A Brief Exploration of Neurological Art History

The invention of realistic portraiture to reveal "inner life" is attributed by some art historians to Jan van Eyck who worked in Flanders from 1420 onwards. We show, using clinical neurological examination of the gold mask of Agamemnon dating from 1550-1500 BC and of the portraits of Henry III and his son Edward I - important English royals - painted between 1216 and 1307, that realistic portraits were made well before the 15th Century. Thus artists unwittingly used neurology as part of their realistic approach to the presentation of the face. Because neurological diagnosis is often visual, neurology, in turn, has a rich potential to unveil examples of realism in art. We consider the art pieces examined here also pertinent to art historians, as they assess the role of art in documenting history.     

康熙皇帝肖像画及相关问题

帝后像是清代宫廷绘画中的主要组成部分,但并没有得到国内美术史界的重视。笔者希望通过对康熙帝肖像画相关问题的探究.引起更多的学人对清代帝后像加以关注。本文是在整理故宫博物院现藏的康熙帝肖像画的基础上,运用文献资料,初步对史籍中记载的这些画作的绘制者加以考辨。进一步勾勒出清初宫廷画家进行创作的工作程序。此外,借助梳理御制诗文,指出康熙帝对绘画的淡漠态度。揭示了其肖像画数量不多的原因.并探求了其行乐图极少的缘由。文中指出康熙帝肖像画受西方绘画的影响实则微乎其微,而且康熙时期的帝后肖像画创作既是清代宫廷肖像画的转型期又是定型期。     

Getting started: objectives and justifications in the history of neurology

Contemporary historiographical ideas have the potential to enrich the history written by practicing neurologists. Neurology is a science, and historians of neurology might profit from considering the experiences of historians of other sciences. An explicit consideration of the range of possible objectives, justifications, sources and methods of historical research may open new and exciting avenues of inquiry. Any plausible answer to the question, "What does a historian do when he or she sits down to write history" helps an historian to develop the structure of his or her project. The selection of sources for a historical study is improved, if also expanded, by understanding its aims.     

Neurological caricatures since the 15th century

During the Renaissance, different artists began to draw medical illustrations from various viewpoints. Leonardo da Vinci was among those who sought to portray the emotional as well as the physical qualities of man. Other European artists described caricatural aspects of medical activities. In Northern Europe, Albrecht Durer, Hieronymus Bosch, and Pieter Brueghel were also famous for drawing caricatures. Later English artists, notably William Hogarth, Thomas Rowlandson, James Gillray, and the Cruikshanks, satirized life in general and the medical profession in particular. In Spain, Francisco Goya's works became increasingly macabre and satirical following his own mysterious illness and, in France, Honore Daumier used satire and humor to expose medical quackery. Also physicians such as Charles Bell and Jean-Martin Charcot were talented caricaturists. Their own personal artistic styles reflected their approach and gave a different "image" of neurology. Caricatures were popular portraits of developments in science and medicine and were frequently used whenever scientific language was too difficult to disseminate, in particular in the field of neurology.     

明代绘画中文人的艺术化生活

明代文人雅士对于精神生活的追求,体现在生活的各个方面,包括雅集、园林、玩古等,这些场面被真实地记录于明代绘画之中。明代"雅集"题材绘画的风格样式逐渐规范化和肖像化;园林山水画更具写实性;庋藏珍玩的题材使得画作品味更具高古之风。这表明在明代商品经济繁荣的大背景下,文人士大夫生活风尚逐渐趋于艺术化,这也体现出明代文人士大夫独特的生活和艺术品味。     

Neurognostics Answer

Although many individuals contributed to the development of the science of cerebral localization, its conceptual framework is the work of a single man—John Hughlings Jackson (1835–1911), a Victorian physician practicing in London. Hughlings Jackson's formulation of a neurological science consisted of an axiomatic basis, an experimental methodology, and a clinical neurophysiology. His axiom—that the brain is an exclusively sensorimotor machine—separated neurology from psychiatry and established a rigorous and sophisticated structure for the brain and mind. Hughlings Jackson's experimental method utilized the focal lesion as a probe of brain function and created an evolutionary structure of somatotopic representation to explain clinical neurophysiology. His scientific theory of cerebral localization can be described as a weighted ordinal representation. Hughlings Jackson's theory of weighted ordinal representation forms the scientific basis for modern neurology. Though this science is utilized daily by every neurologist and forms the basis of neuroscience, the consequences of Hughlings Jackson's ideas are still not generally appreciated. For example, they imply the intrinsic inconsistency of some modern fields of neuroscience and neurology. Thus, “cognitive imaging” and the “neurology of art”—two topics of modern interest—are fundamentally oxymoronic according to the science of cerebral localization. Neuroscientists, therefore, still have much to learn from John Hughlings Jackson.     

