![]() A phrenology movement arose there - not the least important leader being George Combe, a lawyer, who published several influential works on the subject. In Great Britain, Spurzheim met with similar reaction, but gained a rather wide following among many educated people. Some physicians were skeptical and some were convinced by Flourens other, usually younger doctors, felt that there might be merit to at least some of Gall's and Spurzheim's ideas. He concluded that there was essentially no localization of brain functions, in keeping with the traditions of Descartes, and published a small volume vehemently attacking phrenology. Flouren's research noted no sexual behavior changes following removal of the corresponding structures from experimental animals. ![]() Gall had asserted that "amativeness" is apparent by the degree of prominence of the occipital bone, and reasoned that matinees must be localized within the cerebellar hemispheres. Flourens had only primitive tools to conduct his experiments upon the brain. Gall used the term, "cranioscopy" but his younger colleague, Spurzheim, coined the word "phrenology" as he went abroad to evangelize and elaborate upon Gall's concepts.Ī pre-eminent Parisian physiologist, Flourens (who was a follower of the general ideas of René Descartes) challenged and attempted to refute the claims of phrenology. He slowly increased the number of areas he attributed to specific localizations of cerebral functions which he thought were indicative of the underlying attributes of the human personality. Physiognomy has a very long history in medicine, the arts, and literature, but Gall focused his attention upon the detailed configuration of the human head. He believed these were indicative of underlying cerebral contours, which in turn possessed those particular attributes. However, he developed a theory that one could discern the relative strengths, weaknesses, proclivities, and abilities of an individual's behavior from measurement of the contours of one's head. After required to leave Vienna, he and his colleague and former student, Johan Caspar Spurzheim, settled in Paris. The concept of cerebral localization is directly traceable to the concepts of a German physician, Franz Josef Gall. Its history helps us to understand better the developments of concepts of the localization of cerebral functions, primarily those of the 19th century. ![]() One may wonder why a long discredited pseudoscience would retain any interest for today's neurosurgeons and neuroscientists in general. Originally Published in the Spring 1993 AANS Bulletin
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