Neurobiology I – Bio 334 Suhita Nadkarni Raghav Rajan Monday – 10:30 – 11:25 am Thursday – 2:30 – 3:25pm 01st August Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience

What is neurobiology? Scientific study of the nervous system (Wikipedia) Many different sub-areas and sub- categories 01st August Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience

Why study neurobiology? Men ought to know that from the brain, and from the brain only, arise our pleasures, joy, laughter and jests, as well as our sorrows, pains, griefs and tears - Hippocrates (400 BC) If our brains were simple enough for us to understand them, we’d be so simple that we couldn’t - Ian Stewart (mathematician) 01st August Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience

History of Neuroscience Gives an interesting perspective 01st August Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience

Early neurosurgery - Trephination or Trepannation – as early as 6500 BC Skulls discovered in France had holes in them (about 40/120) To treat injuries, migraines, epilepsy, etc. 01st August Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience

Ancient Egyptians did not consider the brain important Yet, early references to the brain by them in 1700 B.C. Possibly by Imhotep (Mummy fame!), great Egyptian surgeon References in the Edwin-Smith surgical papyrus of patients 01st August Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience

Case 6: A gaping wound in the head, fracture of the skull and opening of the meninges. This case describes the: 1.Convolutions of the brain - the author of the papyrus describes these "like those corrugations which form molten copper." This most likely refers to the wrinkled appearance of the brain created by the gyri and sulci of the brain. "Corrugations" of the Brain 2.Meninges (coverings of the brain) - described as the membrane enveloping the brain. "Membrane" enveloping the Brain 3.Cerebrospinal fluid - described as the fluid in the interior of the head. "Fluid" in the Interior of the Head Case 6 was "An ailment not to be treated." 01st August Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience

Ancient Greeks divided in their opinion Mind-body dualism The mind and body are separate What is mind? No matter. What is matter? Never mind. – George Berkeley (Irish philosopher) 01st August Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience

Brain or cephalocentric hypothesis started around ~550 B.C. Pythagorus, Alcmaeon of Croton Studied vision Concluded that the eyes are light bearing paths to the brain Eyes have light (phospenes) and water (dissection) 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience 9

Hippocrates – theory of humors Human beings have a soul and a body Body made up of 4 substances or humors Balance of the humors is important for good health 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience 10

Hippocrates like Alcmaeon believed the brain to be the seat of intelligence Seat of intelligence Controller of senses, emotion, movement, etc…. (the works) Correctly diagnosed epilepsy, etc. as disorders of the brain Also recognised that paralysis occurred on the side opposite to the side with damage 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience 11

Aristotle turns the clock back – “learning by heart” Heart is the seat of intelligence Brain, lungs are all for cooling the heart REASONS – Heart develops first – Is present in all organisms – Is connected to all senses 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience 12

Galen – puts us back on course Very interesting observations Sensory fibres – softer – for sensory experience Motor fibres - firmer – for action Similarly – cerebrum is soft and so is sensory Cerebellum – hard – must control motor function Cerebrum – soft, can be moulded – must therefore store memories Three lefts make a right and A few wrongs can also make a right! 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience

Brain and nerves – part of a larger plumbing system controlled by the pineal gland Animal spirit (liquid + air) Brain a large clot of phlegm Described ventricles in great detail 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience 14

Cell doctrine – ventricles and intelligence Nemesius and St. Augustine (130 – 200 A.D.) Anterior ventricle – “common sense” Middle ventricle – action Posterior ventricle - memory 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience

Andreas Vesalius, using anatomy discredited the ventricular theory Other mammals like the ass have the same organisation Ventricles store animal spirits 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience 16

Descartes – Pineal gland controls all the plumbing Small filaments that can be controlled by external stimuli 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience 17

Pineal gland controls sleep and waking by controlling the flow of animal spirits 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience 18

A lot of careful anatomy, observations of white matter, gray matter, etc. 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience 19

Luigi Galvani - bioelectricity 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience

Localization of function within the brain - Phrenology Frafz Josef Gall Bumps on the head related to various functions 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience

Purkinje cells – described by Purkinje 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience

Flourens – uniform function throughout brain Through ablations suggested that the whole brain was equivalent 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience 23

Broca – localized function returns Wernicke supports idea Broca’s aphasia – patient could only say “Tan” Wernicke’s aphasia – patient spoke nonsense 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience 24

Localization set in stone – Broadmann areas 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience

Golgi and Cajal – the neuron doctrine – Nobel prize in st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience

Penfield – homunculus – Grandmother cell 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience

And now – Karl Deisseroth – optogenetics Science fiction becomes reality 01st August 2013 Bio Lecture 1 - History of Neuroscience 28