The footprints of neuroscience in Alexandria during the 3rd-century BC: Herophilus and Erasistratus

Abstract

In the first half of the 3rd-century BC in Alexandria, the Greek physicians Herophilus of Chalcedon (ca. 330 to ca. 260 BC) and Erasistratus of Chios (ca. 315 to ca. 240 BC) became the first scientists in antiquity to comprehensively study the anatomical underpinnings and the physiological properties of mind processes. Their scientific theories were based on experimental evidence arising from anatomical human dissection studies. Among their neuroscientific achievements were the discovery of the cranial nerves, the meninges, the dural sinuses and the ventricles; the delineation of the motor and sensory nerves; the appraisal of the brain as the seat of consciousness and human intellect; and the attribution of neurological disease to dysfunction of the nervous system. This paper will discuss the short-lived historical circumstances that enabled the ground-breaking progress in the domain of brain sciences during the Hellenistic period. In addition, this paper will examine the intriguing social, political and cultural interplays that determined the resonance of Herophilus and Erasistratus's work and influenced the course of history of neuroscience.

Gods and monsters: Greek mythology and Christian references in the neurosurgical lexicon

“…[ 10 ] It was until the 3 rd century when systematic human cadaveric dissections were first documented in Alexandria by the ancient Greek physicians Herophilus (335–280 BCE) and Erasistratus of Ceos (304–250 BCE). [ 29 , 38 ] Such endeavors were subsequently revived in the 16 th century largely due to the contributions of Vesalius in his quest to subvert Galen’s centuries-old dogmatic anatomical suppositions endorsed by the Christian church. [ 13 ] The brain was an especially difficult organ to dissect in the absence of tissue fixation techniques, but Vesalius and his contemporaries persisted in their empirical approach to learning through direct observation.…”

The debated neuroanatomy of the fourth ventricle

“…Herophilus believed that since the ventricular system is the center of the brain, it is the seat of the mind. His greatest interest was in the fourth ventricle, which he believed was the body's “command center” (Gross, 1995; Stefanou, 2020).…”

“…Although there were two anatomists named Sylvius, and both published works about the aqueduct, neither were the first to describe it. Communication between the third and the fourth ventricle was known since the thirteenth century and possibly long before (Leite dos Santos et al, 2004; Stefanou, 2020). Thus, this communication was an established fact many centuries before communication between the fourth ventricle and the subarachnoid space was rediscovered by Magendie.…”