“Mirum est si intellectus noster omnem scientiam accipiens ex phantasmate”

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ile Vlad
Keyword(s):  
Unique Feature ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
The Body ◽  
Direct Influence ◽  
Living Things ◽  
Albert The Great ◽  
Human Intellect ◽  
In Virtue Of ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Humoral Activity

Abstract Albert`s so called “anthropology” is putting the human being on the top of a hierarchy of living things in virtue of a unique feature – i.e. the possession of the intellect – that offers the possibility to transcend the changing realm of nature and to rise its possessor to the dignity of his creator. Although, throughout his corpus Albert often defends the independence of the human intellect from matter and consequently from the body and senses, his works of natural philosophy seem to give us a different perspective. In De animalibus, Albert is considering the brain as the divine member of the body responsible for the operations of sensation and, to a certain degree, of intellection. Such being the case, the entire humoral activity of the human body has a direct influence on the activity of the intellect, in spite of its divine nature. Accordingly, the main purpose of my study is to point out how the classical humoral theory is integrated by Albert the Great in his physiological consideration for an explanation of the intellect placed between the murky boundaries of natural philosophy and metaphysics.

scholarly journals Effect of novel phenothiazine derivatives on brain dopamine in Wistar rats

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chandravadivelu Gopi ◽  
Vedula Girija Sastry ◽  
Magharla Dasaratha Dhanaraju
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Spectroscopic Method ◽  
The Body ◽  
Dopamine Level ◽  
Phenothiazine Derivatives ◽  
Brain Dopamine ◽  
Standard Drug ◽  
Living Things ◽  
Double Beam ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Background Neurotransmitters are involved in several functions in the brain and the body of living things. Changes in the level of neurotransmitters in the brain are associated with several illnesses. Some of the drugs are controlling the neurotransmitter by adjusting the level in the brain and are exclusively used in the treatment of psychological disorders. The purpose of the study was to find out the effect of novel synthesised phenothiazine derivatives (GC1, GC2 and GC8) either alone (7.5 mg/kg or 15 mg/kg, oral) or in combination with amphetamine on the experimental animals. Results Dopamine level in rat brain was estimated by a spectroscopic method using the UV-visible double beam spectrophotometer at 735 nm. The results revealed that these derivatives blocked the brain dopamine level significantly. The compound GC8 (15 mg/kg) significantly reduced the level of dopamine (0.151 ± 0.04, 0.284 ± 0.03) as similar to that of a standard drug. Furthermore, compounds GC2 (15 mg/kg) and GC1 (15 mg/kg) exhibited a varying level of dopamine inhibition level and have been found at 0.203 ± 0.06 μg/ml, 0.302 ± 0.04 μg/ml, 0.234 ± 0.02 μg/ml and 0.318 ± 0.07 μg/ml, respectively, after the administration of these derivatives either alone or in combination with amphetamine. Conclusions The study revealed that the compound 2-amino-6-(3-hydroxy-4-methyl phenyl) pyrimidine-4-yl) (7-chloro-10-(3- (N, N-dimethylamino) propyl)-10H-phenothiazine-3-yl) methanone (GC8, 15 mg/kg) extensively reduced the dopamine level. The order of dopamine-inhibiting effect of the selected compound was found to be GC8 > GC2 > GC1. The increased body weight and relative brain-body weight were also observed in the tested animals due to more intake of food and fluid retention. Graphical abstract

scholarly journals An Early History of Neuroglial Research: Personalities

Neuroglia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 245-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandr Chvátal ◽  
Alexei Verkhratsky
Keyword(s):  
Brain Function ◽  
Nervous Tissue ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
The Body ◽  
Hellenistic World ◽  
Multiple Cell ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Brain

Neuroscience, like most other divisions of natural philosophy, emerged in the Hellenistic world following the first experimental discoveries of the nerves connecting the brain with the body. The first fundamental doctrine on brain function highlighted the role for a specific substance, pneuma, which appeared as a substrate for brain function and, being transported through the hollow nerves, operated the peripheral organs. A paradigm shift occurred in 17th century when brain function was relocated to the grey matter. Beginning from the end of the 18th century, the existence of active and passive portions of the nervous tissue were postulated. The passive part of the nervous tissue has been further conceptualised by Rudolf Virchow, who introduced the notion of neuroglia as a connective tissue of the brain and the spinal cord. During the second half of the 19th century, the cellular architecture of the brain was been extensively studied, which led to an in-depth morphological characterisation of multiple cell types, including a detailed description of the neuroglia. Here, we present the views and discoveries of the main personalities of early neuroglial research.

