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[Brain physiology and the development of psychiatry in the 19th century]. 1993

R Alvarez Pelaez
Departamento de Historia de la Ciencia, Centro de Estudios Históricos, CSIC.

Great developments in study of the central and peripheral nervous system took place throughout the 19th century, especially in Britain. These studies, together with other factors, gave rise to the development of a somaticism of mental illness. The followers of this school of thought, most notably Henry Maudsley, supported the idea of materialism, based on the theory of evolution. They were opposed by those who believed in the duality of body and mind whith its different variants. These two visions constituted the centre of the theoretical debate of psychiatry at that time. The author pays special attention to the first stance and reaches the conclusion that this process of knowledge made mental illness to be considered as an organic disease and contribuited to the entry of the lunatic wholly into the sphere or medical action.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D009482 Neurophysiology The scientific discipline concerned with the physiology of the nervous system.
D011570 Psychiatry The medical science that deals with the origin, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders.
D001921 Brain The part of CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM that is contained within the skull (CRANIUM). Arising from the NEURAL TUBE, the embryonic brain is comprised of three major parts including PROSENCEPHALON (the forebrain); MESENCEPHALON (the midbrain); and RHOMBENCEPHALON (the hindbrain). The developed brain consists of CEREBRUM; CEREBELLUM; and other structures in the BRAIN STEM. Encephalon
D006113 United Kingdom Country in northwestern Europe including Great Britain and the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland, located between the North Sea and north Atlantic Ocean. The capital is London. Great Britain,Isle of Man
D049672 History, 19th Century Time period from 1801 through 1900 of the common era. 19th Century History,19th Cent. History (Medicine),19th Cent. History of Medicine,19th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 19th Century,History of Medicine, 19th Cent.,History, Nineteenth Century,Medical History, 19th Cent.,Medicine, 19th Cent.,19th Cent. Histories (Medicine),19th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 19th (Medicine),Cent. History, 19th (Medicine),Century Histories, 19th,Century Histories, Nineteenth,Century History, 19th,Century History, Nineteenth,Histories, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 19th Century,Histories, Nineteenth Century,History, 19th Cent. (Medicine),Nineteenth Century Histories,Nineteenth Century History

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