Development of Brain Science

What is the Edwin Smith Papyrus and why is it significant?

It is a 15ft ancient Egyptian medical scroll bought by Edwin Smith in 1862. Dated at least 3,600 years old, it contains 48 case studies of battlefield injuries and shows early scientific thinking about medicine and neuroanatomy.

What makes Case 6 of the Edwin Smith Papyrus notable?

It describes a head injury exposing the brain with vivid detail, including throbbing and fluttering sensations. The treatment advises not to bandage until the crisis has passed.

How does the Edwin Smith Papyrus challenge previous assumptions about ancient Egyptian medicine?

It demonstrates a scientific approach and understanding of brain anatomy, countering the belief that Egyptian medicine was purely magical.

Who was Galen and what were his contributions to neuroscience?

Galen was a Greek physician (c. 130-200 CE) who worked with gladiators, conducted vivisections, and concluded that the brain controls sensation and movement via "animal spirits" in the ventricles.

How did Galen influence medical science over time?

His writings were translated into Arabic (9th c.) and Latin (16th c. by Vesalius), influencing Western medicine into the 18th and 19th centuries.

What was the traditional belief about the brain's ventricles?

They were thought to house "animal spirits" that controlled sensation and movement, central to brain function.

What did Thomas Willis contribute in 1664?

He emphasized grey matter as the seat of memory and will, challenging the role of ventricles and suggesting nerves carried fluids instead of spirits.

What did Johann Schenk von Grafenberg discover about brain damage?

In 1585, he linked speech problems to brain injuries, not mechanical issues, suggesting damage affected memory or word retrieval.

What were the three major 19th-century breakthroughs in neuroscience?

1. Localisation of brain functions

2. Discovery of nerve cells

3. Understanding neural communication.

What is localisation theory in brain science?

The idea that specific brain areas control specific mental functions.

What did Jean-Baptiste Bouillaud argue about speech and the brain?

That the frontal cortex controls speech, based on autopsy evidence from the 1820s-1840s.

Who provided the first anatomical evidence for language localisation?

Paul Broca in 1861 (Broca's area) and Carl Wernicke in 1878 (Wernicke's area).

What is Karl Lashley's theory of equipotentiality?

All parts of the brain can perform any function; deficits depend on damage extent, not location.

Who discovered neurons using silver staining?

Camillo Golgi in 1873.

How did Ramon y Cajal differ from Golgi in interpreting the brain's structure?

Cajal argued neurons were individual cells, not one continuous network. Both won the Nobel Prize in 1906.

What did Luigi Galvani discover in 1791?

Neurons conduct electricity, shown by experiments on frog legs.

What was discovered about synapses in the 20th century?

They are chemical junctions between neurons; this led to neuropharmacology.

What is neuropsychology?

A field studying the relationship between brain function and behavior, especially through brain-damaged patients.

What did WWI studies contribute to brain localisation?

Gordon Holmes and Karl Kleist mapped brain functions based on head wound casualties.

What is prosopagnosia and who described it post-WWII?

Inability to recognize faces, described by Joachim Bodamer in 1947 in a soldier with occipital damage.

What challenge did early neuropsychologists face?

Damage was often widespread, and localisation required autopsy. They lacked theoretical frameworks.

How did cognitive psychology influence neuropsychology?

It introduced concepts like information processing and mental representations to better interpret symptoms.

Who was Phineas Gage and what did his case demonstrate?

A railroad worker whose frontal lobe injury in the 1840s altered his personality, highlighting brain-behavior links.

What happened to Patient H.M. and what did it reveal?

After bilateral hippocampus removal in 1953 to treat epilepsy, he developed severe anterograde amnesia, showing the hippocampus is essential for forming new memories.

Who was Patient DF and what was her condition?

A woman with visual form agnosia after carbon monoxide poisoning; she couldn't recognize objects but had intact vision.