Studying the Brain

1895

MODERN SCIENCE KNOWS HOW WE THINK, SEE, HEAR AND FEEL.

Locating Brain Diseases by Observing the Action of Parts of the Body — Curious Things Brain Experts Have Discovered From Experiments.

Definite knowledge has recently been acquired regarding the anatomy of the human mind. It is now understood, with a fair degree of accuracy, where and how ideas of various kinds originate in different parts of the so called gray matter.

The organ of thought has been divided up into sections, as it were, which are severally responsible for the creation of ideas and images of many classes. Certain areas of brain surface are recognized as controlling vision, hearing, taste, smell and vocal speech, while others govern the muscular mechanism of the body. If you move your big toe, you direct its motion by orders conveyed from a point of the cerebral cortex directly beneath the very middle of the top of the skull.

At the University of Pennsylvania important work in this line of scientific research is being carried on under the direction of Dr. Lightner Witmer. He has a laboratory fitted up with all sorts of queer looking machinery for finding out how long it takes people to think, to see, to hear, to feel, to distinguish colors and other such things. There are models of brains, which one may take apart and put together again as if they were Chinese puzzles.

Most of the knowledge thus obtained has been got by studying the brains of lower animals, chiefly dogs and monkeys. It does not always follow that what is true of a monkey is true of a man, and scientists have been led into a good many errors by assumptions of that kind. Unfortunately it is not practicable to make experiments upon living human brains, save in exceptional eases where surgical operations have to be performed on them. But it is very easy to remove a portion of the skull of a monkey and to observe how the beasts acts when stimulation — electricity is usually employed for the purpose — is applied to one portion or another of the surface.

Acquaintance with the so called motor areas has become so accurate that a disease of a part of the brain can usually be located with exactness by observation of the muscles of the body. An abnormal wiggle of the big toe would lead the physician to look for trouble in the middle of the top of the head. Maybe there would be no cure for it, and then again perhaps something might be done. If it were ascertained that the patient had received a blow there, it might he imagined that a fracture previously unsuspected had occurred, causing pressure on the brain. In that case relief would probably be obtained by trephining.

An interesting instance on record is that of a girl who was suddenly seized with paralysis of one side of the face, accompanied by loss of power of speech. Within three or four days the paralysis passed downward from the arm to the body and finally to the leg on the same side. It was decided by the doctors that the symptoms indicated a brain hemorrhage up the fissure of Rolando and involving the areas corresponding to the arm and leg. The girl died, and a post mortem examination disclosed the fact that this was exactly what had occurred.

The fissure of Rolando runs across the top of the head from side to side and almost from ear to ear. In and about it are located the most important motor areas which govern the muscular movements of the body. The highest point corresponds to the toe. Following the fissure down the side of the head toward the ear comes the leg, next the arm and finally the face. That portion which represents the face is much more highly differentiated — i. e., split up into a great many smaller areas. Thanks to this arrangement, one is able to vary one's countenance with an almost infinite play of expression, every little muscle being under ready control.

Close by and associated with the area representing the face is that of vocal speech. This latter area is so highly differentiated that each letter and numeral seems to possess its own special tract. There is a case on record of a man who forgot the letters B, P, Q, X and Y and the numerals, 6, 7 and 8. In other respects he was all right. But he could not read because the letters mentioned were unknown to him. Of course he could not write either. He was unable to add 2 and 6 because 6 was unknown to him. When he tried to write out the word "six," he could only get as far as the first two letters, inasmuch as "x" was forgotten.

People remember things in different ways, according to the habit of the individual. For example, you ask one man when Columbus discovered America, and he will reply 1492 promptly, having a visual picture of the figures forming that date in his mind. But another person will recall the date not in that manner at all, but by sound. In the latter case it may be the centers of hearing that furnish the memory, but it is more likely to be those of vocal speech. The host spellers are visualists. They see mental pictures of words, spelling them by reading them off as if from a blackboard. Lots of folks have no such pictures at all. Most of them seem to depend chiefly, if not wholly, upon the habit of using the letters and syllables in certain forms of speaking.

The part of the brain belonging to and representing each sense — seeing, hearing or what not — seems to be a complete little brain in itself. A banker of Frankfort lost the use of his visual brain for purposes of memory and was obliged to begin like a child and train his auditory brain. The orator, whose words pour out in an eloquent flood, as it self inspired, possesses centers of vocal speech which are highly developed, constituting in themselves a brain capable of doing its own thinking, as it were. — New York World.

Injured Man's Mind Blank

1916

May Never Be Able to Tell of Wife's Slaying.

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin. — The mystery of the murder of Mrs. Julia Demin may have been locked in the bruised, incurably injured brain of her husband, Louis Demin, whose skull was fractured when she was killed, supposedly by a burglar.

Demin is recovering from his physical wounds in the city hospital, but all efforts to get him in a condition to describe the events of the fatal night have failed.

It is now feared that when Mrs. Demin was killed her husband was so badly injured about the head that he will never recover his mental strength.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 3.

