Brain Damage and the Mind: Historical Overview

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing historical concepts, key figures, and models of brain damage, localization, and language disorders in neuropsychology.

Galen's Brain Theory

Classical Antiquity view proposing that the brain was merely a vessel holding cerebrospinal fluid, which was considered the real substance of thought.

Ventricular Localization Theory (The Cell Doctrine)

Medieval three-part model of cognition that localized mental functions across three brain chambers or ventricles: Perception, Reason, and Memory.

Phrenology

Theory championed by Franz Joseph Gall (1758–1828) holding that distinct cognitive functions and personality traits correspond to cortical size and can be analyzed by examining bumps on the skull.

Equipotentiality

Holistic concept supported by Pierre Flourens (1794–1867) through lesion studies, holding that the cerebral cortex functions as a unitary whole and that the soul cannot be divided.

Patient "Tan" (Louis Victor Leborgne)

Famous patient described by Paul Broca in 1861 who could only utter the syllable "tan", demonstrating that language function can be independently damaged and is anatomically localizable.

Broca's Aphasia

Form of aphasia characterized by non-fluent spontaneous speech, good comprehension, and poor repetition, resulting from damage to the motor center for speech.

Wernicke's Aphasia

Form of aphasia identified by Carl Wernicke in 1874 characterized by fluent speech, poor comprehension, and poor repetition, caused by damage to the sensory center for speech.

Arcuate Fasciculus

Nerve fiber tract connecting Wernicke's area (sensory center) to Broca's area (motor center); damage to this path leads to conduction aphasia.

Conduction Aphasia

Form of aphasia predicted by Carl Wernicke characterized by fluent speech, good comprehension, and poor repetition, caused by a lesion disrupting the connection between the sensory center and motor center.

House of Lichtheim (1885)

Theoretical framework developed by Ludwig Lichtheim connecting Motor Patterns, Auditory Images, and Concepts to explain and systematically classify various aphasias.

Transcortical Motor Aphasia

Aphasia syndrome modeled in the House of Lichtheim caused by a broken connection between Concepts and Motor Patterns, resulting in non-fluent speech, good comprehension, and intact repetition (echolalia).

Transcortical Sensory Aphasia

Aphasia syndrome modeled in the House of Lichtheim caused by a broken connection between Auditory Images and Concepts, resulting in fluent speech, poor comprehension, and intact repetition (echolalia).

Morton (1980) Model

Cognitive information-processing framework linking the Auditory Input Lexicon, Cognitive System, and Phonological Output Lexicon.

Norman Geschwind

Neurologist who in 1965 began resurrecting the work of the 19th-century Diagram Makers, sparking the 2nd Golden Age of cognitive neuropsychology.