Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Brain
(2,324 words)

1. Structure

1.1. The beginnings of brain research

The history of scientific neurology begins in the 6th century BCE in Ancient Greece. Alcmaeon of Croton, Diogenes of Apollonia, and Democritus can be argued to have been the first brain researchers [16]. The Hippocratic writings (corpus Hippocraticum) date from the 4th century BCE; in them, the Greek neúron (“stretched bowstring”) denotes ligaments, tendons, and nerves [21]. Hippocrates thought of the brain as a mere gland, but he already recognized its divisi…

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Bukowski, Evelyn, “Brain”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_020945>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160907



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