History of Brain Study

• The earliest study of the nervous system dates back to ancient Egypt.
• In the late Middle Kingdom onwards, the Egyptians removed the brain in preparation for mummification.
• The view that the heart was the source of consciousness was not challenged until the time of the Greek physician Hippocrates.
• Plato also speculated that the brain was the seat of the rational part of the soul.
• Aristotle, however, believed the heart was the center of intelligence and that the brain regulated the amount of heat from the heart.
• Studies of the brain became more sophisticated after the invention of the microscope and the development of a staining procedure by Camillo Golgi.
• The technique used a silver chromate salt to reveal the intricate structures of individual neurons.
• Santiago Ramón y Cajal and led to the formation of the neuron doctrine, the hypothesis that the functional unit of the brain is the neuron.

Explore the historical evolution of the study of the nervous system from ancient Egypt to the development of the neuron doctrine. Learn about the contributions of key figures such as Hippocrates, Plato, Aristotle, Camillo Golgi, and Santiago Ramón y Cajal.