Journal of the History of the Neurosciences最新文献

Disagreement as to whether the auditory cortical center was located in the superior temporo-sphenoidal lobe-as proposed by David Ferrier in 1875, but apparently negated by the later experiments of Edward Schäfer-came to a head following an experimental demonstration given by Schäfer at a meeting of the Neurological Society of London in March 1887. Previous attempts to document the Ferrier-Schäfer dispute have been based on contemporary published sources, which are limited. Here we present documents not hitherto identified and/or transcribed to our knowledge that shed further light on the debate between Schäfer and Ferrier on the cortical localization of the auditory center. They permit a more detailed historical reconstruction of events that provides no definitive behavioral-pathological evidence to support Schäfer's claim to have disproved Ferrier's original localization.

Neurologists often encounter medically refractory epileptic patients, who manage to suppress focal motor seizures by means of various types of sensorimotor stimulation. The aim of this article is to provide a critical evaluation of the historical investigations of such abatement methods. Peripheral therapies for epilepsies have been recommended since antiquity, but it was not until the nineteenth century that physicians mentioned patients reporting being able to stop seizures by sensorimotor mechanisms. Both the reports of patients and the analysis of the various methods used became more accurate with the descriptions by physicians such as Louis Odier (1748-1817) and Théodore Herpin (1799-1865). John Hughlings Jackson (1835-1911) and William Richard Gowers (1845-1915) provided a more solid theoretical framework for (somato)sensory interventions by developing new insights into brain control of movement sequences that are well within the range of current hypotheses. In more recent studies, individual reports of successful inhibition of seizures continue to appear. The wide array of historical studies of peripheral sensory stimulation methods offers a valuable source of information for future research that may potentially lead to new therapeutic avenues and to greater effectiveness in the management of the disease burden.

In 1874, Camillo Golgi published the neuropathological study of a patient with chronic chorea and dementia, demonstrating impairments in  the frontal-parietal and temporal cortices, striatum, and cerebellum. This study anticipated by fifty years those traditionally recognized as the first to link choreic movements with cortico-striatal involvement, but regardless of the author's intention, has also come to be considered the first on the neuropathology of Huntington's disease. This has given rise to a dispute between one position in favor of this diagnosis based on the clinical-anatomical correlation and the other opposed to the diagnosis, based on the lack of a family history of chorea. Given the absence of remains and slides to be used for DNA and histological analyses, we attempted to fill this gap by carrying out genealogical studies, but have so far been unable to identify any other choreic patients in the patient's family or any association with homonymous families with Huntington's disease currently living in the same region as Golgi's patient. This does not end the controversy and indeed raises the issue of diagnosis, but it does not deprive Golgi of the merit of having first identified the neuropathology of chronic chorea.

Johann Christian Reil was the first to coin the term "psychiatry" in 1808, prior to that he had proposed Gemeingefühl (coenaesthesis), which is interpreted as referring to the integrated information of all senses and emotions. On the other hand, in 1809, Reil formally described the insular cortex as die Insel and considered the insular cortex to serve as the pedestal of mental activity. The background to Reil's research had been the social, religious, cultural, and political context of social upheaval in Europe at the time, particularly in Germany and France, which had a major impact on the academic and medical systems he advocated. For over 200 years, the relationship between Gemeingefühl and the insular cortex has remained a mystery. However, recent neuroimaging studies are beginning to shed light on the function of the insular cortex. This article provides an overview of Reil's life as reported to date and summarizes Reil's achievements in medicine from the perspectives of physiology, neuroanatomy, and psychiatry. Furthermore, we interpreted the Gemeingefühl as proposed by Reil in relation to gemeinsinn (sensus communis) and common sense, and provide a perspective on the role of the insular cortex as a seat of the mind, society and culture.

This article uncovers an overlooked aspect of Ugo Cerletti's intellectual journey, highlighting how his work on mental illness, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and acroagonines reflected a broader and profound interest in the nature of consciousness. Starting with practical therapeutic innovations, Cerletti ventured into theoretical domains that were both original and pioneering. Understanding epileptic seizures as instances of loss of consciousness, Cerletti proposed that consciousness, primarily associated with sensation-including vigilance, emotion, and memory-arises not from a singular, isolated brain region but through complex interactions among various structures within the diencephalon. In doing so, he challenged several ideas of his time. He criticized the absence of unconscious psychism in the perspectives of Emil Kraepelin and Walter O. Jahrreiss. More remarkably, he opposed the prevailing views of his time, including John Hughlings Jackson's belief that the cortex was the brain's superior region responsible for rationality and consciousness. Cerletti sought to disprove this model through evidence drawn from neurological observations, ECT experiments, and contemporary insights from sleep medicine. Moreover, he rejected the dichotomy between rational and emotional brain functions, emphasizing the deeply interconnected nature of these processes.

