Neurologic concepts in the Homeric epics -- Hippocrates and the Corpus Hippocraticum -- A neurology text before there was neurology -- On the sacred disease -- Surgical texts and diagnosis guides -- Wounds of the head -- Hippocratic medicine and neurologic conditions -- Ancient Greek ideas of cognition -- The separation of the nerves from other fibers -- The Hellenistic pursuit of neuroanatomy -- The Hippocratic oath and a modern digression

Neurological history claims its earliest origins in the 17th century with Thomas Willis's publication of Anatomy of the Brain, coming fully into fruition as a field in the late 1850s as medical technology and advancements allowed for in depth study of the brain. However, many of the foundations in neurology can find the seed of their beginning to a time much earlier than that, to ancient Greece in fact. Neurological Concepts in Ancient Greek Medicine is a collection of essays exploring neurological ideas between the Archaic and Hellenistic eras. These essays also provide historic, intellectual, and cultural context to ancient Greek medical practice and emphasizing the interest in the brain of the early physicians. This book describes source material that is over 2,500 years old and reveals the observational skills of ancient physicians. It provides complete translations of two historic Hippocratic texts: On the Sacred Diseases and On the Wounds of the Head. The book also discusses the Hippocratic Oath and the modern applications of its meaning. Dr. Walshe connects this ancient history, usually buried in medical histories, and shows the ancient Greek notions that are the precursors of our understanding of the brain and nervous system.

It is thus with regard to the disease called Sacred: it appears to me to be nowise more divine nor more sacred than other diseases, but has a natural cause from the originates like other affections. Men regard its nature and cause as divine from ignorance and wonder, because it is not at all like to other diseases. And this notion of its divinity is kept up by their inability to comprehend it, and the simplicity of the mode by which it is cured, for men are freed from it by purifications and incantations. But if it is reckoned divine because it is wonderful, instead of one there are many diseases which would be sacred; for, as I will show, there are others no less wonderful and prodigious, which nobody imagines to be sacred. The quotidian, tertian, and quartan fevers, seem to me no less sacred and divine in their origin than this disease, although they are not reckoned so wonderful. And I see men become mad and demented from no manifest cause, and at the same time doing many things out of place; and I have known many persons in sleep groaning and crying out, some in a state of suffocation, some jumping up and fleeing out of doors, and deprived of their reason until they awaken, and afterward becoming well and rational as before, although they be pale and weak; and this will happen not once but frequently. And there are many and various things of the like kind, which it would be tedious to state particularly. They who first referred this malady to the gods appear to me to have been just such persons as the conjurors, purificators, mountebanks, and charlatans now are, who give themselves out for being excessively religious, and as knowing more than other people. Such persons, then, using the divinity as a pretext and screen of their own inability to of their own inability to afford any assistance, have given out that the disease is sacred, adding suitable reasons for this opinion, they have instituted a mode of treatment which is safe for themselves, namely, by applying purifications and incantations, and enforcing abstinence from baths and many articles of food which are unwholesome to men in diseases. Of sea substances, the surmullet, the blacktail, the mullet, and the eel; for these are the fishes most to be guarded against. And of fleshes, those of the goat, the stag, the sow, and the dog: for these are the kinds of flesh which are aptest to disorder the bowels. Of fowls, the cock, the turtle, and the bustard, and such others as are reckoned to be particularly strong. And of potherbs, mint, garlic, and onions; for what is acrid does not agree with a weak person. And they forbid to have a black robe, because black is expressive of death; and to sleep on a goat’s skin, or to wear it, and to put one foot upon another, or one hand upon another; for all these things are held to be hindrances to the cure. All these they enjoin with reference to its divinity, as if possessed of more knowledge, and announcing beforehand other causes so that if the person should recover, theirs would be the honor and credit; and if he should die, they would have a certain defense, as if the gods, and not they, were to blame, seeing they had administered nothing either to eat or drink as medicines, nor had overheated him with baths, so as to prove the cause of what had happened. But I am of opinion that (if this were true) none of the Libyans, who live in the interior, would be free from this disease, since they all sleep on goats’ skins, and live upon goats’ flesh; neither have they couch, robe, nor shoe that is not made of goat’s skin, for they have no other herds but goats and oxen. But if these things, when administered in food, aggravate the disease, and if it be cured by abstinence from them, godhead is not the cause at all; nor will purifications be of any avail, but it is the food which is beneficial and prejudicial, and the influence of the divinity vanishes.

