Brain Renaissance From Vesalius to Modern Neuroscience

by Catani, Marco; Sandrone, Stefano

• ISBN13: 9780199383832
• ISBN10: 0199383839
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2015-05-04
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Brain Renaissance: From Vesalius to Modern Neuroscience is published on the 500th anniversary of the birth and the 450th anniversary of the death of Vesalius. The authors translated those Latin chapters of the Fabrica dedicated to the brain, a milestone in the history of neuroscience. Many chapters are accompanied by a commentary tracking the discoveries that paved the way to our modern understanding of the brain - from the pineal gland that regulates sleep, the fornix and mammillary bodies for memory, the colliculi for auditory and visual perception, and the cerebellum for motor control, to the corpus callosum for interhemispheric cross-talk, the neural correlates of senses, and the methods for dissections. The chapters constitute a primer for those interested in the brain and history of neuroscience. The translation, written with modern anatomical terminology in mind, provides direct access to Vesalius' original work on the brain. Those interested in reading the words of the Renaissance master will find the book an invaluable addition to their Vesalian collection.

Brain Renaissance pays a tribute to the work of the pioneers of neuroscience and to the lives of those with brain disorders, through whose suffering most discoveries are made. It's an unforgettable journey inspired by the work of the great anatomist, whose words still resonate today.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments

PART ONE: VESALIUS'S LIFE: THE ANATOMY OF AN ANATOMIST
1. Vesalius, a Man of His TIme
2. A Flemish Formation in Brussels and Leuven
3. Vesalius Meets Galen in Paris
4. The Paduan School of Anatomy
5. A Slow Departure From Galen
6. The Making of the Fabrica
7. Dissecting the Fabrica
8. Vesalius and Venice
9. A Life Among Eminent Men, with Many Honors and Gifts
10. From Anatomy to Surgery
11. Desolation in Spain
12. The Last Journey

PART TWO: THE FABRICA OF THE HUMAN BRAIN
13. The Brain Is Fabricated for the Sake of the Supreme Spirit, the Senses, and Also the Movement That Depends upon Our Will
14. On the Hard Membrane That Surrounds the Brain and the Small Membrane Covering the Skull Under the Skin
15. On the Thin Membrane of the Brain
16. On the Number, Position, Shape, Convolutions, and Substance of the Brain and Cerebellum
Commentary: Scratching the Surface of Complexity
17. On the Corpus Callosum of the Brain and the Septum of the Right and Left Ventricles
Commentary: The Corpus Callosum: A Tale of Anarchic Hands and Split Brains
18. On the Cerebral Ventricles
Commentary: The Liqour of our Souls
19. On the Brain Structure That Expert Dissectors Have Compared to a Tortoise-Like Vault
Commentary: The Fornix: A Memory Thread in the Brain
20. On the Cerebral Gland Resembling a Pine Nut
Commentary: The Pineal Gland: From the Seat of the Soul to the "SAD" Lamps
21. On the Testes and the Buttocks of the Brain
: Commentary: Sex on the Hills
22. On the Cerebellar Processes Resembling Worms and the Tendons That Contain Them
Commentary: The Cerebellum: More Than a Little Brain
23. On the Infundibulum, the Glandule That Receives the Cerebral Phlegm, and the Other Ducts That Clense It
Commentary: The Axis of Survival
24. On the Networks of the Brain Believed to Be Similar to the Reticular Plexus and the Placenta
Commentary: The Net of Wonder
25. On the Organ of Smell
26. On the Eye, the Instrument of Vision
27. On the Organ of Hearing
28. On the Organ of Taste
29. On the Organ of Touch
30. How to Dissect the Brain and all the Other Organs Discussed in This Book

PART THREE: A BRIEF HISTORY OF NEUROSCIENCE FROM VESALIUS TO THE CONNECTOME
31. Introduction to Network Neuroscience
32. Protoconnectome Maps
33. Seeing Things in Gray and White
34. Phrenology and Animal Electricity
35. Microscope Discoveries
36. Early Cartography
37. From Electrophysiology to Neuroimaging
38. Metaphors and Myths

Appendix: Figures from the Seventh Book of the Fabrica
Notes
References
Index