The Neuroanatomy of Herophilus

Abstract

Herophilus (ca. 330 to ca. 260 BC) was one of Hellenistic -Alexandria's renowned scholars, a leading physician, often named the ‘Father of Anatomy'. From cadaveric dissections and possibly vivisection Herophilus considered the ventricles to be the seat of the soul, intelligence and mental functions. Herophilus introduced the term rete mirabile found in ungulates but not in man, as opposed to Galen, who erroneously believed it a vital human network. A founder of the principles of observations in science, and an exponent of measurements in medicine, his accurate dissections resulted in original anatomical discoveries. He distinguished nerves that produce voluntary motion from blood vessels, and motor from sensory nerves; the nerves of the spinal cord were directly linked to the brain. He identified at least seven pairs of cranial nerves. Herophilus demonstrated the meninges, and ventricles, regarding the fourth as most important. His name is perpetuated by his accounts of the calamus scriptorius and the confluence of venous sinuses the torcular Herophili.

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

“…Praxagoras, his teacher from the school of Kos, was renowned for his studies of the pulse. 26 Herophilus, influenced by his mentor, invented klepsydra , a portable water clock to measure patients’ pulses (Figure 1). 8,11 Then, going one step further, and based on his own studies on hearts and pulses, he opposed Praxagoras and Aristotle’s cardiocentric doctrine, and he emphasised that the brain, not the heart, was the seat of consciousness and perception of the senses.…”

“…8,11 Then, going one step further, and based on his own studies on hearts and pulses, he opposed Praxagoras and Aristotle’s cardiocentric doctrine, and he emphasised that the brain, not the heart, was the seat of consciousness and perception of the senses. 3,26…”

Herophilos, the great anatomist of antiquity

“…He discovered that nerves originated in the brain, was the first to distinguish nerves from tendons and observed the difference between the motor and sensory nerves. [1,11] Herophilos also described at least six cranial nerves and named them the optic, oculomotor, trigeminal, facial, auditory and hypoglossal nerves, and pointed out that damage to motor nerves produced paralysis. [12] Herophilos named the styloid process of the skull.…”

“…This city was home to many prominent philosophers and medical practitioners of that time. [1] Although there are very few historical documents, it may fairly be stated that the Alexandrian physicians were the first in the medical tradition to perform systematic dissections of human cadavers.…”

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“…14 However Herophilus was involved mainly in Neuroanatomy and Clinical Neurology. 15 He used to excise the brain from the skull in order to study its structure, making three dimensional sections for the precise stereotactic perception of the brain, describing at the same time, the vascular supply, the meanings, the ventricular system and the subcortical gray matter. 16 It is well documented that Herophilus described the durra matter and the venous sinuses of the skull, particularly the straight venous sinus and the confluence of the sinuses on the internal occipital protuberance, in the inner surface of the occipital bone, which is…”