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Keith Kendrick

男，英国人，国际知名的脑神经科学家，中国政府友谊奖获得者，四川省学术和技术带头人。现任电子科技大学教授，电子科技大学生命科学与技术学院neuSCAN团队负责人。研究领域为认知与情感神经科学、自闭症谱系障碍临床研究，突破性地发现催产素在大脑中的产生及其亲社会作用，奠定了催产素社会性研究蓬勃发展的基础。

Keith Kendrick ( Kong Zhewen in Chinese), a world-renowned British neurosurgeon, the owner of the certificate of friendship by the Chinese government, and the academic and technical leader in Sichuan Province, is currently a professor at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, and the leader of neuSCAN team of the School of Life Science and Technology at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. Focusing on cognitive and affective neuroscience and clinical study of Autism Spectrum Disorders, he made a breakthrough by discovering the production of oxytocin in the brain and its prosocial function, paving the way for the sociality study of oxytocin.

“为什么要让精神不正常的孩子到学校来上课?”

“他只需要一张课桌而已!”

电影《喜禾》于2016年上映，被诊断为孤独症的9岁儿童喜禾虽进入了普通学校上学，却因为异于常人的行为遭到排挤和歧视，而喜禾的母亲为坚持儿子正常上学而声嘶力竭，情绪几近失控。

的确，孤独症儿童是一群与众不同的孩子。虽然我国医学领域对其病因的研究尚在积极开展之中，但仍存在对孤独症的认知尚未普及的情况。

Exactly, autistic children are different from other kids. The medical study on the cause of autism has been actively carried out in our country, but the knowledge of autism has not been popularized.

一组数据足以说明：近期一项对大约13.5万名幼龄中国儿童的研究得出，孤独症患病率大约为0.7%左右，相当于近千万人。

According to a recent study covering about 135,000 Chinese young kids, the percentage of autistic children is about 0.7%, counting nearly millions of kids.

电子科技大学生命科学与技术学院neuSCAN团队负责人Keith Kendrick教授与其团队致力于研究孤独症患者治疗方法，特别是针对儿童孤独症患者，同时也在探索针对精神疾病的新型神经疗法。从英国到成都超8000公里、从2011年到2022年近10万个小时，对于Kendrick教授来说，是跨越10个四季、一步步的研究与探索。

Professor Keith Kendrick, together with his neuSCAN team at the School of Life Science and Technology at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, has been dedicated to the study of autism treatment, especially for autistic kids, and the new tactile therapy for mental diseases. The 8000 kilometers of the journey from Britain to Chengdu and the nearly 100,000 hours of study from 2011 to 2022 represent Kendrick’s hard work for ten years.

再向他们迈进一步，怀抱来自星星的孩子

“那个晚上，我躺在床上，没有眼泪。我常常对别人说，我是死过一次的人。上帝给我一个任务，叫我牵一只蜗牛去散步。”

这句话来自一位孤独症患者的家长，她同时也是特殊儿童康复机构创始人。孩子孤独症的诊断既是冰冷的文字，也是一块压身的重石。

当Kendrick教授提起中国的孤独症儿童以及他们的父母时，感叹道，“孤独症是一种精神疾病，并且正在影响着许多儿童和他们的家庭。但无论如何，我都十分敬佩中国父母对他们的孩子所作出的奉献。”

Talking about the Chinese autistic children and their parents, Kendrick signed, "Autismis a disorder that's affecting a large number of children and their families.I'm very impressed by the dedication ofChinese parents anyway."

孤独症(Autism)在希腊语里有“自我”(self)的意思，言下之意，孤独症在某种程度上是一种自恋的体现，被自己所幻想的“星星世界”所桎梏，缺乏与社会接触的动力，甚至连父母也是“最熟悉的陌生人。”

Autism means "self" in Greek. In other words, autism reflectsself-obsessionto some extent. They are imprisoned by their "starry world" and lack the motive to contact society. Even their parents are considered the familiar "strangers".

有的儿童孤独症患者性格孤僻，极少言语，然而很大一部分的孩子却连说话、洗澡、上学、看书这类日常事务都无法做到。“他们可能围着一个物件打转，一直重复，不说话，也不理人。他们需要24小时全天看护。”Kendrick教授提到自己曾经接触到的孤独症儿童患者时，眼神柔和了起来。

Some autistic kids are dissocial and extremely quiet. However, a great number of autistic kids can’t even do their daily issues like speaking, taking showers, going to school, reading books, etc. "They also tend to show repetitive and restrictive behaviors like spinning around and not stopping. Theyspeak nothing, and ignore others.And they require almost 24 hour care." Mentioning the autistic kids he knows, Kendrick’s eyes grow soft.

