Overview

Modern brain imaging is revolutionizing the study of brain function in health and disease. Few realize that its origins began with a pioneering study in the nineteenth century by an Italian scientist, Angelo Mosso, of several subjects brought to him with head injuries that exposed their brains to direct observation. He took advantage of this opportunity to observe for the first time changes in cerebral blood flow in relation to different behaviors, the same changes that are the basis for the measurements underlying modern methods.Although Mosso was widely recognized for this highly original study by his contemporaries, through a German translation in 1881, there has never been a translation through which his magnificent achievement could be recognized in English. His rightful role as the pioneer in brain imaging has thus not been recognized. This unique volume corrects that deficiency. Through it, the modern reader, whether an expert in the field or an interested scientist or member of the public, can gain a new perspective on the remarkable insights Mosso gained into how behaviors as subtle as thinking about a subject or feeling an emotion can produce the changes in pulsations of the brain that he observed. The special features of this volume begin with a brief summary of Mosso's life. Two pioneers of modern brain imaging, Marcus Raichle and Gordon M. Shepherd, then provide an extensive commentary that succinctly summarizes Mosso's work and explains its relevance to modern methods. The authors not only emphasize Mosso's role as a pioneer in brain imaging, but also through this study as a pioneer in the eventual rise of cognitive neuroscience. The English translation then follows, together with all of the plates and illustrations of the original volume. The result is a classic of neuroscience now available for wide appreciation by neuroscientists, neurologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, historians of science and medicine, and the general public.

Full Product Details

9780199358984

Table of Contents

Reviews

This fascinating manuscript illuminates the thought process of a brilliant scientist and forerunner of modern neuroscience. In rescuing Mosso from oblivion, Fabbri, Raichle and Shepherd have given historians, students and neuroscientists a valuable new resource to fill gaps in the narrative that modern neuroscience was built upon. Moreover, the works of Mosso give us a new perspective on age old questions of the mind and perhaps pause to appreciate the newage of wonder we live in and to attack these questions with renewed vigor and greater humility. * Dhananjay Bambah-Mukku, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, in Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences XXX (2016) * This unique work stands alone in terms of value and placing Mosso in historical perspective as the inventor of the plethysmograph and as a researcher who measured the relationship between emotion and brain activity. * Doody's Notes *

This fascinating manuscript illuminates the thought process of a brilliant scientist and forerunner of modern neuroscience. In rescuing Mosso from oblivion, Fabbri, Raichle and Shepherd have given historians, students and neuroscientists a valuable new resource to fill gaps in the narrative that modern neuroscience was built upon. Moreover, the works of Mosso give us a new perspective on age old questions of the mind and perhaps pause to appreciate the newage of wonder we live in and to attack these questions with renewed vigor and greater humility. * Dhananjay Bambah-Mukku, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, in Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences XXX (2016) * This unique work stands alone in terms of value and placing Mosso in historical perspective as the inventor of the plethysmograph and as a researcher who measured the relationship between emotion and brain activity. * Doody's Notes *

How Antonio Mosso, an almost forgotten contributor to neuroimaging, was able to image brain activity without computers or MRI or any of the historical progression leading to modern methods beautifully traced in this volume, but instead with a simple recording device of his own design, will be extremely valuable to readers interested in how brain activity supports the mind. The editors are to be congratulated for bringing this important story to the English reading world. --Michael I. Posner, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR This pioneering investigation is at last available in English thanks to the masterful edition of Mosso's book by Gordon M. Shepherd and Marcus E. Raichle. This reading will be certainly inspiring for neuroscientists, psychologists and historians of science. --Paolo Mazzarello, MD, PhD, Professorof History of Medicine, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy Science is a conversation that spans centuries. In his Critical Historical Introduction, Masso summarizes the contributions of his conceptual predecessors going back to Galen. In their Introduction, Raichle and Shepherd recount the conversation from Masso to the present day. Jointly, a thoroughly scholarly, highly-entertaining account of the evolution of functional neuroimaging. --Peter T. Fox, M.D., Director, Research Imaging Institute, Malcolm Jones Professor of Radiology, Professor of Radiology, Neurology, Psychiatry, and Physiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at SanAntonio, CA

Author Information

Marcus E Raichle, MD, PhD, Departments of Radiology, Neurology, Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri, USA Gordon M Shepherd, PhD, Department of Neurobiology, Yale University Medical School, New Haven, CT, USA.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available