Fil: Ibanez Barassi, Agustin Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas; Argentina. Universidad Favaloro; Argentina. Instituto de Neurologia Cognitiva. Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental y Neurociencia; Argentina. Universidad Adolfo Ibanez; Chile. Universidad Autonoma del Caribe; Colombia. Australian Research Council; Australia

Social neuroscience: undoing the schism between neurology and psychiatry

Background
Resection of a pineal tumour requires fastidious pre-operative planning to select the optimal surgical approach and maximise resection while minimising morbidity.

How I do it—pineal surgery: supracerebellar infratentorial versus occipital transtentorial

Alcmaeon of Croton (sixth–fifth century BC), a pre-Socratic physician–philosopher, introduced the concept that mind and soul are located in the brain. Alcmaeon made observations about seeing, hearing, tasting, and smelling and distinguished perception from understanding. Alcmaeon contributed two major ideas to natural sciences: (1) the brain is the seat of human intelligence, and (2) physicians should draw conclusions from empirical observations, an idea that implicitly rejects the alternative notion that science should depend on “divine revelation.” Two thousand and five-hundred years later, these two insights remain true and guarantee Alcmaeon a place in the history of neuroscience.

Alcmaeon of Croton's observations on health, brain, mind, and soul.

UNION WITH CHRIST IN THE WRITINGS OF ELLEN G. WHITE

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Union with Christ in the Writings of Ellen G. White

The optic chiasm is an essential structure located at the skull base that stirred over time the curiosity of anatomists, who became more and more interested in its structure and function. Through centuries, the optic chiasm was viewed as a vessel crossing, a way of transporting tears secreted by the brain to the eye, integrating images, or responsible for coordinated eye movements. The paper aims to overview the history of understanding the optic chiasm from the beginnings of antiquity to the twentieth century. We reviewed the literature and studied all the historical sources on optic chiasm and eyes in the works of ancient, medieval, Renaissance authors, and the seventeenth to nineteenth century works. The optic chiasm is a structure that fascinated ancient anatomists and made them develop various theories on its function. In terms of function, the optic chiasm had a history based more on speculation, the seventeenth century bringing its first understanding and reaching the peak in the nineteenth century with the understanding of the anatomical structure of the chiasm and its role in the visual process. The history of the optic chiasm is a fascinating time travel displaying the conceptual transformations that have been made in anatomy and medicine by our forerunners.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs00381-017-3564-1.pdf

The history of optic chiasm from antiquity to the twentieth century

Objective To describe representative Western philosophical, theological, and scientific ideas regarding the nature and location of the soul from the Egyptians to the contemporary period; and to determine the principal themes that have structured the history of the development of the concept of the soul and the implications of the concept of the soul for medical theory and practice. Methods We surveyed the ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman periods, the early, Medieval, and late Christian eras, as well as the Renaissance, Enlightenment, and Modern periods to determine the most salient ideas regarding the nature and location of the soul. Results In the history of Western theological, philosophical, and scientific/medical thought, there exist 2 dominant and, in many respects, incompatible concepts of the soul: one that understands the soul to be spiritual and immortal, and another that understands the soul to be material and mortal. In both cases, the soul has been described as being located in a specific organ or anatomic structure or as pan-corporeal, pervading the entire body, and, in some instances, trans-human and even pan-cosmological. Moreover, efforts to discern the nature and location of the soul have, throughout Western history, stimulated physiological exploration as well as theoretical understanding of human anatomy. The search for the soul has, in other words, led to a deepening of our scientific knowledge regarding the physiological and, in particular, cardiovascular and neurological nature of human beings. In addition, in virtually every period, the concept of the soul has shaped how societies thought about, evaluated, and understood the moral legitimacy of scientific and medical procedures: from performing abortions and autopsies to engaging in stem cell research and genetic engineering. Conclusion Our work enriches our shared understanding of the soul by describing some of the key formulations regarding the nature and location of the soul by philosophers, theologians, and physicians. In doing so, we are better able to appreciate the significant role that the concept of the soul has played in the development of Western scientific, medical, and spiritual life. Although ideas about the soul have changed significantly throughout Western history, the idea of the soul as being real and essential to one's personhood has been, and remains, pervasive throughout every period of Western history.

The anatomic location of the soul from the heart, through the brain, to the whole body, and beyond: a journey through Western history, science, and philosophy.

Antonino Germanò

Papers

The anatomic location of the soul from the heart, through the brain, to the whole body, and beyond: a journey through Western history, science, and philosophy.