The footprints of neuroscience in Alexandria during the 3rd-century BC: Herophilus and Erasistratus.
Maria Ioanna Stefanou
Journal of medical biography November 2020 DOI: 10.1177/0967772018789349 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
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| Keywords | Erasistratus Hellenistic neuroscience Herophilus Dissection Neuroanatomy |
| Key points | Argues that Herophilus and Erasistratus, working in 3rd-century BC Alexandria, were the first scientists in antiquity to comprehensively study the anatomical and physiological basis of mental processes, basing their theories on human dissection. The authors credit them with identifying the cranial nerves, meninges, dural sinuses, and ventricles, delineating motor and sensory nerves, locating consciousness and intellect in the brain, and attributing neurological disease to nervous system dysfunction, while examining the short-lived historical conditions and social, political, and cultural factors that shaped the reception of their work. |
Abstract
In the first half of the 3rd-century BC in Alexandria, the Greek physicians Herophilus of Chalcedon (ca. 330 to ca. 260 BC) and Erasistratus of Chios (ca. 315 to ca. 240 BC) became the first scientists in antiquity to comprehensively study the anatomical underpinnings and the physiological properties of mind processes. Their scientific theories were based on experimental evidence arising from anatomical human dissection studies. Among their neuroscientific achievements were the discovery of the cranial nerves, the meninges, the dural sinuses and the ventricles; the delineation of the motor and sensory nerves; the appraisal of the brain as the seat of consciousness and human intellect; and the attribution of neurological disease to dysfunction of the nervous system. This paper will discuss the short-lived historical circumstances that enabled the ground-breaking progress in the domain of brain sciences during the Hellenistic period. In addition, this paper will examine the intriguing social, political and cultural interplays that determined the resonance of Herophilus and Erasistratus's work and influenced the course of history of neuroscience.