Historia de la Medicina: Galeno y Otros

Galeno and the Complexity of the Body

• Galeno believed the human body's complexity and harmony weren't accidental.
• He observed that having two hands, for instance, was advantageous for tasks a single hand couldn't perform.
• He developed a method to treat illnesses, attributing ailments to emotions like anger, fear, and envy.

Democritus: Matter and Mind

• Democritus proposed the human mind was also composed of atoms that interact with the external world.
• Mental content is a result of experience.

Aristotle's Observational Approach

• Aristotle used observation in his work.
• He outlined fundamental principles of human memory.
• He argued all ideas, even those considered innate, originate from experience.

Hippocrates' Naturalistic Beliefs

• Hippocrates emphasized natural causes for illnesses, advocating for natural remedies like rest, exercise, music, diet, and leisure.
• He stressed the importance of these factors to restore bodily harmony.

Socrates and the Socratic Method

• Socrates believed truth is found within each individual, not dictated by authority.
• He employed the Socratic method, a questioning approach, to stimulate critical thinking and to discover truth.
• He viewed teaching as a partnership, rather than a position of superiority.

Plato's Deductive Reasoning

• Plato questioned the reliability of sensory information.
• He distinguished between deductive reasoning (knowledge derived from reasoning about sensations) through measurements and deductive reasoning.

Plato's Tripartite Soul

• Plato divided the psyche into three types of souls:
  • Rational Soul: Located in the head, considered immortal, connected to Forms and knowledge, controlling the other souls.
  • Spirited Soul: Situated in the chest, mortal, concerned with honor and glory.
  • Appetitive Soul: Located in the abdomen, mortal, focused on bodily pleasures.

The Beginnings of Physiology

• Early biology combined anatomy, surgery, and knowledge of medicinal plants.

René Descartes: Mind-Body Connection

• Descartes proposed the brain as the central organ of the mind.
• He posited nerves transmit signals between the brain and body.
• He suggested the pineal gland as the connection between the mind and body..

Charles Bell's Sensory Perceptions

• Charles Bell proposed that one stimulus can elicit various sensations in different parts of the body.
• A potent stimulus, like a blow to the head, can produce sensations of pain, light flashes, and sounds, due to the involvement of multiple sensory systems.

Fechner: Quantifying Sensation

• Fechner sought to establish a quantitative link between physical stimuli and subjective sensations.
• He noticed that constant increments of stimulus corresponded to consistently perceptible increments of experience.

Wundt: Establishing Psychology as a Science

• Wundt founded the first psychology lab in 1879.
• His research focused on sensation, such as sensory modality, intensity, duration, and extension.
• He sought to measure response times to stimuli and explore cognitive processes.

Early Psychology and the Rise of Science

• The 19th century witnessed accelerating scientific advancements.
• The harnessing of electricity had various profound impacts on societal life
• Romantic thinkers disputed rationalism, emphasizing emotions.

Mesmerism and the Supernatural

• Mesmer's techniques, involving hypnosis, were based on mystical claims.
• He believed in animal magnetism explaining psychic phenomena.

Gall's Phrenology

• Gall posited a link between personality traits and the shape of the skull.
• He associated brain regions with specific traits, arguing that prominent bumps on the skull could correspond to stronger brain regions, thus personalities..

Magendie: Nervous System Functions

• Magendie's research highlighted the separate functions of nerve paths in the spinal cord.
• His experiments provided valuable insights in the field of neurology

Charcot and Psychopathology

• Charcot connected psychological disorders with medical treatments, linking mental illness to physical ailments.
• He founded the first psychology department
• He contributed by studying psychological conditions.

Pavlov's Classical Conditioning

• Pavlov's work introduced the concept of classical conditioning.
• This theory emphasized how learning occurs through stimulus-response associations.