scholarly journals Understanding the Mind by Measuring the Brain: Lessons From Measuring Behavior (Commentary on Vul et al., 2009)

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 314-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Feldman Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Verbal Behavior ◽  
History Of Psychology ◽  
Physiological Changes ◽  
Measure Blood Flow ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Brain

Throughout the history of psychology, the path of transforming the physical (muscle movements, verbal behavior, or physiological changes) into the mental has been fraught with difficulty. Over the decades, psychologists have risen to the challenge and learned a few things about how to infer the mental from measuringthe physical. The Vul, Harris, Winkielman, and Pashler article (2009) , (this issue) points out that some ofthese lessons could be helpful to those of us who measure blood flow in the brain in a quest to understand the mind. Three lessons from psychometrics are discussed.

The History of Behavioral Neurology

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Filley
Keyword(s):  
Early 19Th Century ◽  
Cognition And Emotion ◽  
Behavioral Neurology ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cerebral Localization ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Brain Behavior ◽  
Lesion Method ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Systematic Thinking

Behavioral neurology is the neurologic subspecialty devoted to the study of brain-behavior relationships. Whereas systematic thinking about the brain as the organ of the mind began in antiquity, modern investigation began in the early 19th century as cerebral localization of function became securely appreciated. Clinical-pathological correlation using the lesion method yielded many important insights, and, in the mid-20th century, Norman Geschwind defined behavioral neurology as it exists today. The scope of the field soon expanded to include focal and diffuse disorders across the lifespan, and powerful neuroimaging technologies then led to increasingly sophisticated understanding of the representation of cognition and emotion in the brain. While the term behavioral neurology refers mainly to subspecialty neurologists working in North America and Britain, the interests of behavioral neurologists are virtually identical to those of neuropsychologists, neuropsychiatrists, and many others around the world attracted to the neurology of behavior.

scholarly journals Soul searching: a brief history of the mind/body debate in the neurosciences

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Dolan
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
The Self ◽  
History Of Neuroscience ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Brain ◽  
The Way

✓Anatomical and physiological understandings of the structure and function of the brain have worked to establish it as the “seat of the soul.” As an organ of reflection, meditation, and memory, the brain becomes synonymous with what defines the “self” through the existence of consciousness—of mind. Thus, the brain has been associated with a range of transcendent concepts—the soul, spirit, mind, and consciousness—that all relate in fundamental ways to each other both in terms of their perceived location within the brain and because of the way each works ultimately to define the person to whom the brain belongs. In this article, the author provides a brief exploration of how interrelated these categories have been when seen in the context of ancient, Renaissance, early modern, and modern philosophical and medical concerns; how the brain has variously been perceived as home to these intimate states of being; and how practitioners from the neurosciences have reflected on these questions. The author provides novel insights into the interrelationships of philosophy, theology, and medicine by examining these issues through the lens of the history of neuroscience.

scholarly journals Modelling the Ability of Rheoencephalography to Measure Cerebral Blood Flow

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantin S. Brazovskii ◽  
Jacov S. Pekker ◽  
Oleg S. Umanskii
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Cerebrospinal Fluid ◽  
Electrical Resistivity ◽  
Cerebral Blood Flow ◽  
Potential Benefit ◽  
Human Head ◽  
Element Model ◽  
History Of ◽  
Electrode Method ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Despite the long history of rheoencephalography (REG), some important aspects of the method are still debatable. Bioimpedance measurements offer great potential benefit for study of the human brain, but the traditional four or six electrode method suffers from potential misinterpretations and lack of accuracy. The objective of this paper is to study the possible mechanism of REG formation by means of numerical modelling using a realistic finite element model of the human head. It is shown that the cardiac related variations in electrical resistivity of the scalp contributes more than 60% to the REG amplitude, whereas the brain and cerebrospinal fluid are mutually compensated by each over.

