Download Cerebrum Renatus Conference (3)

Rania Hanna, Moravian College
Introduction
• Rinascimento and nascere. These two Italian words combine and give
semantic life to a blossoming period of human intellectuality. The Renaissance
was a period during which the field of neuroscience experienced a rising phase
in knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the brain. Artists and scientists
alike drew intellectual blood from each other to give life and meaning to the
mysticism surrounding the human brain. This cerebral lifeblood is what helped
shape our modern field of neuroscience into the frontier it has become.
FRO
NTA
L
•Sketchings to allow for fluid embodiment of his brainstorming and rapid ideas
SIN
(Kickhöfel, 2009).
US
worked to understand the anatomy of the brain’s ventricles:
Leonardo da Vinci
Sahar Tabshi, Moravian College
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti
•hidden codes
•not life, but mind
•sagittal view
•soul is not as important a
factor in describing humanity;
rather, the mind
and the intellect are
•brain stem
•Master of light depiction
Rene Descartes
origin of the ‘animal spirits’ to the pineal gland
movement and sensation
within the nerves of the body are tiny ‘valvules’ that operated
to control the flow of the spirits into and out of the nerves
(Finger, 1994)
pineal-gland theory for movement
optics
mechanical device
but with God-given intellect
•injected cattle brains with molten wax by using a syringe in order to
decipher the true ventricular delineations of the brain (Finger, 1994).
•first accurate depictions of the middle and anterior meningeal arteries, and the
cranial fossae (Pevsner, 2002).
•identify the frontal sinus: original discovery
•center of gravity
•first scientist to pith animals
•the spinal cord was the control region for movement and was the source of
sustenance of life.
•determined that the spinal cord was necessary for movement, life, and
tactile sensation
•region of origin for the nerves enervating the limbs (Pevsner, 2002).
•soul resides in the brain
•a spirit moved through the nerves and into the ventricles, and
vice versa, and controlled the outpourings of the brain, including
sensory information, cognition, and movement.
Vesalius
Niels Stensen
Archangelo Piccolomini
center of dignity (Suter and Piccolomini, 2010)
“cerebrum” when speaking of the cerebral cortex
“medulla” when referring to the white matter tracts
one of the first to make the distinction between the white matter
and the cerebral cortex
Giulio Cesare Aranzio
science of the ancients needed to constantly be reevaluated to
ensure the correct arrival to truth (Perrini, et al., 2010)
against the idea of ventricular localization of the soul
blind loyalty to ancient scientific concepts was demolished
scientific method
interpretation of results based on proper analysis
disagreed with Descartes
hydrocephaly
CSF
Cerebral localization
criticized dissection methods
criticize Willis’ drawings
animal research
study dysfunction to determine function
Dominco Mistichelli
•both drew upon and criticized the work of Galen
•brain and its nerves were responsible for muscular movement
•animal spirits resided in the ventricles
•ventricles filled with CSF, therefore: four humors theory
•ventricular localization (Finger, 1994)
•criticized the prevailing theory of ventricular localization
•ventricles not seat of cognition and higher-order faculties (Finger, 1994)
•brain’s ventricles origin of ‘animal spirits’
•brain is seat of intellect, movement, and sensation
first anatomist to describe and depict the inferior sections of the cerebrum’s ventricles
hippocampus
choroid plexus
Pyramidal decussation and the spinal cord pathways
discovery: cistern of cerebellum (fourth ventricle)
comparative anatomy
pyramidal tracts
Rania Hanna, Moravian College
Introduction
Rinascimento and nascere. These two Italian words combine and give
semantic life to a blossoming period of human intellectuality. The Renaissance
was a period during which the field of neuroscience experienced a rising phase
in knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the brain. Artists and scientists
alike drew intellectual blood from each other to give life and meaning to the
mysticism surrounding the human brain. This cerebral lifeblood is what helped
shape our modern field of neuroscience into the frontier it has become.
Leonardo da Vinci
.In the early 1500’s, da Vinci worked to understand the anatomy
FRO of the brain’s
ventricles. He injected cattle brains with molten wax byNTA
using a syringe in order
to decipher the true ventricular delineations of the brain (Finger, 1994). He used
L
his wax casts to then create artistic renditions of the ventricles and to further
SIN
knowledge of the brain’s true shape. Da vinci’s drawings of the skull included the
US
first accurate depictions of the middle and anterior meningeal arteries, and the
cranial fossae (Pevsner, 2002). His skull drawings also show the center of gravity
upon which the body of the head rotates (Pevsner, 2002).
Leonardo da Vinci was the first scientist to pith
animals. He reckoned that the spinal cord was the control
region for movement and was the source of sustenance of life.