The CRF Signal

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Schulkin
Keyword(s):  
Common Knowledge ◽  
The Body ◽  
Behavioral Regulation ◽  
Corticotrophin Releasing Factor ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
Living Things ◽  
Fear And Anxiety ◽  
Mental And Physical Health ◽  
The Brain

This book discusses just how diverse a peptide corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) is, as demonstrated by its presence in various tissues in the body, including the skin, the placenta, and various regions of the brain. As Dobzhansky (1962) noted, in light of Darwin (1874), and beyond, CRF must be placed in the larger world of regulatory biology. Evolutionary trends do not proceed in a continuous one-dimensional direction; there are starts, turns, and abrupt ends. The study of CRF is mostly about diverse functions in physiological and behavioral regulation of the internal milieu and adapting to an ecological and or social context. The book begins with a depiction of the evolutionary origins of CRF in living things, dating back hundreds of millions of years. The book pushes the conception of CRF beyond the HPA axis and common knowledge. We study the role of CRF in metamorphosis and parturition. Further, CRF is a contributor to fear and anxiety, and the book explains how excessive fear is tied to anxiety disorders and vulnerability to the breakdown of mental and physical health. Also discussed is CRF in approach/avoidance behaviors across pre- and postnatal events. CRF is intimately involved in organ development, but it is also linked to devolution of function and conditions of danger. Cravings, addictions, and how CRF is tied both to the ingestion of diverse drugs and to withdrawal are explored. CRF is considered as an epistemic object, addressing what constitutes an information molecule, in general, and CRF, in particular.

Disclosing the World

2018 ◽  
pp. 334-352
Author(s):  
Mark Rowlands
Keyword(s):  
Mental Activity ◽  
The Body ◽  
Mental Processes ◽  
General Picture ◽  
Mode Of Presentation ◽  
The World ◽  
In Virtue Of ◽  
The Brain

This chapter defends a general picture of intentionality. Intentional directedness toward the world consists in revealing or disclosing activity: activity in virtue of which an object is revealed as falling under a given mode of presentation. This revealing activity often straddles processes occurring in the brain, in the body more generally, and the environment in which this body is situated. The result is that mental processes are often—not always, not necessarily, but often—embodied, enacted, and extended. There is no principled reason for thinking that the revealing activity that occurs outside the brain and/or body is not mental activity.

EXPERIMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF THE NANOPARTICLES TOXICITY OF NICKEL OXIDE IN TWO SIZES IN THE SUBCHRONIC EXPERIMENT

2018 ◽  
pp. 30-35
Author(s):  
M.P. Sutunkova ◽  
B.A. Katsnelson ◽  
L.I. Privalova ◽  
S.N. Solovjeva ◽  
V.B. Gurvich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nickel Oxide ◽  
Nervous Activity ◽  
Equal Mass ◽  
The Body ◽  
Subchronic Toxicity ◽  
Physiological Mechanisms ◽  
Nickel Oxide Nanoparticles ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Nanoparticles Toxicity

We conducted a comparative assessment of the nickel oxide nanoparticles toxicity (NiO) of two sizes (11 and 25 nm) according to a number of indicators of the body state after repeated intraperitoneal injections of these particles suspensions. At equal mass doses, NiO nanoparticles have been found to cause various manifestations of systemic subchronic toxicity with a particularly pronounced effect on liver, kidney function, the body’s antioxidant system, lipid metabolism, white and red blood, redox metabolism, spleen damage, and some disorders of nervous activity allegedly related to the possibility of nickel penetration into the brain from the blood. The relationship between the diameter and toxicity of particles is ambiguous, which may be due to differences in toxicokinetics, which is controlled by both physiological mechanisms and direct penetration of nanoparticles through biological barriers and, finally, unequal solubility.

The Origin of a New Kind of Science From the Life Sciences

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-158
Keyword(s):  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Natural Phenomenon ◽  
Dominican Order ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Living Things ◽  
Theoretical Morphology ◽  
Living Nature

Science in the modern era began with a process of synthesis; the natural sciences in particular emerged through a coalescence of several cultural traditions. Scientific knowledge arose in a series of several separate events as mathematics, philology, physics and biology emerged independently. Scientific ideas about natural life developed via a synthesis of three types of knowledge. (1) There was the tradition of herbalism as a type of knowledge of nature, and this approach remained close to the Aristotelian tradition of describing nature with a bookish method centered on descriptive practice. (2) The scholastic tradition clarified existing concepts and formed new ones. Its role was crucial in supplying nascent science with its set of cognitive tools. (3) The alchemical tradition provided experimental knowledge of nature as applied to human life. It was particularly important in building the skills needed to connect theoretical systems with reality. This synthesis in natural philosophy was the basis of Linnaean reforms. However, theoretical morphology was cen¬tral to Linnaeus’ thinking and, its features were responsible for the success of his system. Theoretical morphology offered ways to decide how a natural phenomenon should be reduced and divided into parts in order to serve as an object of scientific cognition. Essential theoretical precepts for this morphology were formulated by Andrea Cesalpino in De plantis libri XVI (1583). Hence, the origin of the natural sciences as a study of living nature should properly be traced to the 16th century. This strand in the development of the new scientific approach in Europe through studying living things should also be connected with earlier (medieval) efforts of the Dominican Order (promoting purer versions of Aristotelianism), while another strand which led to the appearance of physics and other more mathematically expressed branches of the natural sciences belongs to the Franciscan orders (more influenced by Neoplatonism). Science emerged then as profound and experimentally verifiable theoretical knowledge based on ideation through the construction of the objects of experimental research.

