The Rise of Brain Science in Ancient Times Quiz

Answer: The brain controls the movement of the limbs

Egyptians, probably battlefield surgeons, factually and systematically described 48 injury cases. They also were the first to describe the cerebral cortex (as “corrugations which form in molten copper”). Unfortunately, these observations and methods were not accounted for in the Egyptian medical theory (dominated by magical concepts) and surgeries for medical reasons are not known.

Answer: It was discarded

The Egyptians considered the heart the most important organ of the body, the seat of the mind and of the intellectual activities. As the brain was not an essential organ to the Pharaoh, it was extracted using an iron hook through the nostrils and discarded.

In contrast, other organs were removed, treated (especially the heart) and replaced in the body or stored in jars positioned along the body. This heart-centered view prevailed for thousands (!) of years in middle-eastern and European ancient cultures.

Answer: It is mentioned nowhere

The complete absence of references to the brain in the Bible reflects the heart-centered view. The belief that the bodies of the dead were “sacred” and “filthy” at the same time resulted in the forbiddance of post mortem surgeries and prevented changes to that view.

The blood-soul link is the source of the Jewish tradition of massively salting meat for at least 3 hours, extracting all the liquids from it by osmosis. It represents the moral norm that permits consuming only of the body, sparing the soul. Current technology “resuscitates” the meat by injections of water and salts.

Answer: 18

Yes, we had to wait that long to reject such an absurd idea based on philosophical speculations. Even famous mathematician Johannes Kepler held the view that the iris could generate light.

The experiment that refuted the idea that physical light is generated in the eyes was performed by the Italian anatomist G. B. Morgagni (1719).

Answer: Treat patients for a fee

Not only that the classic Hippocratic Oath has little to do with the modern version, it seems to have no connection to the Hippocratic School… Suicide, abortion, surgery and teaching for a fee, all forbidden by the classic oath, were not censured or illegal in Hippocratic times. The rise of Christianity surely contributed to the popularization of the classic oath.

Notice that the major advancements in knowledge achieved by the Hippocratic School were, again, the result of observations, dissections and the attribution of the causes of diseases to the real world.

Answer: Plato

Plato (427-347 BC), opposing most earlier philosophers that stressed observation over reason alone, declared that all the universe (including the stars) should be understood by reason and intelligence alone, not by sight.

He also divided the “soul” and body into three parts: Reason (divine) in the brain, “moral” in the heart and “appetite” in the liver. The later rising church (and Freud?) obviously loved him.

Answer: Human vivisections

Innovating from the previous practice of animal dissections, dissections of human bodies were introduced in Alexandria. Possibly influenced by Aristotle’s view of the dead body as a physical frame without feelings or rights. However, the “feelings and rights” of living people were ignored when vivisections of human prisoners began, probably motivated by hunger to knowledge and fame.

We had to wait 15 (!) centuries before dissections of cadavers were performed again in the Western world. Unfortunately, a renewal of human vivisections occured during the II World War by the Germans and the Japanese.

Cataract surgeries, dating from the 5th century BC, were performed by Indian surgeon Susruta.

Answer: Localization of the primary visual brain area

Erasistratus described and compared the convolutions of the human and animal brains and correctly concluded that their numbers are positively correlated with intelligence. His theory was ridiculed by Galen, inhibiting any interest in them until the 17th century. What did persisted until the 19th century were his imprecise drawings of the brain convolutions that resembled coils of the small intestine.

Answer: Section of the recurrent laryngeal nerve eliminated the ability of a pig to vocalize

Galen observed the effects of spinal cord injuries of gladiators, but never conducted such experiments. He used to dissect monkeys, but only many centuries after his death it was realized that his detailed descriptions of the human brain were more similar to the brain of an ox.

It was French Francois Pourfour du Petit (1644–1741) whose experiments on dogs revealed the importance of the cortex for the movement of the limbs.

Answer: The bumps in the cranium reflect the development of the mental faculties

The view that the brain functions as a “cooling” mechanism for the warm blood, contributing to the organism’s equilibrium, persisted since Aristotle’s time.

A common belief, inspired by Aristotle, was that the three faculties of the mind were distributed over the three ventricles described by Galen. The process was described as follows: Images from one (imaging) cell were transferred to the second (central, thus warmer) cell; leftover thoughts were transferred to the third cell for storage. Notice the focus on the liquid-filled ventricles (the Christian “soul” could not reside in mundane “matter”).

In the Phrenology system the form of the cranium represents the development of different brain areas and faculties. It was founded by Gall and Spurzheim only in 1810, and contributed to the advance of science by encouraging the study of different regions of the brain.

In 1660 Thomas Bartholin (discoverer of the lymphatic system in humans) wrote that the purpose of the brain cortex was “ ... to make the cerebral vessels safe by guiding them through these tortuosities and so protect them against danger of rupture from violent movements, especially during full moon when the brain swells in the skull”.

Observation: The Quiz is focused on western cultures, as others like the Chinese, practically ignored the role of the brain until the last six centuries.

Sources: Brain Vision and Memory, Cambridge Illustrated history of the world’s science, and web sites.