Based on his experimental evidence, he determined that the
spinal cord was necessary not only for movement and life, but
also for tactile sensation and was the region of origin for the nerves enervating
the limbs (Pevsner, 2002). However, he also believed that the soul residing in the
brain could generate movement. Also accepted by da Vinci was the idea that a
spirit moved through the nerves and into the ventricles, and vice versa, and
controlled the outpourings of the brain, including sensory information, cognition,
and movement.. Leonardo’s skull drawings depict the third ventricle, which was
considered the area of common sense, the region at which the sense converge
(senso commune), and which was believed to be the seat of the soul (Pevsner,
2002). However, even with his spiritual view of the brain’s ventricular system, da
Vinci described it using mechanical terminology, including force and pressure
(Pevsner, 2002).
Sahar Tabshi, Moravian College
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti
Michelangelo left hidden codes within his painting of the Creation of
Adam (Meshberger, 1990). In this painting, God and Adam are
outstretched towards each other, their fingers almost touching. One can
imagine that God is releasing His spark of life unto Adam; however,
Adam’s eyes are already open and he is apparently alert and oriented.
Through this image of Adam’s open eyes, then, was a message that
reflected Michelangelo’s thoughts: it is not life that God was giving
Adam, but rather, a mind, that is, the intellect (Meshberger, 1990). This
proposition is further supported by the outline that is delineated around
the image of God: a sagittal view of the brain.
Archangelo Piccolomini
Archangelo Piccolomini believed that the center of dignity is the brain (Suter and
Piccolomini, 2010). He used the term “cerebrum” when speaking of the cerebral
cortex, and used the term “medulla” when referring to the white matter tracts
(History of Neuroscience). He was one of the first scientists to make the
distinction between the white matter and the cerebral cortex. He also labored in
determining the origin of some of the cranial nerves.
Vesalius
Vesalius studied anatomy by dissecting corpses from cemeteries and execution
sites (Haas & Lewis, 1999). Vesalius criticized the prevailing theory of
ventricular localization. He argued that animals other than humans possessed
ventricles of similar shape and size to human brain ventricles, and these same
non-human animals did not have the same mental capacity as humans.
Therefore, he concluded, the ventricles are not the seat of cognition and higherorder faculties (Finger, 1994). However, Vesalius still upheld the belief that the
brain’s ventricles were the origin of ‘animal spirits’. He believed that the
ventricles were cavities in which air inhaled by an individual mixed with the
heart’s fluids, and through the brain, were transformed into animal spirits
(Finger, 1994). This belief, though strange today, was resonant with the
prevailing theory of Vesalius’ time that animal spirits and a soul animated the
human body, and the brain was the seat of the soul. Vesalius, however, still
believed that the brain was the seat of intellect, movement, and sensation.
Giulio Cesare Aranzio
Giulio Cesare Aranzio was the first anatomist to describe and depict the
inferior sections of the cerebrum’s ventricles (Block, 2010).
He also named and described the hippocampus, using the
Greek word for seahorse.
Dominco Mistichelli
Dominco Mistichelli described pyramidal decussation and the spinal cord
pathways . , Mistichelli is credited with being the first to write down anything
substantial about the pyramidal tracts
Rene Descartes
Rene Descartes associated the origin of the ‘animal spirits’ to the
pineal gland. The pineal gland, to Descartes, was associated with
movement and sensation. He believed that within the nerves of
the body are tiny ‘valvules’ that operated to control the flow of
the spirits into and out of the nerves (Finger, 1994). He thought
that this idea of the ‘valvules’ would explain involuntary
movement—stimuli would present themselves on the skin,
which would in turn pull on the strands connecting to the
valvules, which then in turn control the release of animal spirits,
which would cause some muscular activity. However, for
voluntary movement, Descartes implicated that the pineal
gland’s movements caused muscular movements by controlling
the rate at which spirits were sent out to the nerves.
This pineal-gland theory for movement made
sense to Descartes because this part of the
brain is surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid,
in which, Descartes believed, the animal
spirits were housed. Descartes viewed the
human body as a mechanical device, created
by the hand of God, but still purely
mechanical, a machine, different from the
beasts only because of a God-given intellect. He also did much
work on the neuro-optical connection, explaining how the eye
and brain work together to perceive objects.
Niels Stensen
Niels Stensen argued against the idea of ventricular localization
of the soul. It is partly due to Stenson that the blind loyalty to
ancient scientific concepts was demolished, and the scientific
method, and the interpretation of results based on proper analysis
came into play in the scientific arena. He disagreed with
Descartes’ opinion that the body is a machine that is controlled by
the soul which resides in the pineal gland.
Stenson addressed issues as hydrocephaly, publishing a paper on
his findings about a hydrocephalus calf. It is partly due to these
studies that the true function of the cerebrospinal fluid, and the
idea of cerebral localization came into play. He criticized the
method used by scientists in dissection: using transverse planes to
study the structures of the brain. Instead, proposed Stenson,
examiners of the brain should follow the white matter tracts to
study their journey through the brain, thus better observing the
connections between brain structures (Perrini, et al., 2010). He
pushed that the brain should be dissected while still within the
skull, in an effort to better understand how structures are
connected and partly, to avoid damage to parts that could have
important implications in understanding the brain and its
functions