This book is a study of the ways in which Galen sought to establish the brain as the regent part (hegemonikon) of the body, utilising a rigorous anatomical epistemology and an often sophisticated (but perforce limited) set of physiological arguments Part One surveys the medical and philosophical past in which the study of the brain occured, and looks at the materials and methods which Galen employs to legitimate his hegemonic argumentation. Part Two examines Galen's anatomical understanding of the brain, especially the ventricles. Part Three offers a critical evaluation of Galen's physiolgy of the brain. This is the first monograph to offer a detailed account of this subject, setting it within the cultural and intellectual contexts of its era, and will be of interest to those in classics, medical history, history andphilosophy of science and the history of ideas.

Against the backdrop of unprecedented concern for the future of health care, this i Very Short Introduction/i surveys the history of medicine from classical times to the present. Focussing on the key turning points in the history of Western medicine - such as the advent of hospitals and the rise of experimental medicine - but also offering reflections on alternative traditions such as Chinese medicine, Bill Bynum offers insights into medicine's past, while at the same time engaging with contemporary issues, discoveries, and controversies.

A History of the Brain tells the full story of neuroscience, from antiquity to the present day. It describes how we have come to understand the biological nature of the brain, beginning in prehistoric times, and progressing to the twentieth century with the development of Modern Neuroscience. This is the first time a history of the brain has been written in a narrative way, emphasizing how our understanding of the brain and nervous system has developed over time, with the development of the disciplines of anatomy, pharmacology, physiology, psychology and neurosurgery. The book covers: beliefs about the brain in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome the Medieval period, Renaissance and Enlightenment the nineteenth century the most important advances in the twentieth century and future directions in neuroscience. The discoveries leading to the development of modern neuroscience gave rise to one of the most exciting and fascinating stories in the whole of science. Written for readers with no prior knowledge of the brain or history, the book will delight students, and will also be of great interest to researchers and lecturers with an interest in understanding how we have arrived at our present knowledge of the brain.

The Neurology of Eye Movements provides clinicians with a synthesis of current scientific information that can be applied to the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of ocular motility. Basic scientists will also benefit from descriptions of how data from anatomical, electrophysiological, pharmacological, and imaging studies can be directly applied to the study of disease. By critically reviewing such basic studies, the authors build a conceptual framework that can be applied to the interpretation of abnormal ocular motor behavior at the bedside. These syntheses are summarized in displays, new figures, schematics and tables. Early chapters discuss the visual need and neural basis for each functional class of eye movements. Two large chapters deal with the evaluation of double vision and systematically evaluate how many disorders of the central nervous system affect eye movements. This edition has been extensively rewritten, and contains many new figures and an up-to-date section on the treatment of abnormal eye movements such as nystagmus. A major innovation has been the development of an option to read the book from a compact disc, make use of hypertext links (which bridge basic science to clinical issues), and view the major disorders of eye movements in over 60 video clips. This volume will provide pertinent, up-to-date information to neurologists, neuroscientists, ophthalmologists, visual scientists, otalaryngologists, optometrists, biomedical engineers, and psychologists.

The first substantial history of psychological thought in Classical Greek medicine, showing the relevance of ancient ideas to modern debates.

Fully updated and revised according to student feedback, the sixth edition of Mayo Clinic Medical Neurosciences: Organized by Neurologic System and Level provides a systematic approach to anatomy, physiology, and pathology of the nervous system inspired by the neurologist's approach to solving clinical problems. This volume has 4 sections: 1) an overview of the neurosciences necessary for understanding anatomical localization and pathophysiologic characterization of neurologic disorders; 2) an approach to localizing lesions in the 7 longitudinal systems of the nervous system; 3) an approach to localizing lesions in the 4 horizontal levels of the nervous system; and 4) a collection of clinical problems. This book provides the neuroscience framework to support the neurologist in a clinical setting and is also a great resource for neurology and psychiatry board certifications. This is the perfect guide for all medical students and neurology, psychiatry, and physical medicine residents at early stages of training. New to This Edition - A chapter devoted to multiple-choice questions for self-assessment - Discussion of emerging concepts in molecular, cellular, and system neurosciences - New chapters on emotion and consciousness systems - Incorporation of new discoveries in neuroimaging and an appendix for tables of medications commonly used to treat neurologic disorders