The Treatise on Man (1662, 1664) by French philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650) is the primary source for Cartesian physiology, but the accompanying illustrations were created after Descartes' death by a group of Descartes' disciples who were forced to create illustrations for Descartes' unfinished, and often vague and confusing, text. The iconographic tradition originating in the French edition (L'Homme, 1664) has predominated since the 17th century, whereas the Latin editions (De Homine, 1662, 1664) and their illustrations remain little known. Dutch physician and botanist Florentius Schuyl (1619-1669) both edited and illustrated the Latin editions with woodcuts and copperplate engravings. Although Schuyl faithfully illustrated Descartes' mistaken notions concerning the location and motility of the pineal gland, other mistakes and innovations were due to Schuyl rather than Descartes. These include (1) the mistake of illustrating the mythical human rete mirabile more than a century after Jacopo Berengario da Carpi (1460-1530) and Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) had denied its existence in humans; (2) the mistake of illustrating an ungulate aortic arch as that of a human; and (3) the insight and courage to modify a Vesalian diagram to show a pre-Willisian circle of Willis, following Giulio Casseri (1552-1616) and Johann Vesling (1598-1649).

Serendipity has played a significant role in the discovery of several key antiseizure medications, when unexpected observations have led to groundbreaking treatments. This narrative review explores the historical context of serendipitous discoveries in epilepsy pharmacotherapy, highlighting how drugs such as potassium bromide, phenobarbital, valproic acid, and levetiracetam emerged through unintended observations rather than rational drug design. Whereas early antiseizure medications were often identified by chance, modern drug development has shifted toward a target-based approach, leveraging advances in molecular biology and high-throughput screening to identify promising therapeutic agents. Despite this evolution, serendipity remains relevant, as unanticipated findings continue to shape epilepsy treatment and expand the therapeutic landscape. By analyzing past discoveries, this review underscores the interplay between structured scientific inquiry and chance observations, emphasizing the need for prepared minds to recognize and capitalize on unexpected breakthroughs in epilepsy drug development.

Phineas P. Gage's 1848 brain injury is a seminal case in the history of neuroscience, yet its nineteenth-century media coverage has remained largely unexplored. We adopted a novel methodological approach, systematically screening newly digitized newspaper archives (Newspapers.com^™, Google News Archives, and Chronicling America) for articles published in the United States between 1848 and 1899, retrieving a total of 831 reports. Analysis revealed that most coverage (72.44%) occurred posthumously, questioning the relevance of later accounts and the prominence of Gage's case during his own lifetime. Despite numerous reprints, misspellings, and inaccuracies, previously unknown primary sources were identified, providing new evidence of Gage's functional recovery, occasional exhibitions in New England, early references in European journals, and unpublished photographs and drawings of his skull and tamping iron. Accounts from 1848-1849, in particular, offer detailed insights into the immediate aftermath and public reception of the accident. These findings highlight the intersections between the history of medicine and media, challenging assumptions about the uniqueness of Gage's case and illustrating how nineteenth-century newspapers shaped public perceptions of brain injury. Digitized archives now provide an unprecedented opportunity to reassess historical cases and improve the accuracy of information regarding Phineas P. Gage's life.

René Descartes (1596-1650) was a brilliant thinker whose ideas are still reflected upon today. The Cartesian view that the pineal gland is the seat of the soul was criticized early on by Thomas Willis, Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, and Immanuel Kant, among others. Nevertheless, this historical error is still being propagated today: Helena Blavatsky supplemented this in 1888 with so-called ancient Indian knowledge about chakras, and Rudolf Steiner saw the human link to cosmic energies in the pineal calcite deposits in 1922/1923. These ideas can also be found in current medical studies. In this study, these sources are critically discussed transculturally in the context of current anatomical, physiological, and evolutionary biological knowledge.

In this article, I gloss and bring together two narratives from the cultural history of neuropsychology. First, I explore the theatrical aspects of the practice of the founder of French neurology, Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893), characterizing his lecture style and diagnostic practice as a dramaturgical or choreological method. Charcot and his peers depicted the neuropathological body as a sensorial assemblage whose expressions and inputs could be charted across the dimensions of time and space, each body acting within an often determinative mise en scène, as in a theater. This echoed Richard Wagner's influential concept of a musico-dramatic Gesamtkunstwerk, or a totalizing combination of diverse actions, sensory inputs, sounds, and responses. I then trace reverberations from Charcot's practice within the theater of his own time and beyond, isolating the main trends. Charcot's lectures, and particularly his famous work on hysteroepilepsy and hypnosis, meant that although he and his peers championed neoclassical performances, their influence was most pronounced upon grotesque cabaretic mime and dance; the semihypnotized performance style of expressionism; the balance of automatism versus conscious reflection promoted by Konstantin Stanislavski; and, above all, the fraught depiction of modern nervous character types and women by Émile Zola and Henrik Ibsen.