Training for Left-Handedness

1915

Positive Results Not Seen as Anticipated

Some time ago the development of left-handedness in children was warmly advocated by various persons, not only because in this way reliance could be placed on both upper extremities for mechanical work, which would undoubtedly be of advantage in case of serious disturbance of the functions of the right arm, but also because the hope was entertained that by training the left arm a second speech center might develop in the right hemisphere of the brain in the same way as the well-developed right arm corresponds with the speech center place in the left half of the brain.

The Berlin physician, M. Frankel, was especially active in the advocacy of this idea — in fact, experiments in this direction were undertaken in various localities. The practical results which have been so far reported do not correspond in any degree to the optimistic expectations of the advocates of the method, says the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Doctor Schafer, on the basis of permission granted by the school deputation, collected statistics with reference to the left-handedness among about 18,000 pupils of the Berlin public schools. These statistics show that 4.06 per cent of all the children are left-handed, 5.5 per cent of all the boys and 2.98 per cent of the girls. The percentage of children in whom both hands are equally developed is very small, being only .21 per cent. The overwhelming majority, 95.73 per cent of all the children, are distinctly right-handed. In several school districts, among 448 teachers, there were ten who were left-handed.

L. Katscher's work on "Training the Left Hand" was the theoretical basis for the exercises to train the left hand. They included exercises in writing, arithmetic manual training and gymnastics; especially in the last two systematic efforts were made. In general, the result showed that the possibility of employing the hitherto unused left hand at first excited great joy and marked interest, but the physical awkwardness generally was a great hindrance.

The outcome of the whole experiment shows that in no case could a preference for the left hand be developed. It may be trained to be a welcome assistant to the right hand, but never a substitute for it. In teaching writing the complaint is made of a deterioration in handwriting. The children refused to write with the left hand, became nervous and worried over it, and increased intellectual development was in no case observed. Almost all those who gave an opinion were unanimous that the advantages stood in no relation to the expenditure of time, pains and patience.

Man's Mental Power House

1914

On Proper and Wise Use of Brain Depends Individual's Value to the World

The brain is our mental power house; its electric product is thought, and our sanity is determined by the mental voltage we carry.

So long as we are live wires, so long as we transmit power, radiate love, give out sympathetic warmth, think individually and act collectively, we establish our right to live.

The lazy man, as has been frequently observed, us not only as useless as a dead man (and takes up more room), but he is a clogging drag upon the wheels of progress.

The man or woman blessed with imagination or anticipation possesses a sort of prophetic vision, a kind of instinct, so that they look upon life with prescience, strength of character and courage. This possession is not a gift of chance, but a cultivation that comes with useful activities.

Inspiration is the indicator of well-being in our mental power house — it is a by-product of labor, for without labor it merely becomes a mental dribble, a wasting (without renewing) of mental vitality. Inspiration is therefore the result of laboring, and when properly applied it is followed by achievements of great worth. Allied to labor, it expands its force. Unallied, it is soon exhausted.

Singular New Disease — "Soul Blindness"

1906

Man Afflicted with "Soul Blindness" Cannot Bead or Recognize Pictures

Berlin. — The latest thing in the line of diseases is soul blindness, the name having been devised by Prof. Schuster, of Berlin. It appears that the professor lately had a patient under his care suffering from a lack of mental association. The man was educated and spoke coherently, but could not read; the printed characters conveyed no meaning to his mind. His senses all appeared normal, and there was no indication of physical disease.

He could recognize and name all the objects around him; but printed words, or sketches of the simplest objects, he was utterly unable to name; in fact, to quote the words of the professor, "He could not tell a boat from a tree or a house."

The theory advanced by Prof. Schuster to account for this peculiar condition is, that the connection between the eyes and that particular portion of the brain concerned in the association of ideas has been severed in some manner, and until that connection is restored, the condition will continue.

From what he has seen of the patient, he considers it extremely doubtful whether this important junction will ever be effected.

Capacity of the Brain

1906

By Dr. Frederick Peterson

Authorities differ as to the capacity of the average brain to receive the impressions of a lifetime. It is pretty well believed that there is in the brain a centre of conservation distinct from the centre of perception. We of course know nothing as to the nature of the relation of brain cells to percepts and conservation, but we do know that there must be a relation. The latest researches (Hammerberg and Thomson) show that the number of cells in the brain is nine billion two hundred million. All stimuli, external (through the five senses) or internal (through processes), must leave some trace upon these cells, chemical, physical, or dynamic. These stimuli are composed of all sorts of percepts; words and sounds heard; things and words seen; objects felt, tasted, smelled; sensations perceived in our own bodies; thoughts pushing upward into consciousness. And a little reflection will show how innumerable such imprints must be in the course of a single waking day.

