Origins of Neuroscience

The juxtaposition of historical ideas and brain functions is presented here in a highly readable fashion. The roots of neurology, neuropsychology, and neuroscience are traced, emphasizing the functions of the brain and how they came to be associated with specific brain parts and systems. Part I is devoted to discussions of science and medicine in the early cultures of Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, as well as an overview of key figures and several landmark events of the Renaissance, the nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries. Part II begins with the sensory systems, starting with vision and audition, working through the skin senses and ending with gustation and olfaction. Part III details the latest advances in motor systems while including the histories of several of the most common movement disorders, like Parkinson's disease, Huntingdon's chorea, and Tourette's syndrome. Part IV examines the history of sleep, dreaming, and the emotions, while the succeeding part discusses higher functions of the brain and the brain as the organ of intellect. Part V also incorporates a discussion of the neurobiology of learning and of several disorders affecting memory. The final chapters of the book discuss therapies for various brain injuries, and how physicians and scientists began to account for recovery of function, by recognizing factors such as age at the time of injury, which might affect one's response to brain damage. Students and scholars in the neural sciences, as well as those interested in the history of science and medicine, will find the entire volume useful as a reference for learning about the origins of specific neurological functions or ideas.