XI. An investigation into the functions of the occipital and temporal lobes of the monkey's brain

Abstract

The experiments which we here record were performed during the preceding winter and spring in the physiological laboratory of University College, but their formal publication has been hitherto deferred because we were desirous of keeping some of the animals in which the lesions had been established under observation during several months, in order that any modification which that lapse of time might produce in the symptoms should be duly recorded. But, although not hitherto published, several of the cases, while still under such observation, have been brought before the notice of both the Physiological and the Neurological Society of London, and have been examined at different times by various persons interested in the subject of cerebral localisation, besides being familiar to the regular workers in the laboratory. In this way we have repeatedly had the opportunity of showing most of the symptoms which we are about to record, nor have we inserted any detail as to the accuracy of which there could, to an unbiased mind, be the slightest doubt. All our experiments have been performed with the view of establishing certain lesions, uni- or bi-lateral, embracing definite areas of the cerebral cortex; and they have been confined, or nearly so, to the occipital and temporal lobes. In the performance of the operations strict antiseptic precautions were employed, the dressings being fixed by a collodion cap. On the fourth or fifth day after the operation this cap and the dressings were removed, and in every case the wound was found to be completely closed, the edges of the skin being closely united, no sign of meningitis nor of any septic mischief being at any time perceptible. In one exceptional case, however, in which the antiseptic precautions had, from over confidence, been relaxed, the asepticism was incomplete, and sloughing of the skin over the seat of operation resulted, so that the animal had to be killed within a few days of the performance of the operation. This case will be mentioned in due course.

Resolving the neural circuits of anxiety

“…For more than a century following the original discovery that temporal lobe structures govern emotional behaviors 54 , our understanding of the neural substrates of anxiety was largely restricted to insights gleaned through lesion and inactivation studies. While this early work importantly led to the identification of key loci controlling anxiety, notably including the amygdala, the bed nucleus of the stria terminals (BNST), the ventral hippocampus (vHPC), and the prefrontal cortex (PFC), progress in dissecting the contribution of regional microcircuits to this emotional state was limited.…”

Sanger Brown and Edward Schäfer before Heinrich Klüver and Paul Bucy: their observations on bilateral temporal lobe ablations

“…22 He continued: "… whatever may have been the case in Dr. Ferrier's own investigations, this has certainly not happened in the experiments in which I have been engaged in conjunctions with Mr. Horsley or with Dr. Brown, as longitudinal sections through the hemispheres have abundantly shown." 2,11 Schäfer was very respectful in his response to Ferrier: "I share to the full the regret which Dr. Ferrier feels for the attitude I have taken up on this question, but not for my own sake nor for that of the truth. Few men have done so much toward the elucidation of the cerebral functions as my present opponent."…”

“…However, anyone who has ever seen the truly remarkable behavior changes following bilateral temporal lobectomy will not be surprised to learn that Brown and Schäfer felt called upon to demonstrate their 2 monkeys before various scientific societies. 2,21 In fact, these 2 animals were exhibited to London's Neurological Society, where a committee was appointed to examine them.…”

“…2 The work was done predominantly to study the functions of the temporal and occipital lobes and of the angular gyrus. Among these operations, 2 cases presented interesting observations that in retrospect laid the foundation for the present-day KBS and other functional/behavioral studies.…”

Looking down, around, and up: Mechanistic explanation in psychology

“…The late 19th century also witnessed reports of deficits affecting the ability to locate objects correctly in space following damage to the angular gyrus in the posterior parietal cortex (Brown & Schäfer, 1888;Ferrier & Yeo, 1884), and early in the 20th century Rezso 00 Bálint (1909) described a stroke patient who could not use visual information to guide the motion of his right hand. Initially researchers were unable to elicit responses from parietal lobe neurons during visual tasks, but once techniques were developed for recording from awake, behaving animals, Juhani Hyvärinen and Antti Poranen (1974) found cells that responded when a monkey was required to visually orient towards a stimulus or reach for it.…”