this mechanical
:16:45. > :16:51.speech form, it will be able to communicate in terms of images,
:16:51. > :16:56.ideas, emotions, feelings. It is tremendously exciting. This is the
:16:56. > :17:02.second time we are going to do the test. In Cambridge I am about to do
:17:02. > :17:07.a bit of self experimentation of my own. In the first half you are
:17:07. > :17:13.going to see a square in the middle of a screen. I have to complete two
:17:13. > :17:23.sets of computer-games over 1.5 hours, to test my memory, strategy
:17:23. > :17:28.
:17:28. > :17:38.and planning, to see if modafinil has any effect on me. If I said one,
:17:38. > :17:44.two, three, you would say three, two, one. This is to rate how
:17:44. > :17:50.you're feeling. How are you feeling? Physically I am feeling
:17:50. > :17:58.more myself. I would have to guess that last time was when I was given
:17:58. > :18:02.the modafinil. I will find out if I was right in a minute. In our
:18:02. > :18:06.pressurised society you might be tempted to pop a pill to achieve
:18:06. > :18:12.the best we can the fast as we can. What if there were drugs that could
:18:12. > :18:20.make us kinder, more considerate, more moral? Scientists are about to
:18:20. > :18:25.start tests on a range of hormones that could do just that. We could
:18:25. > :18:35.reduce the testosterone levels. Testosterone generally chance to
:18:35. > :18:39.
:18:40. > :18:45.make people more aggressive. -- tends. They could become
:18:45. > :18:49.problematic in certain situations, like on the stock market for sports
:18:49. > :18:54.fields. Professor John Harris supports the idea of cognitive
:18:54. > :19:00.enhance ment but sees risks in dabbling with values. They are
:19:00. > :19:03.morally enhanced if they are better capable of making moral judgments.
:19:03. > :19:07.Better capable of considering alternatives, realising the
:19:08. > :19:12.consequences of their actions, realising the wider context in
:19:12. > :19:20.which they act. Most of that is likely to be more achievable
:19:20. > :19:29.through cognitive enhance ment rather than moral. Moment of truth.
:19:29. > :19:35.Can you guess? It is very hard. I think it is quite marginal. If I
:19:35. > :19:42.was forced to guess I was the first time was when I had modafinil.
:19:42. > :19:50.is very interesting, you are not correct. That is interesting. I
:19:50. > :19:56.would definitely say I feel more myself today. On the Test, when it
:19:56. > :20:00.came to moving those balls on the screen, you did very well. He did
:20:00. > :20:07.even better today on the modafinil. On the memory recognition task my
:20:07. > :20:16.score went up from eight out of ten to nine out of ten. A 10% increase.
:20:16. > :20:25.What we have seen when you are taking van are some very striking
:20:25. > :20:33.improvements in memory. -- taking modafinil. What about the risks? My
:20:33. > :20:40.Test Brom medically supervised. With these drugs we do not know the
:20:40. > :20:45.long-term effects on the brain. -- my guests were medically supervised.
:20:45. > :20:52.If he can show long-term safety and health in humans, we should
:20:52. > :20:56.regulate the strides in the normal way. -- you can shave. If safety is
:20:56. > :21:01.improved, some see no reason to hold back. It is difficult to think
:21:01. > :21:10.of a possible place to limit your intelligence or cognitive powers.
:21:10. > :21:14.If you can improve your cognitive powers, and by doing so allow
:21:14. > :21:20.education to operate from a higher base, it might be cost-effective to
:21:20. > :21:24.society. We can increase the power of our brain through exercise and