很多父母在得知自己孩子被诊断为孤独症时，会迷茫、焦虑，甚至绝望，不是每一个人都能面对这样的事，然而Kendrick教授认为：如果我们不能在早期发现并进行干预措施，将会给孩子们带来无法挽回的后果。父母能保证越早地在初期阶段和孩子有充足、温馨、直接的互动，或许就能更好地降低孩子孤独症的严重性。

为此，Kendrick教授着重研究如何通过抚摸、触碰以及社会互动等方式在孤独症儿童诊断的早期进行行为干预，这种干预措施将激发大脑释放出催产素这种肽激素，依托对催产素的管理，通过神经反馈和电脑、视频游戏等技术，来主动控制大脑的活动性和连通性。关于催产素的实验研究也已经进入临床阶段，很有可能是未来一个更加有效的治疗方法。

Therefore, professor Kendrick particularly studied behavior intervention by fondling, touching, and social interactions at the early stage of autism. The behavior intervention can stimulate the brain to release oxytocin, a kind of peptide hormone. By managing oxytocin, and with the help of neural feedback, computer, video games and other technologies, it can actively control the brain’s mobility and connectivity. The experimental study on oxytocin has been at the clinical stage and might be a more effective treatment in the future.

“我对人脑如何控制那些关键的人类行为、社会行为很着迷，尤其是为何会产生精神疾病，又该如何找到新的治疗方法来帮助这些患病的人。”Kendrick教授微微往后仰，语速稍稍加快。“我们始终追求一个针对孤独症治疗的最佳方法，至于成功与否，只有时间能检验。”

再向成功前进一步，十年钻研只为更深入探索

“那时我初来乍到，一无所有。”Kendrick教授回忆说。2011年，他孤身从英国赴四川成都，一头扎进孤独症相关的科学研究中。10年间，这个将近45名成员的科研团队也已经慢慢在中国孤独症研究领域的蓝海中开拓出自己的一片天地，同样与日俱进的还有四川乃至中国对精神疾病研究的进程。

“这个领域更多地进入了普通人的视野，当然政府也对此十分关注，”谈起这十年在成都的精神疾病研究过程，Kendrick教授最大的感受是国内相关机构及政策对他们的支持。“如果你跟医院建立了良好的互助合作关系，临床医生们会愿意来协助我们的实验研究。”

"It does bring the whole area into the public andof coursegovernment," talking about his ten-year study on mental diseases in Chengdu, Kendrick is greatly impressed by the support from related institutes and policies in China. "If you have a goodsupport and collaborationwiththehospitals, the cliniciansare gonna supportyou."

成都市有上百家自闭症关爱康复中心，其中成都市妇女儿童中心医院与Kendrick教授的团队有深入的合作，同时配备资历深、业务强的专业临床医生和医护人员参与临床研究项目。

There are hundreds of rehabilitation centers for autism in Chengdu. Institutes like Chengdu Maternal and Child Care Service Center have built solid partnerships with Prof. Kendrick’s team. Their senior and capable clinicians and medical workers participate in the clinical research.

当问及未来的打算时，Kendrick教授一拍大腿道，“现在我当然没有打算离开四川或者中国的意向，如果现在要走我真的是‘疯了’!”

从开始的孤身一人来到异国他乡，到如今身边不仅有可靠的团队，还有拥有各方面的大力支持，Kendrick教授笑起来，“现在一切都变好了起来，更多人参与到这个研究项目中。”

随着国内对精神疾病研究重视程度的不断提升，越来越多人也投入到孤独症的诊断治疗工作中，在四川涌现出不少优秀的相关研究成果。对此，Kendrick教授表示，国内高质量医学学术资源的有效转化对研究极有帮助，例如，他们的团队正在与北京的孤独症研究医生专家进行紧密合作。

As mental diseases have drawn increasingly greater attention in China, more and more people join in the works about autism and a great number of academic achievements have been made in Sichuan. Kendrick points out that the effective transformation of domestic medical academic resources of high quality is significant for the study. For example, his team is cooperating with Beijing autistic researchers and experts presently.