ABSTRACT
Resumen El presente artículo hace una breve revisión histórica de la frenología, o doctrina del cerebro, que fue creada por Franz Joseph Gall y desarrollada por Johan Caspar Spurzheim y George Combe. La frenología se difundió por diversos países como Francia e Inglaterra, pero fue en Estados Unidos, donde alcanzó un alto nivel de difusión a través de la fundación de sociedades frenológicas y revistas. Además, aunque sus postulados fueron equivocados, es un antecedente importante del localizacionanismo y de la psicología aplicada, que significó el paso de las explicaciones metafísicas a la búsqueda de los fundamentos neurofisiológicos de la conducta humana. En tal sentido, la frenología tiene un lugar bien ganado en la historia de la psicología y de las neurociencias en general, que merece ser reconocido con el valor que le corresponde.
This article makes a brief historical review of the phrenology, or doctrine of the brain, which was created by Franz Joseph Gall and developed by Johan Caspar Spurzheim and George Combe. Phrenology was spread by various countries like France and England, but it was in the United States, where it reached a high level of diffusion through the foundation of phrenological societies and journal. Moreover, although their postulates were wrong, it is an important antecedent of applied psychology, which meant the passage of metaphysical explanations to the search of the neurophysiological foundations of human behavior. In that sense, phrenology has a well-earned place in the history of psychology and neuroscience in general, which deserves to be recognized with the value that corresponds to it.
Subject(s)
Humans , Phrenology , Psychology, Applied , Behavior , Cerebrum , NeurophysiologyABSTRACT
ABSTRACT This article addresses the largely unknown legacy of Francisco de Castro regarding the neurological sciences. His essay "Psychogenic Cortical Centers", written in 1881 for his admission to the Imperial Academy of Medicine in Rio de Janeiro, is a refined appreciation of the theory of localized cortical functions that was in evidence in Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century.
RESUMO O presente artigo apresenta o legado pouco conhecido de Franciso de Castro, referente às ciências neurológicas. Seu ensaio "Centros Corticaes Psychogenicos", escrito em 1881 como uma forma de ser admitido como membro na Academia Imperial de Medicina, no Rio de Janeiro, é uma refinada excursão pela teoria das funções corticais localizadas, em destaque na Europa na segunda metade do século XIX.