Something out of nothing: the placebo effect

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 287-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron K. Vallance
Keyword(s):  
Placebo Effect ◽  
Clinical Benefit ◽  
Therapeutic Approach ◽  
Clinical Effect ◽  
Antidepressant Medication ◽  
History Of ◽  
Therapeutic Encounter ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Brain

The history of the concept of the placebo effect and research into its quantification and mechanisms are reviewed, particularly in relation to psychiatry. Research has demonstrated a notable placebo effect in depression: a large proportion of the clinical effect of antidepressant medication is attributable to the effect. Various mechanisms have been hypothesised: anxiety relief, expectation, transference, ‘meaning effects' and conditioning. Recent research from neuroimaging has unveiled that the effect is associated with biological correlates in the brain. Despite the renewal of research into the placebo effect, many questions remain unanswered. This partly reflects philosophical obstacles such as the mind/body dichotomy, which are inherent in conceptualising the effect. However, it also demonstrates the vast scope for further research into this area. Ultimately, an understanding of the processes that underlie the placebo effect should allow a rationalised therapeutic approach to be developed to maximise the clinical benefit of the therapeutic encounter.

A History of the Mind and Mental Health in Classical Greek Medical Thought

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 456-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Thumiger
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
History Of Psychiatry ◽  
History Of Psychology ◽  
Ancient Medicine ◽  
Cultural Products ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mind

This book on ancient medicine offers a unique resource for historians of medicine, historians of psychology, and classicists – and also cultural historians and historians of art. The Hippocratic texts and other contemporary medical sources have often been overlooked when it comes to their approaches to psychology, which are considered more mechanical and less elaborated than contemporary poetic and philosophical representations, but also than later medical works, notably Galenic. This book aims to do justice to early medical accounts by illustrating their richness and sophistication, their links with contemporary cultural products, and the indebtedness of later medicine to their observations. The ancient sources are read not only as archaeological documents, but also in the light of methodological discussions that are fundamental in the history of psychiatry and the history of psychology.

Contributions to the History of Psychology: LVIII. Freud's Dualistic Mind-Body Interactionism: Implications for the Development of His Psychology

1989 ◽  
Vol 64 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1091-1097 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry Silverstein
Keyword(s):  
History Of Psychology ◽  
Mental Processes ◽  
Neural Substrate ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mind

Freud's views on the mind-body question are reviewed. It is argued that, throughout his career, Freud was consistent in adopting a dualistic-interactionist view of the mind-body relationship. This position was the prerequisite for his development of a psychology which sought the determinants of consciousness in dynamic, unconscious mental processes, without concern for correlations with an underlying neural substrate.

scholarly journals Protection of the Brain After Aneurysmal Rupture – Richardson Lecture

1995 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryce Weir
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Oxygen Delivery ◽  
Aneurysmal Rupture ◽  
Delayed Onset ◽  
Lethal Complications ◽  
History Of ◽  
Delayed Complications ◽  
Pre Treatment ◽  
The Brain

AbstractThe majority of patients survive the first dangerous hours after an aneurysmal rupture. However, many subsequently succumb as a result of a variety of lethal complications. The most important of these develop as sequelae of the initial ischemia, rebleeding and the delayed onset of vasospasm. Some of these deleterious cascades can be aborted. Since the delayed complications such as vasospastic infarction can be accurately predicted, this is one of rare “strokes” that can have pharmacological pre-treatment. The natural history of rebleeding and vasospasm are described as well as their effects on blood flow, oxygen delivery and metabolism. Strategies to ameliorate acute and delayed ischemia and hypoxia are discussed. Finally, potential pharmacotherapies are detailed.

History of migraine with aura and cortical spreading depression from 1941 and onwards

Cephalalgia ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 780-792 ◽  
Author(s):  
PC Tfelt-Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Migraine With Aura ◽  
Cortical Spreading Depression ◽  
Spreading Depression ◽  
Cerebral Arteries ◽  
Familial Hemiplegic Migraine ◽  
Migraine Aura ◽  
History Of ◽  
Dramatic Shift ◽  
The Brain