Anthropological neurology: symptoms and their meanings according to Joseph Prick (1909-1978)

This article describes the life and work of the Dutch neurologist Joseph Prick (1909-1978) and his idea of an anthropological neurology. According to Prick, neurological symptoms should not only be explained from an underlying physico-chemical substrate but also be regarded as meaningful. We present an outline of the historical and philosophical context of his ideas with a focus on the theory of the human body by the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961) and the concept of anthropology-based medicine developed by Frederik Buytendijk (1887-1974). We give an overview of anthropological neurology as a clinical practice and finally we discuss the value of Prick's approach for clinical neurology today.     

Anthropological Neurology: Symptoms and Their Meanings According to Joseph Prick (1909–1978)

This article describes the life and work of the Dutch neurologist Joseph Prick (1909–1978) and his idea of an anthropological neurology. According to Prick, neurological symptoms should not only be explained from an underlying physico-chemical substrate but also be regarded as meaningful. We present an outline of the historical and philosophical context of his ideas with a focus on the theory of the human body by the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908–1961) and the concept of anthropology-based medicine developed by Frederik Buytendijk (1887–1974). We give an overview of anthropological neurology as a clinical practice and finally we discuss the value of Prick's approach for clinical neurology today.     

Neuromyelitis optica: Application of computer diagnostics to historical case reports

The retrospective diagnosis of illnesses by medical historians can often be difficult and prone to bias, although knowledge of the medical disorders of historical figures is key to the understanding of their behavior and reactions. The recent application of computer diagnostics to historical figures allows an objective differential diagnosis to be accomplished. Taking an example from clinical neurology, we analyzed the earliest reported cases of Devic’s disease (neuromyelitis optica) that commonly affects the optic nerve and spinal cord and was previously often confused with multiple sclerosis. We conclude that in most identified cases the software concurred with the contemporary physicians’ interpretation, but some claimed cases either had insufficient data to provide a diagnosis or other possible diagnoses were suggested that had not been considered. Computational methods may, therefore, help historians to diagnose the ailments of historical figures with greater objectivity.     

正确看待马克思主义史学的历史发展——访林甘泉研究员

应该以历史的眼光看待马克思主义史学在建国以来50年的发展。应该以实事求是的态度对待过去史学的发展。要科学地看待社会经济形态理论的价值,它是唯物史观的基石。不同学术思想的学者应该在互相尊重的前提下开展百家争鸣;研究方法应该多样化。马克思主义史学要以实证研究为基础。大师级的史学家一定会在21世纪出现。     

Roots and routes of Russian neurosurgery (from surgical neurology towards neurological surgery)

Regular and purposeful neurosurgical interventions started at the end of the nineteenth century. Both surgical and neurological roots of the emerging speciality could be traced. The surgical roots of neurosurgery were the invention of anaesthesia, aseptics and antiseptics which made brain operations relatively safe and markedly reduced postoperative mortality. The neurological roots were the improvement of topical diagnosis in neurology and the understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system. The first operating room at the neurology department of the Russian Military Medical Academy was established in 1897 by the famous Russian neurologist and psychiatrist Vladimir Bekhterev (1857-1927). According to Bekhterev, neurology should become a surgical speciality like gynaecology or opthalmology and "neurologists will take a knife in their hands and do what they should do". Bekhterev's pupil Ludwig Puusepp (1875-1942) became the first full-time Russian neurosurgeon ("surgical neurologist"). He headed the first university course in surgical neurology in the world organised in 1909 at Bekhterev's Psychoneurological Institutte in St. Petersburg and bacame professor of surgical neurology in 1910. The role of neurologist might be illustrated by the development of a sterotactic instrument named "encephalometer" designed by D. Zernov in 1889 and improved by G. Rossolimo in 1907. The idea was to map cerebral structures in degrees of latitude and longitude similar to mapping the terrestrial globe in order to localise the brain lesion and enhance its minimally invasive removal....     

Three Twentieth-Century Multiauthored Neurological Handbooks – A Historical Analysis and Bibliometric Comparison

The emergence of neurology as a separate specialty from internal medicine and psychiatry took several decades, starting at the end of the nineteenth century. This can be adequately reconstructed by focusing on the establishment of specialized journals, societies, university chairs, the invention and application of specific instruments, medical practices, and certainly also the publication of pivotal textbooks in the field. Particularly around 1900, the German-speaking countries played an integral role in this process. In this article, one aspect is extensively explored, notably the publication (in the twentieth century) of three comprehensive and influential multivolume and multiauthor handbooks entirely devoted to neurology. All available volumes of Max Lewandowsky's Handbuch der Neurologie (1910–1914) and the Handbuch der Neurologie (1935–1937) of Oswald Bumke and Otfrid Foerster were analyzed. The handbooks were then compared with Pierre Vinken's and George Bruyn's Handbook of Clinical Neurology (1968–2002).

Over the span of nearly a century these publications became ever more comprehensive and developed into a global, encompassing project as is reflected in the increasing number of foreign authors. Whereas the first two handbooks were published mainly in German, “Vinken & Bruyn” was eventually published entirely in English, indicating the general changes in the scientific language of neurology after World War II. Distinctions include the uniformity of the series, manner of editorial involvement, thematic comprehensiveness, inclusion of volume editors in “Vinken & Bruyn,” and the provision of index volumes. The increasing use of authorities in various neurological subspecialties is an important factor by which these handbooks contrast with many compact neurological textbooks that were available at the time.

