HisPhil Lec 2 - History of Functional Localisation In The Brain

Flashcards about the history of functional localization in the brain.

Trypanon

A drill turned by hand or with a string

Uses of trepanation

Treatment of head injuries, healing symptoms of diseases such as epilepsy and headaches, ritual reasons, spiritual reasons, letting out evil spirits, increasing blood flow.

Lay People

Someone not trained, qualified or experienced in particular subject or activity

Brain

Neuro-biological processes that generate mental processes and states.

Mind

Individual sensations, perceptions, memories, thoughts, dreams, incentives, emotions, and all subjective experiences.

Behavior

A wide variety of actions by humans and animals that can be observed.

The importance of the Heart to Egyptians

The seat of the soul (Hegemonikon)

Feeling and thinking came from the heart and not the brain

Heart would stay in the body in mummification

Excerebration

Removing the brain before mummification, typically via nostrils using an iron hook or from the back of the skull.

The Edwin Smith Papyrus

Tells us that are specific functions that are highly specialised in a specific task. Brain lesions lead to distal symptoms. Left side of the brain controls right side of the body and vice versa. The brain is responsible for speech. Touching the brain can lead to epileptic seizures.

Impact of the discovery of ventricles

Thinking in terms of localised functions, gave rise to 3-cell doctrine

Cell 1 (3-Cell Doctrine)

Collection of information from senses.

Cell 2 (3-Cell Doctrine)

Cognition/thinking

Cell 3 (3-Cell Doctrine)

Memory

Double dissociation

An experimental technique by which two areas of neocortex are functionally dissociated by two behavioral tests, each test being affected by a lesion in one zone and not the other.

Broca’s patient (Mr. Leborgne)

Lost speech and motor function but language comprehension was intact.

Wernicke’s patient

Speech production was intact, but language comprehension was gone.

Flourens' Lesion Studies

Removing cerebral hemispheres (perception; judgement gone), Removal of cerebellum (problems with motor coordination), Removal of brain stem → “you die”

Founding fathers of phrenology

Franz Josef Gall and Spurzheim

Phrenology

The study of the relationship between skull shape and personality traits or mental abilities, developed by Franz Josef Gall.

Phineas Gage's

Personality change (e.g., not organised, foul mouthed) after an accident (pipe through head)

Lobotomy

A discredited form of neurosurgical treatment for psychiatric disorder or neurological disorder that involves severing connections in the brain's prefrontal cortex.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

An imaging scan that shows activity in specific areas of the brain.