Several personal descriptions of migraine with aura from 1870 onwards reported a slow, gradual progression of symptoms. Lashley in 1941 meticulously chartered his own auras and concluded that the symptomatology reflected a cortical process progressing with a speed of 3 mm/min across the primary visual cortex. Leão described cortical spreading depression (CSD) in rabbits in 1944 and noticed its similarity to the migraine aura. Despite these scattered pieces of evidence, the prevailing theory was that the migraine aura was caused by a vasospasm and cortical ischaemia. The advent of a technique for measurements of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in 1974 made it possible to detect spreading oligaemia during migraine aura. Between 1981 and 1990 a series of studies of rCBF during migraine attacks showed reduced brain blood flow posteriorly spreading slowly and contiguously anteriorly and crossing borders of supply of major cerebral arteries. These observations refuted the ischaemic hypothesis. The human studies showed initial hyperaemia followed by prolonged hypoperfusion. The relation between aura and CSD was known to cause short-lasting, and therefore not obvious vasodilation and it was considerably strengthened by the demonstration of a long-lasting oligaemia in rats in the wake of CSD. In the primates CSD is not easily elicited, but it has in recent years been clearly demonstrated in patients with brain trauma and stroke. Finally, mutations for familial hemiplegic migraine have been expressed in mice and lower the threshold for CSD. The seminal papers on rCBF and CSD published in the 1980s caused a dramatic shift in our concepts of migraine aura. They moved attention from ischaemia to CSD and thereby to the brain itself, and paved the way for subsequent discoveries of brainstem mechanisms.

scholarly journals Ceasing Antiquated Conceptions: A Telling of the Early and Evolving History of Epilepsy

2020 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-344
Author(s):  
Nadia Khalil ◽  
Selim Benbadis ◽  
Derrick Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Observation ◽  
Diagnostic Evaluation ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
History Of ◽  
Science And Theology ◽  
History Of Epilepsy ◽  
The Times ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Brain

The word epilepsy is derived from the Greek word epilambanein, meaning “to seize.” This term came to embody the disease as early descriptions characterized seizures as events in which the faculties of the mind and body were “seized” from the individual. This notion of seizing the mind and body’s faculties has in essence remained a constant throughout the evolution of epilepsy. The theories elucidating the significance of the event, however, have surely shifted with the times, reflecting an elegant battle among magic, science, and theology. Subsequent advents in clinical observation, diagnostic evaluation, and therapeutics unfurled many mysteries of the brain and revolutionized prevailing theories, landing epilepsy as it is known today far beyond the primitive and highly supernatural notions that predominated in antiquity.

Why the Modern Intellectual Cannot Attain the Truth?

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aadil Farook
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Circuits ◽  
Computer Technology ◽  
Body Problem ◽  
The Body ◽  
Western Philosophy ◽  
Western Thought ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Brain

AbstractThe body-soul duality has confused some of the most sophisticated minds since antiquity. The spiritual masters of all traditions claim that the soul, too, has organs. Let us look at what Western philosophy calls the mind-body problem. Neuroscientists claim the mind-brain duality is true; the mind is to the soul what the brain is to the body. The mind is a “spiritual” brain distinct from the biological brain. To understand how they interact, we will look at computer technology as an analogy. Intelligence itself is part of the software, but it cannot perform its function without its information processor, i.e. the hardware. The intelligence is the software whereas the brain is the hardware. Furthermore, in both cases, the former is non-material whereas the latter is material.Perhaps the two most fascinating scientific discoveries in the last few years are the following. First, the biological heart, which was viewed for centuries as being nothing more than a pump, is actually a great deal more - it is an intelligent organ. Secondly, there is a duality in the heart as well: in addition to the biological heart, there is also a spiritual heart. But the mystery goes much deeper than that and, if it had been understood properly in the modern period, would not have given birth to so many “isms.” The history of Western thought is full of false prophets who claim to lead humankind out of darkness. Is it not amazing how some of the most educated and intelligent people can become completely foolish when it comes to religion? People who can design highly complex integrated circuits can still fail to understand the simple teachings of religious scriptures.This article deals with the major philosophical and spiritual implications of the new insights brought to us by science on a much larger scale than anticipated by those who explored them.

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