Hagner Michael
Chair of Science Studies, ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
J Hist Neurosci. 2012 Jul;21(3):237-49. doi: 10.1080/0964704X.2011.595634.
In 1870, Eduard Hitzig and Gustav Fritsch performed experiments on dogs by which they were able to produce movement through electrical stimulation of specific parts of the cerebral cortex. Contemporaries regarded the experiment as a milestone in the controversially discussed issue of cerebral localization of functions even though this experiment came as a surprise to the community of experimental physiologists who had rejected localization for several decades after the antiphrenological work of the physiologist Pierre Flourens. In this article, I will argue that the context in which this experiment emerged was not so much the French localization debate of the 1860s but rather practical demands in clinical medicine, notably in electrotherapy. At the time of the experiment, Hitzig worked as a medical practitioner in Berlin and was interested in an anatomical and physiological explanation of the specific symptoms of one of his patients. The unpredictable outcome of this interest was the discovery of the electrical excitability of the cortex. Whereas experimental physiologists dominated the discussion on cerebral localization in Germany before 1870, the situation shifted after the publication of Fritsch and Hitzig's paper. Concrete medical necessities forced the discussion about localization and it was mainly due to the authority of clinical physicians that the localization of mental qualities in the brain became a cornerstone of brain research.
1870年，爱德华·希齐格和古斯塔夫·弗里奇对狗进行了实验，通过电刺激大脑皮层的特定部位，他们能够使狗产生运动。尽管在生理学家皮埃尔·弗洛伦斯进行反颅相学研究后的几十年里，实验生理学家群体一直拒绝功能定位的观点，但当时的人们仍将该实验视为在备受争议的大脑功能定位问题上的一个里程碑。在本文中，我将论证这一实验出现的背景与其说是19世纪60年代法国的定位之争，不如说是临床医学中的实际需求，尤其是在电疗法方面。在进行该实验时，希齐格是柏林的一名医生，他对自己一名患者的特定症状进行解剖学和生理学解释很感兴趣。这种兴趣带来的意想不到的结果是发现了皮层的电兴奋性。在1870年之前，实验生理学家主导了德国关于大脑定位的讨论，但在弗里奇和希齐格的论文发表后，情况发生了变化。具体的医疗需求推动了关于定位的讨论，并且主要是由于临床医生的权威，大脑中精神特质的定位才成为脑研究的基石。