Consciousness

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anil K. Seth
Keyword(s):  
Conscious Experience ◽  
Real Problem ◽  
Active Inference ◽  
Biological Mechanisms ◽  
Specific Content ◽  
Brain Responses ◽  
Biomimetic Approach ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
In Virtue Of ◽  
The Brain

Consciousness is perhaps the most familiar aspect of our existence, yet we still do not know its biological basis. This chapter outlines a biomimetic approach to consciousness science, identifying three principles linking properties of conscious experience to potential biological mechanisms. First, conscious experiences generate large quantities of information in virtue of being simultaneously integrated and differentiated. Second, the brain continuously generates predictions about the world and self, which account for the specific content of conscious scenes. Third, the conscious self depends on active inference of self-related signals at multiple levels. Research following these principles helps move from establishing correlations between brain responses and consciousness towards explanations which account for phenomenological properties—addressing what can be called the “real problem” of consciousness. The picture that emerges is one in which consciousness, mind, and life, are tightly bound together—with implications for any possible future “conscious machines.”

The musculature and nervous system of the plerocercoid larva of Dibothriorhynchus grossum (Rud.)

Parasitology ◽  
1941 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 373-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gwendolen Rees
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Muscle Mass ◽  
Nerve Cells ◽  
The Body ◽  
Lateral Nerve ◽  
Posterior Median ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Ventral Muscle ◽  
Nerve Cords ◽  
Extrinsic Muscles

1. The structure of the proboscides of the larva of Dibothriorhynchus grossum (Rud.) is described. Each proboscis is provided with four sets of extrinsic muscles, and there is an anterior dorso-ventral muscle mass connected to all four proboscides.2. The musculature of the body and scolex is described.3. The nervous system consists of a brain, two lateral nerve cords, two outer and inner anterior nerves on each side, twenty-five pairs of bothridial nerves to each bothridium, four longitudinal bothridial nerves connecting these latter before their entry into the bothridia, four proboscis nerves arising from the brain, and a series of lateral nerves supplying the lateral regions of the body.4. The so-called ganglia contain no nerve cells, these are present only in the posterior median commissure which is therefore the nerve centre.

scholarly journals The brain dynamics of architectural affordances during transition

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zakaria Djebbara ◽  
Lars Brorson Fich ◽  
Klaus Gramann
Keyword(s):  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
The Body ◽  
Brain Dynamics ◽  
Alpha Band ◽  
Time Frequency ◽  
Posterior Cingulate ◽  
Sensory Signals ◽  
Event Related Desynchronization ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Attentional Mechanisms

AbstractAction is a medium of collecting sensory information about the environment, which in turn is shaped by architectural affordances. Affordances characterize the fit between the physical structure of the body and capacities for movement and interaction with the environment, thus relying on sensorimotor processes associated with exploring the surroundings. Central to sensorimotor brain dynamics, the attentional mechanisms directing the gating function of sensory signals share neuronal resources with motor-related processes necessary to inferring the external causes of sensory signals. Such a predictive coding approach suggests that sensorimotor dynamics are sensitive to architectural affordances that support or suppress specific kinds of actions for an individual. However, how architectural affordances relate to the attentional mechanisms underlying the gating function for sensory signals remains unknown. Here we demonstrate that event-related desynchronization of alpha-band oscillations in parieto-occipital and medio-temporal regions covary with the architectural affordances. Source-level time–frequency analysis of data recorded in a motor-priming Mobile Brain/Body Imaging experiment revealed strong event-related desynchronization of the alpha band to originate from the posterior cingulate complex, the parahippocampal region as well as the occipital cortex. Our results firstly contribute to the understanding of how the brain resolves architectural affordances relevant to behaviour. Second, our results indicate that the alpha-band originating from the occipital cortex and parahippocampal region covaries with the architectural affordances before participants interact with the environment, whereas during the interaction, the posterior cingulate cortex and motor areas dynamically reflect the affordable behaviour. We conclude that the sensorimotor dynamics reflect behaviour-relevant features in the designed environment.

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