Oliver Sacks

This TED talk discussed Charles Bonnet syndrome, an ailment affecting only those with severe vision and hearing impairments. Patients with Charles Bonnet have certain portions of their brain (those that control seeing and/or hearing) that sit idly because they are no longer needed. With nothing else to do, these brain sections begin conjuring images or sounds that appear realistic. While people with this syndrome are usually still very sane and do not have their health affected by the syndrome, many people who get the hallucinations deny they have them, due to the assumption that people with hallucinations are crazy. According to Oliver Sacks (who gave the speech), ten percent of blind and/or (severely) hearing impaired people experience Charles Bonnet syndrome, and thus it is fairly common.  The difference between these visions and those of someone losing their mental sanity is that while the hallucinations of an insane person often interact directly with them, Charles Bonnet hallucinations appear like a movie; they are viewed through a screen that separates the person from what they are seeing. Sacks also mentioned in his speech that research on the syndrome has lead to the discovery that certain cells in parts of the brain specifically control the interpretation and creation of one type of object, such as cartoons, eyes, and teeth. Thus, certain cells are causing hallucinations of comic strips, while others create visions of faces with oddly proportioned eyes.  Because the brain is producing these images, it also tries to fit them into context. For example, one older man with Charles Bonnet syndrome envisioned nice young men walking through the door with his granddaughters when they came to visit him. Though his granddaughters had come to visit him, they had not brought any men with them.  The piece I found most fascinating about Sack’s presentation on Charles Bonnet was that people who had these visions were not mentally impaired in any way; their brain was simply compensating for its inactivity. Why did the brain need to find a way for it to exercise itself? In a sense, this proves the point brought up by Daniel Pink in his novel, Drive: people will use more of their brainpower to work faster and harder when they are not doing it for a reward. In other words, it is the nature of humans to want to challenge and utilize their brains. This belief coincides with Sack’s point that Charles Bonnet visions are caused by a brain lacking tasks to spend energy on.

The speaker in this video was unique because he gave his entire speech from a chair. Though this may have been a disadvantage for some, Sacks seemed to have mastered the art of speaking while sitting. The expressions he may have lacked due to his inability to move about the stage were compensated for by hand gestures and upper body movement. Sacks appeared very comfortable up on the stage. Thus, he was able to calmly shift his attention from one side of the audience to another. He also moved his body fairly frequently to ensure he did not appear stiff and boring. Hand gestures greatly helped Sacks throughout his presentation. He used them to illustrate his points and add emphasis to certain lines. Hand gestures, combined with his relaxed motions, helped keep the viewer engaged and interested on his topic.

Sacks used a lot of stories in his speaking to convey his points. His twenty minute presentation regarding Charles Bonnet syndrome began with a story about a patient who had Charles Bonnet. This story lead into several other examples of patients Sacks has worked with. Finally, about three-quarters of the way through the video, Sacks began stating facts. Once viewers had an in-depth understanding of what Charles Bonnet syndrome is and how it affects people, Sacks explained what causes it. This organizational approach allowed viewers to understand his topic on an emotional level before they comprehended all of the whys and hows of the phenomenon. While this tactic engaged listeners from the start, after a few minutes they began wondering what exactly was causing these peoples’ symptoms, and occasionally lost track of the stories because they were so focused on finding out why the disease happened.  Another technique Sacks used was a few instances of comedy. These humorous remarks effectively loosened the tension of Sack’s experiences with hallucinations and kept the audience alert.

Sacks concluded his speech by stating that the research done to understand Charles Bonnet syndrome might also be helpful to discovering more in-depth the workings of our brains. Personally, I can see where this would be very true. Already, scientists researching the syndrome have discovered that certain cells directly control interaction with a specific object. This can be applied to the world and to education to help maximize brain efficiency. For example, if a student knew they needed to create a comic strip as part of an English test the next day, they could locate the “comic strip cells” in their brain, figure out which lobe it was in, and calculate exactly how much sleep they needed to make sure that lobe of the brain was properly rested (since scientists have already discovered which parts of your brain are rested in each period of a ten-hour rest). If certain objects triggered extreme negative reactions in someone, eventually (in the far future) doctors could remove the cells from that person’s brain that controlled their interactions with the troubling object. The research done on Charles Bonnet syndrome could also help scientists understand what the consequences are of letting certain portions of one’s brain go unused for too long. These are just a few of the many ways research on Charles Bonnet syndrome could be applied to bettering our future as a society.

More about Oliver Sacks: http://www.oliversacks.com/
More about Charles Bonnet syndrome: http://www.rnib.org.uk/eyehealth/eyeconditions/conditionsac/Pages/charles_bonnet.aspx
A few results of Charles Bonnet research: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16794440

Photo Source:

"Charles Bonnet Syndrome." Lighthouse International. Web. 19 Apr. 2011.   http://www.lighthouse.org/about-low-vision-blindness/vision-disorders/charles-bonnet-syndrome/.

 

A lady with Charles Bonnet syndrome describes her experiences in the video above.

 

Video Source:

MacularDiseaseSoc. "Charles Bonnet Syndrome - Visual Hallucinations." YouTube- Broadcast Yourself. 14 Jan. 2010. Web. 19 Apr. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5C-0kb-jxo>.