first origins of brain being vital to life and the evidence of it
prehistoric ancestors: trepanation/skulls showing signs of healing
First known “HEART is the seat of the soul and memory”
Ancient Egypt
Clung to the heart centre/brain is radiator that cools the blood/tempered the seething heart
Aristotle’s view of the brain
View of the brain: hippocrates
correlation between structure and function/brain involved in sensation/brain is the seat of intelligence
Roman empire’s view of the brain
Galen: cerebrum, cerebellum, ventricles; which had 4 humour balance in the hollow ventricles
The renaissance view of the brain
Fluid mechanical theory of the brain’s function/philosophical mind-brain problem/descartes/fluids control movement by route of pineal gland
renaissance->17th and 18th centuries->19th century
discovery of white and grey matter; gyri, sulci and fissures
19th century
central nervous system and peripheral nervous system, nerves as wires, electrical and can generate electricity
CNS-Brain+SC
Cerebrum, cerebellum, brain stem—>Spinal cord
Bell and Magendie
Dorsal (incoming) and ventral roots (outgoing), 19th century
Pioneers of localization of function in the brain
Charles Bell
Marie-Jean-Pierre Flourens
Franz Joseph Gall
Marie-Jean-Pierre Flourens:
Experimental ablation method (systematically destroying a part of brain to observe what it affects.
Charles Bell
Cerebellum (origin of motor fibers)
Cerebrum (destination of sensory fibres)
Franz Joseph Gall
Phrenology: bumps on the surface of skull reflect brain surface and related personality traits/
Paul Broca
Broca region: the speech area (prefrontal cortex)
Nervous system evolution
natural selection (darwin), nervous systems of different species may share common mechanisms from common ancestors.
Reductionist approach
- Molecular
- Cellular
- Systems
- Behavioural
- Cognitive
Clinical (medical) neuroscience
Neurologist, psychiatrist, neurosurgeon, neuropathologist
Experimental neuroscience
computational neuroscience
developmental neurobiologist
molecular neurobiologist neuroanatomist neurochemist neuroethologist neuropharmacologist neurophysiologist psychophysicist physiological psychologists
Scientific process
- Observation
- Replication
- Interpretation
- Verification
Animals in neuroscience research/
Renewable resources
the more basic the process under investigation, the more distant the evolutionary relationship with humans
3 moral responsibilities/governing body
- ensure that experiments are worthwhile and well planned
- Eliminate or minimize pain and distress to animal
- All possible alternatives must be considered first
