The Principles And History Of Phrenology

The nineteenth century saw an explosion in knowledge regarding the brain unlike any before. For centuries, the brain had been considered the seat of human intelligence. However, the brain of the classics was a singular organ of

“A cat-scan computer generated x-ray pictures of the human brain, exposing the secrets that lay hidden within the skull.” (Ch8, pg38)

In the novel Phineas Gage, A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman, Chapter 2 “What we thought about how we thought” tells about what doctors in the late 1800s thought about Brain Science. Phineas Gage was a man that lived in the late 1800s he had an accident were a tamping iron went through his cheek through his brain and out of his forehead. Whereas there were two schools of thought about how the brain worked,doctor's knowledge and standards were dangerous also their information about the brain was inaccurate.

In the excerpt “Right Brain Rising”, Daniel Pink tells his experience in depth detail of an intriguing brain scan beneficial both to his curious mind, and the world of science. He then goes on to inform readers of the two distinct halves resting in our skulls; following up with the past inferiority associated with the human right brain, thought to be due to years of evolution. After acknowledging the disproved theory, Pink delves into information pertaining to psychology’s six

In Eric Kandel's Aplysia experiment, Kandel showed that a slug lost sensitivity in its gills, after repeated contact to which Carr states "the brain...change[s] with experience, circumstance, and need". Both, Kandel's and Merzenich's, experiments lead to the same conclusion of the physical body adapting in real-time to the environment. Carr briefly writes how a man named Bernstein regained movement in his hand and leg after damaging his brain which regulated movement and how through the use of technology analyzing neural activity, Carr tells how violinists had increased cortical areas of their right hand compared to nonmusicians, and compared to their own left cortical areas. Carr's final example for the brain's plasticity is with Pascual-Leone's experiment. Pascual-Leone mapped the brain activity of a group of people playing certain notes on a piano, and a group imagining themselves playing the notes. He concluded that their brains had both changed in response to the experiment, both in playing, and imagining playing. Pascual-Leone's work showed that the human brain can change itself neurologically without physical activity. Carr summarizes, "We become, neurologically, what we think". Carr asserts through these scientific experiments that not only were Freud, J.Z. Young, and William James, correct , but "the adult brain...is not just plastic but...'massively plastic.'" Carr

Part one of Oliver Sack’ book, “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat”, is about losses. The impairment or incapacity of neurological function of those who have loss or lack some of the functions of their brain. Neurological impairments that categorize with loss of functions are loss of vision, speech, language, memory, dexterity, and identity. Some of the diseases or dysfunctions that classify these impairments are Aphonia, Aphemia, Aphasia, Alexia, Apraxia, Agnosia, amnesia, and Ataxia (Sacks 3). It was Paul Broca in 1861 who began the study of the relationship between the brain and mind when a patient case had damaged to the left hemisphere of the brain resulting in aphasia, loss of speech. It was due to this to which it paved the way

The human mind is the center of a person’s reasoning and thoughts and today it has gone from a mystery to a unique feature in the human anatomy. The mind is home to one's consciousness, perception, thinking, judgement, and memory. The brain also controls a person's muscle movement, breathing, and even their body temperature. Its anatomy is so complex that many doctors and scientists are continually learning and understanding how the different features of the brain work together to function as one of the body’s most interesting organs. Those who do study the way the brain and the nervous system function together are quite brilliant and are one of the most dedicated group of doctors. There are many fields

In his book Science and Religion: A Very Short Introduction: A Very Short Introduction Thomas Dixon offers something of a neurological explanation as to why the human mind, also referred to interchangeably as the soul, is more than simple brain activity that pushes us towards wealth. While phrenology is not a legitimate science, there is legitimacy to the notion that different parts of the brain correlate with different functions

The neurosurgical procedure lobotomy is based on the concept of localization of function. Localization of function is the idea that there is a direct correspondence between specific cognitive functions and specific parts of the brain. Localization of function comes from the idea of phrenology, which is the study of the shape, size, and protrusions of the cranium in an attempt to discover the relationships between parts of the brain and various mental activities and abilities. Localization of function is shaped by the work of Shepherd Franz and Karl Lashley. Franz and Lashley studied the effects of ablation of the frontal lobes in rats. They did this by observing the animals after they made small holes on their skulls. The results of these studies

In the article titled, “Secrets of the Brain” published in the February 2014 issue of National Geographic, we learn that there have been many advances in understanding the inner workings of our brains. One of the leading scentists, Van Weeden, is working hard to understand the connections that occur within our heads.

Compare and contrast Wilhelm Wundt’s (1832-1920) and Edward Titchener’s (1867-1927) systems of Psychology.History of Psychology

The concept of neuroplasticity has long been questioned. The term of “neuroplasticity” did not even come about until the mid-late 20th century. When the term “plastic” was used to describe the brain by a select few neuroscientists, they were laughed at and the term was never thought of as a description for the human brain. The human brain was seen as a closed circuit and one that once you had it, you definitely had it. Scientists thought the brain would not develop anymore past a certain point in your life. Norman Doidge brings the concept of neuroplasticity into reality in his book “The Brain that Changes Itself,” a book about the triumphs in the frontier of brain science.

I read the article, “Secrets of the Brain”, found in the February 2014 issue of National Geographic written by Carl Zimmer. I chose this subject because I have been fascinated with the brain and how it works. The research of the brain has been ongoing for many centuries now. The history in this article is interesting. It explained how scientists used to understand the brain and its inner workings. For example, “in the ancient world physicians believed that the brain was made of phlegm. Aristotle looked on it as a refrigerator, cooling of the fiery heart. From his time through the Renaissance, anatomists declared with great authority that our perceptions, emotions, reasoning, and actions were all the result of “animal spirits”—mysterious, unknowable vapors that swirled through cavities in our head and traveled through our bodies.” (Zimmer, p. 38)

Early research in the field of phrenology was conducted by its founders, Franz Gall and Johann Spurzheim. The research constructed the foundation that the science would base all of its future concepts on. A key component of phrenology’s early research was the idea that certain individuals obtained specific characteristics due to the size and shape of their head. By connecting these characteristics with similarities in shapes amongst certain races; the first concepts of phrenology focused on the differentiation of abilities between races. In Franz Gall’s early published work, Functions of the Brain, he describes how people of African descent were “inferior to the European in intellectual faculties” (255) because it was believed that they had “the head smaller, and a cerebral mass less than the inhabitants of Europe” (255). Gall discovered smaller

The human brain is a mystery that has been studied for centuries in attempt to understand how it functions. Scientists first thought that the brain was a structure that functioned a whole. It was in the early 1600’s where the first ideas of localisation of function in the brain started. At this time Rene Descartes discovered a tiny structure called the pineal