Karenberg Axel
Institute for the History of Medicine and Medical Ethics, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
J Hist Neurosci. 2009 Jul;18(3):248-53. doi: 10.1080/09647040802026027.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century, attempts to localize cerebral functions generated a wide range of different ideas. Ancient theories and their revisions stood next to new doctrines; anatomical, pathological, and surgical observations stood beside philosophical conjectures or conclusions from physiological experiments. Echoing Descartes and Willis, many scholars placed the sensorium commune in structures such as corpus callosum, cerebellum, or meninges. Since the explanatory power of these ideas was limited, a strictly holistic approach gained momentum around 1750. The key neurophysiological concept of the second half of the eighteenth century was Haller's doctrine of the equipotentiality of all cerebral structures including the cortex. However, shortly before 1800, one final effort to reconcile philosophy and science was made. The anatomist Samuel Thomas Soemmerring contended that ventricular fluid was the immediate organ of the soul. The refutation of this hypothesis and the rise of Gall's doctrine mark the end of the premodern era of cerebral localization. This paper reconstructs the era's principle arguments and contemporary experiments. It demonstrates that some current controversies regarding the mind-body problem are repetitions of eighteenth-century neuro-philosophical debates.
在18世纪初，对脑功能进行定位的尝试产生了各种各样不同的观点。古代理论及其修订版与新学说并存；解剖学、病理学和外科观察结果与哲学推测或生理学实验结论相互交织。许多学者呼应笛卡尔和威利斯的观点，将共同感觉中枢置于胼胝体、小脑或脑膜等结构中。由于这些观点的解释力有限，一种严格的整体论方法在1750年左右开始兴起。18世纪下半叶关键的神经生理学概念是哈勒的学说，即包括皮层在内的所有脑结构都具有等势性。然而，在1800年之前不久，人们做出了最后一次调和哲学与科学的努力。解剖学家塞缪尔·托马斯·索默林认为脑室液是灵魂的直接器官。对这一假设的驳斥以及加尔学说的兴起标志着脑定位前现代时代的结束。本文重构了那个时代的主要论点和当代实验。它表明，当前一些关于身心问题的争议是18世纪神经哲学辩论的重演。
