The Birth of a New Science

Abstract

Neuroscience is a relatively new area of study, and yet interest in the brain stretches back through the ages. Human beings have always been curious to understand the brain and how it relates to the body and mind. Many contemporary neuroscience issues have ancient roots, with diverse cultures and peoples through the ages contributing to what is known today. Chapter 1 provides some of the historical highlights that have shaped contemporary neuroscience. Beginning with ancient Egypt, China, Greece, and Rome, this chapter provides early conceptions that prevision modern findings. The Roman physician Galen’s models of brain structure and function were accepted for more than 1200 years until Andreas Vesalius’s careful observations and drawings showed Galen to be wrong about the relationship between brain fluids and functions. This chapter describes Galvani and Volta’s discoveries about electricity and the electrical properties of the nervous system, which added a new dimension to understanding brain functions. The great debates between holism and localization continued up to the twentieth century with discoveries of local areas for language countered by findings for holistic brain patterns. More integrative models emerged into the twentieth century from Hughlings Jackson, Alexander Luria, Ramon y Cajal, and Camillo Golgi. With Otto Loewi’s discovery of neurotransmitters, neuroscience entered the modern era. This chapter brings the history of neuroscience to life and provides a firm foundation on how we got to where we are today.