Overview and history: brain, neurons and synapses✅

Neurology

Medical specialty encompassing diseases, conditions, and infections of the nervous system
Usually associated with physical changes in nervous system

Psychiatry

Medical specialty encompassing the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illnesses
Physical changes in nervous system are usually not obvious

Neuroscience

scientific study of the brain and nervous system

Galen

BC individual who introduced the idea of spirits (pneumata) circulating between liver, heart and brain. Brain = "rational soul"

Al-Zahrawi

10thC Neurosurgeon who first described surgery to relieve hydrocephalus

Avicenna

10thC father of modern medicine
Cannon of Medicine
identified schizophrenia

Andreus Vesalius

16thC Founded modern anatomy by dissecting humans Discovered that critical features of Galen's anatomy were incorrect

Rene Descartes

17th CProposed that spirits flowed to and from the pineal gland via nerves.
- Only humans have a thinking mind.
- Dualism
- Mind and body interact in the pineal gland.

The Virtuosi

group of scholars at Oxford during the time of Thomas Willis during the Renaissance

Thomas Willis

physician and founder of neurology

Christopher Wren

Member of the Virtuosi, Artist, and Likely illustrator of many of Thomas Willis' works

Luigi Galvani

18thC Obtained indirect evidence for intrinsic electrical activity in the nervous system (frog legs)

Jean-Martin Charcot

19thC Founder of Modern Neurology
described/classified features of multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis etc.

Santiago Ramon y Cajal

19thC revealed structure of individual nerve cells an discovered unidirectional flow of information along nerve cells

Charles Sherrington

19thC complex behaviours could be reduced to simpler behaviour that could be explained by networks of neurons
discovered inhibition in the nervous system
introduced the term 'synapse'

Ivan Pavlov

19thC Set the stage for the study of brain:behaviour relationships

B. F Skinner

20thC
operant conditioning chamber
Shaping a response

Rita Levi-Montalcini

20thC Studies nerve fibre growth from chick embryos
Identifies critical factor responsible for the outgrowth of nerve fibres, NGF

Brenda Milner

20thC Foundational studies on brain and behaviour
Patient "HM" (Importance of the hippocampus for the formation of new memories)

Ben Barres

20thC Foundational studies on the development and function of nonneuronal cells in the CNS