Brief history of neuroscience

In the 5th century BC, Alcmaeon of Crotona, after finding the optic nerves in his dissections, began to think that The brain was the place where thoughts and sensations resided. Faced with this advanced thinking, for example, Aristotle defended that intellectual processes took place in the heart. Thus, for him the brain was responsible for cooling the blood that this organ overheated.

Later it was developed Hippocratic theory or humoral; Following its development, the body functioned under the balance of four fluids. According to this line of thought, an imbalance in the proportions of these liquids would lead to the development of a disease or a personality disorder. Thus Galen, analyzing the hardness of the cerebellum and the brain, defended that the latter was the one that processed sensations and was in charge of memory.

Within this debate, René Descartes, between the years 1630 and 1650, spread the mechanistic theory. Furthermore, he establishes the body-soul duality, by which the brain would be the ruler of behavior. Furthermore, he pointed to the pineal gland as the highway that would connect the two dimensions. This is how he established himself as the father of that mind-brain debate that still continues to worry many neuroscientists today.

XIX century

Localizationism

In 1808, Gall published a publication on phrenology. That is to say, All mental processes occur in the brain and have a specific area for each one.. This localizationism It made mental research focus even more on this organ. Among his results, Brodmann described fifty-two brain areas, with their subsequent associated mental processes.

Furthermore, it was believed that the development of certain abilities corresponded to an increase in the volume of the associated brain area. Thus, he began a dynamic vision of the brain, understanding that the organ adapted its physical configuration to the demands of the environment, reserving greater space for those most necessary skills.

This way, It was believed that intellectual and moral abilities could be recognized by the shape and size of heads (they did not have the neuroimaging techniques that we have now).

Connectivism

Later, in 1861, Broca presented to the Anthropological Society of Paris the case of a patient who lost speech, but not the ability to understand, after an injury to an area that now bears his name. This caused great cerebral excitement, since it was the first proof of the relationship between brain and language.

Additionally, in 1874, Wernicke described his patients who could speak, but not understand. This represented a new perspective in the study of the brain, the connectivism. This current proposes that only the most basic functions are limited to certain brain areaswhile complex functions are the result of the interaction of several localized areas.

Curiously, in 1885 the first publications on memory were published by Ebbinghaus, where he described evaluation methods still used today. Shortly after, In 1891, the term neuron was coinedthanks to its discovery made by Cajal.

History of neuroscience in the 20th century

At the beginning of the 20th century, the two world wars marked the development of the history of neuroscience. World War I left many dead, but also many wounded.

There were thousands of people with neurological sequelae, and therefore the need to carry out neurological rehabilitation increased exponentially.. This provided a new impetus for research in this area. In World War II, this discipline was consolidated and important neuropsychological interventions were established by leaders such as Luria.

About 20 years after the end of World War II, in 1962, the Neuroscience Research Program. It consists of an organization that brings together universities from all over the world.. Its goal was to connect scholars from behavioral and neurological sciences: biology, nervous system and psychology.

It was promoted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Weekly meetings, conferences and debates were held there, providing specific and adapted educational programs.

As a result, it emerged in Washington (1969) the Neuroscience Society, the largest neuroscience society in the world. Currently it continues to be a world reference, as is its annual meeting.

Thanks to the momentum of these previous years and the union of disciplines that was being achieved, in 1990 the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Cardiovascular Accidents published a document called Decade of the Brain: answers through scientific research. It included fourteen categories of neurological disorders little researched until then, predicting a great advance in neuroscientific research.

XXI century

Among all the technical and knowledge advances, the boom by neuroscience it is already a fact. In 2002 the project was launched Blue Brain with the idea of ​​creating a simulation of the mammalian brain at a molecular level to study its structure. Countries from all over the world are joining this exciting project.

Then, in 2013, Barack Obama announces the launch of a great scientific project: BRAIN. This project is at the GENOME level, and has as its objective to develop a detailed and dynamic map of the human brain. Initially, 100 billion dollars were invested in it. Of course, it is the new great American challenge, and it is also the tool with which they intend to lead brain research.

However, Europe has a slight window in that sense, with the project being implemented in parallel. HUMAN BRAIN. The investment is more than 1 billion euros; The goal is that in about 10 years we will have made a qualitative leap with respect to what we know about the brain today.. Thus, it seems that we still have to know the most interesting thing in the history of neuroscience.

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