HISTORY OF NEUROSCIENCE

1. Topic HISTORY OF
NEUROSCIENCE
Behavioral neuroscience
Submitted By:
Usama Adeel
Roll No.: 739182 (66)
Submitted To:
Prof. Shaukat Hussain
SIGNATURE

2. OVERVIEW
Neuroscience is an interdisciplinary science that works closelywith other
disciplines,such as mathematics, linguistics, engineering, computer
science,chemistry, philosophy, psychology,and medicine.
Neuroscientists study the cellular, functional, behavioral, evolutionary,
computational, molecular, cellular, and medical aspects of the nervous
system. There are various fields that focus on differentaspects,but they
often overlap.
Researchers might look into brain activity in people with ailments such as
Alzheimer’s disease.Tools used include MRI scans and computerized 3-D
models.They may do experiments using cell and tissue samples.
The findings may lead to the developmentof new medications.Some
neuroscientists are involved in treating patients.
HISTORY OF NEUROSCIENCE
The ancient Greeks were among the first people to study the brain. They
attempted to understand the role of the brain and how it worked and to
explain neural disorders.
According to an article in Scientific American, Aristotle, the Greek
philosopher,had a theory that the brain was a blood-cooling mechanism.
Pierre Paul Broca (1824-1880)was a French physician, surgeon, and
anatomist. He worked with patients who had brain damage. He concluded
that differentregions in the brain were involved in specific functions.

3. The part of the brain known as Broca’s area is responsible forsome
speechand other functions. Damage to this area during a stroke can lead
to Broca’s aphasia, when a person can no longer produce accurate or
coherent speech.
In the 19th century, von Hemholtz, a German physician and physicist,
measured the speed at which nerve cells produced electricalimpulses.
During 1873, Gamillo Golgi, an Italian physician, pathologist, and
scientist, used silver chromate salt to see what neurons looked like.
Early in the 20th century, Santiago Ramón y Cajal, a Spanish
pathologist, histologist,and neuroscientist, hypothesized that the neurons
are independentnerve cell units.
In 1906, Golgi and Cajal jointly received the Nobel Prize in Physiologyor
Medicine for their work and categorization of neurons in the brain.
Since the 1950s,researchand practice in modernneurology have made
great strides,leading to developments in the treatment of stroke,
cardiovascular disease,multiple sclerosis (MS) and other conditions.
Scientific developments have enabled neuroscientists to study the nervous
system’s structure, functions, development,abnormalities, and ways it can
be altered.

4. WHY IS NEUROSCIENCE IMPORTANT?
Neuroscience affects many, if not all, human functions, but it also
contributes to a better understanding of a wide range of common
conditions.
These include:
 Down syndrome
 Autistic spectrum disorders (ASD)
 ADHD
 Addiction
 Schizophrenia
 Parkinson’s disease
 Brain tumors
 Epilepsy
 the effectsof stroke, for example, language loss
 Immune system disorders,such as multiple sclerosis
A greater understanding of neurological factors can help in developing
medications and other strategies to treat and prevent these and many other
health issues.
TODAY’S MAJOR BRANCHES OF
NEUROSCIENCE
Affective neuroscience: Research looks at how neurons behave in
relation to emotions.
Behavioral neuroscience: This is the study of how the brain affects
behavior.
Clinical neuroscience: Medical specialists,such as neurologists and
psychiatrists, look at the disorders of the nervous system from basic
neuroscience findings to find ways to treat and prevent them.

5. Cognitive neuroscience: This looks at how the brain forms and controls
thoughts, and the neural factors that underlie those processes.
Computational neuroscience: Scientists try to understand how brains
compute.
Cultural neuroscience: This field looks at the interaction between cultural
factors and are genomic,neural, and psychologicalprocesses.
Cultural neuroscience: This field looks at the interaction between cultural
factors and are genomic,neural, and psychologicalprocesses.
Molecular and cellular neuroscience: Scientists look at the role of
individual molecules,genes,and proteins in the functioning of nerves and
the nervous system at a molecular and cellular level.
Neuroengineering: Researchers use engineering techniques to better
understand, replace,repair, or improve neural systems.
Neuroimaging: This is a branch of medical imaging that concentrates on
the brain.
Neuroinformatics: This field involves collaboration between computer
scientists and neuroscientists.
Neurolinguistics: Specialists investigate how the brain enables us to
acquire, store, understand, and express language.
Neurophysiology: This looks at how the brain and its functions relate to
differentparts of the body, and the role of the nervous system,from the
subcellular level to whole organs.