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History of neuroscience:

Neurocriminology in prohibition-era New York

Category: History of neuroscience

NEW York City in the 1920s and '30s was a hotbed of criminal activity. Prohibition laws banning the production, sale and distribution of alcohol had been introduced, but instead of reducing crime, they had the opposite effect. Gangsters organized themselves...

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Meet Phineas Gage

Category: History of neuroscience

Two photographers from Massachusetts have discovered in their collection what is believed to be the only known image of the legendary Phineas Gage

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Christopher Wren & the architecture of the brain

Category: Vintage Illustrations

The current issue of Nature contains an interesting article about Sir Christopher Wren's contribution to neuroanatomy, by art historians Martin Kemp and Nathan Flis of Oxford University.The article focuses on the anatomical illustrations produced by Wren for Thomas Willis's 1664...

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Wilder Penfield, Neural Cartographer

Category: History of neuroscience

The patient lies on the operating table, with the right side of his body raised slightly. The anaesthetist sterilizes his scalp and injects it with Nupercaine to produce analgesia - the patient will remain fully conscious throughout the procedure. Behind...

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Phrenological analysis of Ned Kelly's death mask

Category: Pseudoscience

The notorious Australian bushranger Edward "Ned" Kelly was apprehended in 1878, following a confrontation during which he and his gang killed three policemen. Upon his arrest, Kelly was thus described by the police: 5'10" tall, weight 11st 4lbs, medium build,...

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Prehistoric Inca neurosurgery

Category: Anthropology

The procedure known as trepanation, in which a hole is scraped or drilled in the skull, is an ancient form of neurosurgery that has been performed since the late Stone Age. Exactly why ancient peoples performed trepanation has remained...

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A history of ideas about the brain

Category: History of neuroscience

In Thursday's episode of the BBC Radio 4 programme  In Our Time, presenter Melvyn Bragg was joined by Vivian Nutton, Jonathan Sawday and Marina Wallace (professors of the history of medicine, English and art, respectively) for a fascinating discussion about...

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Tools of the brain trade, past & present

Category: Neuroscience

Jennifer Ouellette reports from a month-long program on the anatomy, development and evolution of the brain, at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, with a fantastic post called Tools of the brain trade.Inspired by a talk given by Winifred Denk,...

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19th century papier mache model brain

Category: Medicine & Health

Image: Phisick Antique Medical CollectionThis highly detailed papier mache model of the human brain, which can be pulled apart to reveal labelled and numbered structures within, was created by the French physician Louis Thomas Jerome Auzoux (1797-1880).In the early...

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The Best of Neurophilosophy

Category: Neuroscience

For the benefit of new readers, I've selected what I think are the best posts from this blog....

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