For historiographical purposes, the three neurological handbooks considered here were important sources for the general study of the history of medicine and science and the history of neurology in particular. Moreover, they served as important catalyzers of the emergence of neurology as a new clinical specialty during the first decades of the twentieth century.     

Getting Started: Objectives and Justifications in the History of Neurology

Contemporary historiographical ideas have the potential to enrich the history written by practicing neurologists. Neurology is a science, and historians of neurology might profit from considering the experiences of historians of other sciences. An explicit consideration of the range of possible objectives, justifications, sources and methods of historical research may open new and exciting avenues of inquiry. Any plausible answer to the question, “What does a historian do when he or she sits down to write history” helps an historian to develop the structure of his or her project. The selection of sources for a historical study is improved, if also expanded, by understanding its aims.     

Did Herbert Spencer have reading epilepsy?

Herbert Spencer, the nineteenth-century philosopher, has frequently been dismissed as a "fantastical hypochondriac" (as his most recent biographer, Mark Francis, terms him). Yet he left a record in his Autobiography of symptoms that suggest a very different diagnosis. Abruptly at age 35, he found that the activity of reading, previously indulged in without difficulty, triggered paroxysmal episodes of disturbing "head-sensations" including "giddiness" (so Spencer described them); these severely curtailed his ability to carry out his philosophical studies. Of all possible explanations for such episodes, none seems as likely as reading epilepsy. Enduring preconceptions about Spencer's presumed neurosesmay have kept modern historians from appreciating that Spencer suffered from a legitimate, if esoteric, neurological malady.     

Cerebral automatism, the brain, and the soul in Bram Stoker's Dracula

Neither literary critics nor historians of science have acknowledged the extent to which Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) is indebted to late-Victorian neurologists, particularly David Ferrier, John Burdon-Sanderson, Thomas Huxley, and William Carpenter. Stoker came from a family of distinguished Irish physicians and obtained an M.A. in mathematics from Trinity College, Dublin. His personal library contained volumes on physiology, and his composition notes for Dracula include typewritten pages on somnambulism, trance states, and cranial injuries. Stoker used his knowledge of neurology extensively in Dracula. The automatic behaviors practiced by Dracula and his vampiric minions, such as somnambulism and hypnotic trance states, reflect theories about reflex action postulated by Ferrier and other physiologists. These scientists traced such automatic behaviors to the brain stem and suggested that human behavior was "determined" through the reflex action of the body and brain-a position that threatened to undermine entrenched beliefs in free will and the immortal soul. I suggest that Stoker's vampire protagonist dramatizes the pervasive late-nineteenth-century fear that human beings are soulless machines motivated solely by physiological factors.     

Neurobiographies: writing lives in the history of neurology and the neurosciences

This essay surveys the present state of biographical writing in the history of neurology and neuroscience. Individual lives play a significant role in practitioner-historians' narratives, whereas academic historians tend to be more nonindividualistic and a-biographical. Autobiographies by neurologists and neuroscientists, and particularly autobiographical collections, are problematic as an historical genre. Neurobiographies proper are published with several aims in mind: some are written as literary entertainment, others as contributions to a cultural and social history of the neurosciences. Eulogy, panegyrics and commemoration play a great role in neurobiographical writing. Some biographies, finally, are written to provide role-models for young neuroscientists, thus reviving the classical, Plutarchian biographical tradition. Finally, a recent cooperative biography of Charcot is mentioned as an example of how the biographical genre can help overcome the alleged dichotomy between the historiographies of practitioner-historians and academic historians.     

Neurobiographies: Writing Lives in the History of Neurology and the Neurosciences

This essay surveys the present state of biographical writing in the history of neurology and neuroscience. Individual lives play a significant role in practitioner-historians' narratives, whereas academic historians tend to be more nonindividualistic and a-biographical. Autobiographies by neurologists and neuroscientists, and particularly autobiographical collections, are problematic as an historical genre. Neurobiographies proper are published with several aims in mind: some are written as literary entertainment, others as contributions to a cultural and social history of the neurosciences. Eulogy, panegyrics and commemoration play a great role in neurobiographical writing. Some biographies, finally, are written to provide role-models for young neuroscientists, thus reviving the classical, Plutarchian biographical tradition. Finally, a recent cooperative biography of Charcot is mentioned as an example of how the biographical genre can help overcome the alleged dichotomy between the historiographies of practitioner-historians and academic historians.     

论历史学的客观性原则

历史研究的客观性根据是现实批判的理性要求。它完全有别于古代史家所说的“直书”和“实录”。直书之所以不是客观性,就在于它本质上是一种等级性。与此相反,客观性的本质则在于其平等性。历史学之所以可能保持一种客观性原则,就在于它追求一种理想的境界。这一理想境界就是人性、自由与真理。历史学中的种种偏见可以借助人性、自由和真理来克服,同时,人性、自由和真理本身的偏见又可以被历史本身所克服。