4 ms·
One of my undergrad neuroscience professors used to like to say that phrenology was based on three hypotheses: 1. Cognitive capacities or traits are often cent
by aaronharnly 7y ago
One of my undergrad neuroscience professors used to like to say that phrenology was based on three hypotheses:
1. Cognitive capacities or traits are often centered in particular regions of the brain.
2. The degree of expression or strength of those capacities is correlated with the size of the region.
3. Those size differences can be detected from the outer surface of the skull.
Only the third is false. (The first two are true to varying degrees for particular capacities or traits, of course...)
- whatshisface 7y agoThere's a fourth assumption missing, which is also wrong: that the localized traits are things like "honesty" or "good character" instead of things like "motor function in the upper right torso." My neurology textbook has a great figure from an old phrenology publication, it demonstrates the philosophical idea of there being brain regions for cognitive functions, but the partitions and labels are completely made up.