Posted at May 29/2005 11:15AM:
?

Neuroscience and Conciousness

Date: May 27, 2005 ...

Summary: A BRIEF HISTORY OF MIND Fifteen years after President Bush senior inaugurated “The Decade of the Brain,” it is hard to believe that until fairly recently in human history, the idea that the brain is even involved in mental life was a matter of considerable dispute. Indeed, the first thinker on record to suggest a link between mind and brain was the Pythagorean Alcmaeon of Croton, writing in the fifth century BCE. Prior to that, across cultures, it was widely held that the mind, or soul, was located in the heart. The priests of ancient Egypt, for example, when preparing the body of the deceased for the afterlife, would pull out the brain, piece by piece through the nose, but would leave the heart intact, believing it to be the center of a person’s being and intelligence. In most ancient cultures, the idea of dissecting a cadaver was taboo, so with no knowledge of the nervous system, it was only natural to conclude that the accelerated heartbeat that accompanied an excited mind was a clear indication of the bodily location of mental life. Even such great thinkers as Aristotle subscribed to this view. But, rigorous biologist that he was, Greece’s greatest polymath was certain that the brain must serve some function. Noticing that it was cool to the touch, he concluded that it refrigerated the blood—a conclusion that also allowed him to account for the inordinately large brains of humans. Because of our unusual intelligence, he argued, our hearts produced more heat and, thus, required a larger cooling system. ...

Slides, Notes, etc.: See Craig Hamilton > http://www.wie.org/bios/craig-hamilton.asp?ifr=voi ...

Questions or comments? Use the 'Post your comments' area at the bottom of the page.

Back to Page