Where did the ventricular localization of mental faculties come from

Bibliographic Data

ID4003370
AuthorsChristopher D Green (0000-0002-6027-6709, York University, corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume39
Issue2
Pages131-142
Publication date2003-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-5061 • E-ISSN: 1520-6696
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/jhbs.10088
PMID12720323
OpenAlexW2093377442
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited11

During the Middle Ages it was widely believed that the various mental faculties-sensation, cognition, memory, and so forth-were each located in a specific part of the three ventricles that were thought to be housed in the brain. The origin of this scheme was commonly attributed to the ancient scholars, but it was rare for a specific individual to be identified as the originator. Modern researchers sometimes attribute it to Galen, but Galen was clear in his contention that the mental faculties were located in the substance of the brain rather than in the ventricles. It was only later scholars who, using Galen's anatomy as their basis, placed the mental faculties in the ventricles themselves. The system came together piece by piece over a period of centuries, probably not appearing fully in the form known to the Medieval world until the Middle Ages themselves. This article traces the development of the theory of ventricular localization of the mental faculties from the Ancient world to the early part of the Middle Ages. (c) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Cognition · Lateral ventricles · Mental activity · Mental representation · Middle Ages · Period (music · History · History of Medicine Studies · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Neurology and Historical Studies · Neuroscience · Philosophy · Psychology

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