History of Biopsychology Flashcards
Egyptians didn’t think that the brain was an important organ (they believed that the mind was in the heart)
- first written account of the brain, its anatomy, the meninges and cerebral spinal fluid
- believed to be written by Imhotep
- Described how the site of head injury was related to neurological symptoms
Edwin Smith Surgical papyrus
Egypt, 1700 B.C.
- Ionian philosophers believed that the universe could be understood by reason
- introduced the idea that there are a set of laws by which the universe is governed
Greece, 600 B.C.
early dissection experiments - contributed greatly to medical philosophy
- experiments with vision in animals, established a connection between the brain and sense of organs
First philosopher to champion the idea that the brain was the seat of the mind
Greece, 500 BC
Alcmaeon of Croton
first to believe that diseases were due to natural causes
- attempted to separate medicine and religion
Also believed that the brain was the seat of the mind
Hippocrates
Greece, 460-370 BC
also believed that the brain was the seat of the mind
- but he argued against science in general
- believed in the use of pure reason over observation and experimentation
- advocated for the study of ideal forms over actual objects
Plato
Greece, 427-347 BC
- soul was divided into three parts (tripartite)
- Immortal soul (rational: head
- Superior mortal soul (spirited): heart
- Inferior mortal soul (appetitive): liver/gut
Plato’s concept of the soul
Greece, 420-320 BC
believed that the mind was located in the heart
- saw the brain as a “radiator” for the rest of the body
- dense capillaries carry the warm blood to the brain to disperse heat
Aristotle
Greece, 384-322 BC
- could be compared to the modern day NIH
- state supported institute that included an observatory, zoo, gardens, dissection and operating rooms, >100 scholars and an extensive library
- since dissections were not prohibited here, early scientists were able to systematically study anatomy and the human body
Museum at Alexandria
Alexandria, 300 BC
- distinguished between the cerebrum and the cerebellum
- described the meninges, sinuses, ventricles
- believed that all nerves originated in the brain and traced their pathways to the sensory and muscle organs
- first to distinguish between sensory and motor nerves
Herophilos
Alexandria, 300 BC
- believed that the number of convolutions in the brain was correlated with intelligence
- psychic “pneuma” entered the brain through hollow sensory nerves
- movement caused by expansion of the muscles due to pneuma carried to them from the brain through motor nerves
Erasistratus
Alexandria, 300 BC
- performed detailed dissections of the brain, extensive clinical investigations and systematic lesioning experiments on animals (usually pigs and primates)
- promoted humoral theory
- disease caused by imbalance of the four humors
- black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, blood
- believed that mental diseases could be attributed to the obstruction of “pneuma” by one of the four humors or due to the excess of a particular humor
- minimized the importance of the cortex, emphasized the ventricles as being most important for mental faculties (but not the absolute location of the “soul”)
Galen
Greece, 130-200 AD
- humoral theory remained prominent
- Galen’s theories were not questioned In Medieval Europe
- church was concerned with the non-material nature of the soul
- brain tissue was too mortal to mediate interactions between the body and spiritual world
- Mental faculties localized within the ventricles
- anterior ventricle: sensation
- middle ventricle: cognition
- posterior ventricle: memory
medieval Europe, 200-1500 AD
Galens work had been translated to Arabic and were not translated to Latin
- founder of modern human anatomy
- accepted pneumatic theory but thought that the study of anatomy would never be able to explain the mind
Vesalius
Europe, 16th Century AD
- also referred to as the age of reason
- resurgence of scientific study and interest in understanding the mind and brain
- intellectuals began to question traditional authority and attempted to explain the world around them using reason rather than accepting religious or political dogma
age of enlightenment
- proposed a modified version of pneumatic theory
- nerves contain “animal spirits” which are responsible for the flow of sensory and motor information in the body
- external stimuli pull on threads to open gates in the ventricles which allow for the flow of pneuma through rest of body
- in animals this is a purely mechanical process (reflex) but in humans the soul (mind) can control the flow of pneuma through the pineal gland
Descartes
Netherlands, 17th Century AD