Even without reading the resident of a city must receive an incalculable number of impressions upon his brain every 24 hours. The reading centre of the brain occupies a comparative small area in the back of the left hemisphere, and consequently must possess a very small portion of the nine billion cells referred to above. We can only guess at the number, but a fair estimate would be about a twentieth, or say five hundred millions which in a lifetime of 60 years would allow us about 25,000 cells daily for the perception and conservation of words and sentences read. These figures may have no scientific value, but at any rate they emphasize a very important fact, and that is that our brain capacity is limited and that we should be sparing of the cells we daily squander. — Colliers' Weekly.

The Body Perfectly Obeys Your Rapid Brain

1922

YOUR POWERS

Lulu M. Cargill, clerk in the New York post office, takes from Nina E. Holmes of Detroit the title of "champion letter sorter of the world."

Miss Holmes attracted attention by sorting 20,610 letters in eight hours, or nearly 43 a minute. Miss Cargill sorts 30,215 letters in eight hours, which is better than one a second. And she sorted the first 23,500 letters without pause. Then she stopped for a cup of tea. Sorting a letter means picking it up, reading the address, recalling the postal route to reach the address, then tossing the letter into the proper bag.

Miss Cargill is 26 years old. She has been a postal clerk only three years.

Miss Cargill, you reflect, must have wonderful co-ordination of body and mind. A brain that works with lightning swiftness has automatically perfect teamwork with a body that perfectly obeys her rapid brain.

The body is a collection of machines, each trying to work cooperatively for the good of all. It is a more perfect system of government than man has been able to devise.

Miss Cargill, judging from her work, has what scientists would call "an extraordinary well-balanced system of endocrine glands."

In the so-called "efficient" person, the body glands speed up when needed and slow down when the energy of the body is required by the other glands.

In a boy who is growing too rapidly, as a result of abnormal activity by the pituitary gland in the brain, the other glands slow down and surrender part of their share of the body's energy. With most of his energy devoted to growing, the lad is apt to be otherwise languid.

Or, for example, you suddenly are in danger, which requires a quick use of reserve energy. The word is telegraphed through the blood. The message is sent out by the adrenal glands, which stand guard as a mobilizer of reserve energy. Other glands slow down, as if saying, "If the adrenals fail in this emergency, we all perish."

The heart responds to the adrenals and rushes blood to the arms or other parts of the body that have to meet the danger. This rush of blood is why "the face goes white" in a time of peril.

The crisis met and conquered, the blood rushes back to normal distribution through the body. The other glands "come to life." The sudden change makes the person, calm in or, half-collapse "after it's all over."

—The Bridgeport Telegram, Bridgeport, Connecticut, Sept. 26, 1922, p. 3.

No Brain Operation for Train Bandit

Editorial, 1922

Were Roy Gardner, the mail train bandit, permitted to undergo the suggested brain operation to make him a law abiding citizen, it would be among the probabilities that he would become an angel. Contrary to the generally prevailing opinion, brain surgery is considerably more of a failure than a success.

Gardner had been told that his propensity to rob mail trains was due to pressure on the brain, and a simple operation to remove the pressure would give him normal moral sense. In the Federal penitentiary, in Leavenworth, Kans., he demands that the operation should be performed, insisting that Attorney General Daugherty promised him relief through surgery.

The Department of Justice decides now that the operation cannot be performed. Prison officials had wired the department that they believed the operation would not do Gardner any good.

Many moral irregularities are due unquestionably to mental or physical disease or deficiency. Medical or surgical treatment is effectual with many of them, but it is not a certain remedy or cure.

As to brain surgery proper, it is a last resort in a desperate case. The great majority of operations on the brain itself are fatal. Though trephining the skull and removing pressure is a simple performance, it is more often unsuccessful than successful. Surgical experience obviously is, therefore, sufficient warrant for the department's adverse decision.

—The Monessen Daily Independent, Monessen, PA, Oct. 23, 1922, p. 2.

Hypnotism, Not Drowsiness, The Cause of Sleeping in Church

1908
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WHY THEY SLEEP IN CHURCH.

Hypnotism, Not Drowsiness, Declared to Be the Cause

"Churchgoers don't sleep in church. They undergo an hypnotic trance. The soothing voices and mild music and monotonous recitative of a church service put forth powerful hypnotic influences, and that is why the pews resemble a railroad track in the abundance of their sleepers."

The speaker, a hypnotist, banged the table vehemently:

"Don't laugh," he said. "It's true. Hypnotism, not drowsiness, is what makes you sleep in church. Through your auditory nerve sound waves are passed to your brain that are as effective as though a professional hypnotist had made them. Sound, you know, is the newest and best hypnotic.

"At first, in the church service, the periodicity of the wave alterations is short. There is a little speaking, then more music. And just when you are getting properly lulled the clergyman, in a modulated, agreeable, soothing voice, speaks on and on and on — and you begin to nod. You are, hypnotically speaking, entranced.

"The average church service is a scientifically correct hypnotic instrument. No wonder, then. It puts many of us to sleep."

--The Bayard Advocate, Bayard, Iowa, March 26, 1908, page 3.