ENVS178 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Luigi Galvani, Paul Broca, Grey Matter

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Environmental Studies
• Course: ENVS178
• Professor: Christine Dupont

Document Summary

Views of the brain in ancient greece: hippocrates (460 379 b. c. He proposed that the brain mechanisms for a human are similar to that of a beast only to a certain extent. This pattern enables the parceling of the cerebrum into lobes; the basis of speculation that different functions might be localized to the different bumps on the brain. In 1751, benjamin franklin published a pamphlet which heralded a new understanding of electrical phenomena. Italian scientist, luigi galvani and german biologist emil du bois-reymond had shown that muscles can be caused to twitch when nerves are stimulated electrically and that the brain itself can generate electricity. This discovery replaced the idea that nerve communication with the brain was controlled by the movement of fluid. Bell and magendie employed to identify the functions of the spinal roots: to destroy these parts of the brain and test for sensory and motor deficits experimental ablation method.