Topic 3 History of neuroscience

Powers of Ten

Figure 3.1: (Eames Office 2010)

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Figure 3.2: https://theatre.psu.edu/centrestage

Warm-up

Neuroscience is harder than physics because…

• A. The brain has more parts than any other physical entity we know about.
• B. Physicists have largely ignored biology.
• C. Nervous systems are influenced by multiple factors we can’t (yet) measure effectively.
• D. Physicists only study “toy” problems.

Systems have all of the following components EXCEPT:

• A. Boundaries
• B. Components
• C. Interactions among components
• D. Inputs and outputs
• E. Readily predictable behavior

Why study history?

• What can observation tell us about brain and behavior?
• Vital role of tools/methods/techniques in discovery
• “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” – Isaac Newton, 1676

Figure 3.3: (NeuroBriefs 2011)

Pre/Early history

Trephining (trepanning)

Figure 3.4: (The MIT Press Reader, n.d.)

• Earliest evidence +7,000 yrs old

Egyptians (1,500-3,000 BCE)

• First written (hieroglyphic) record of the term “brain”

Figure 3.5: (Chudler, n.d.b)

Beer-making (~5,000 BCE)

Figure 3.6: Alulu beer receipt – This records a purchase of ‘best’ beer from a brewer, c. 2050 BC from the Sumerian city of Umma in ancient Iraq

• What does beer-making have to do with the neurological bases of human behavior?

Greek and Roman era

• Hippocrates
  • Epilepsy a disease of the brain (Chudler, n.d.a)
  • Brain set of intelligence (Chudler, n.d.a)
• Aristotle (~335 BCE)
  • mind and body not distinct.
  • brain “cools” the body, heart is the mental organ.

Figure 3.7: http://classicalwisdom.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/aristotle-face-1.jpg

Galen (~177 CE)

Figure 3.8: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/Galenus.jpg/220px-Galenus.jpg

• Physician in Roman Empire, of Greek descent
• Anatomical reports based on dissection of monkeys, pigs
• Influenced by Hippocrates notion of human temperaments (~personalities) linked to “humors”: blood, black bile, yellow bile, phlegm
• Observed that gladiators’ head injuries impaired thinking, movement
• Speculated that fluid filling the brain cavities called ventricles, circulates through nerves, body == “ventricular” theory of nervous system function.

Figure 3.9: http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n06/historia/am1.gif

What did early humans know about the mind and brain?

• Mental functions controlled by organs in the head, i.e., the brain
• Mental functions can be influenced by substances we consume
• Head injury can impair behavior and thinking
• Something flows from brain to body via nerves

Why didn’t they know more?

• Limited technology.
• Limited cultural support for systematic observation & description. = SCIENCE
• Lack of ability to use knowledge even if it were acquired.

The “dark” ages (in Europe, not elsewhere)

• Ibn al-Haytham’s Optics, ~1000 CE
• Mansur’s Anatomy ~1400 CE

Renaissance and the Enlightenment: New technologies, new ideas

Leonardo da Vinci (~1508)

Figure 3.10: (Penttila 2019)

• Wax casts of ventricles
  • fluid filled inner regions of brain
• Ventricles not spherical!

Andreas Vesalius (1543)

• De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem (On the fabric of the human body in seven books) (Vesalius 1543)
• 1st detailed drawings of brain and body anatomy

Figure 3.11: (Vesalius 1543)

René Descartes – mid 1600’s

• Reflexes “reflect” sensory events in the world
• Not the same as voluntary functions

Figure 3.12: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Descartes-reflex.JPG

• Reflexes and animal “minds” are physical, machine-like
• Human mind is not machine-like
  • “Dual” influences on behavior
  • Physical + spiritual
  • Descartes a philosophical dualist
• Soul controls body via pineal gland
  • Fluid from ventricles cause muscles to “inflate” (another ventricular theory)

Descartes is an important figure for this class.

Pineal gland

Figure 3.13: Figure of the pineal gland by Descartes: http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/descartes-pineal-gland-granger.jpg

Do you agree with Descartes?

• Yes, human minds are fundamentally different from animal minds. The human mind is influenced by both physical and extraphysical processes.
• No, human minds are similar to animal minds. The human mind arises solely from physical processes.

How would you scientifically test Descartes idea about the role of the pineal gland?

Other milestones

• Invention of light microscope (1609 CE), electron microscope (1926)
• Cell stains – Camillo Golgi, Santiago Ramon y Cajal – late 1800s
• Recording of electrical activity of nerves, Luigi Galvani
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Some lessons from early history

• Neuroscience shaped by new methods, tools
• If you can’t see it/measure it, you can’t say much about it
• Neuroscience shaped by great debates
  • Is the mind == brain?
  • Are functions local or distributed?
  • Do neurons connect like pipes or pass info like relay runners?
• Forms & phenomena at multiple levels of analysis contribute to function

References

Chudler, Eric H. n.d.a. “History of Neuroscience.” http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/hist.html. http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/hist.html.

———. n.d.b. “Neuroscience for Kids - Ancient ‘Brain’.” http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/papy.html. http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/papy.html.

Eames Office. 2010. “Powers of Ten™ (1977).” Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0.

NeuroBriefs. 2011. “The Ascent: A Brief History of the Brain.” Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0HKupSZq8k.

Penttila, Nicky. 2019. “The Hidden Neuroscience of Leonardo Da Vinci.” Dana Foundation, September. https://dana.org/article/the-hidden-neuroscience-of-leonardo-da-vinci/.

The MIT Press Reader. n.d. “A Hole in the Head: A History of Trepanation.” https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/hole-in-the-head-trepanation/. https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/hole-in-the-head-trepanation/.

Vesalius, Andreas. 1543. “De Humani Corporis Fabrica.”