Last week, we took a day trip to the Loire Valley as a class. It was my first time outside of Paris in France, and it was refreshing to see open fields and the countryside on the way there. We got to visit two chateaus: Chateau de Chenonceau and Chateau de Chambord. Even though it was foggy and rainy, the view from Chateau de Chenonceau was amazing! The Chateau de Chambord had so much to explore. When we first got off the bus, there were goats and other animals around a barn area. Continuing down the path to the chateau, there was a river and a vast garden. The whole area was so pretty, it was hard to leave!
Figure 1. Me and my roommates at Chateau de Chambord.
At the first chateau we visited, the tour guide told us that Leonardo da Vinci lived in Chateau du Clos Luce in Amboise for the last three years of his life. Leonardo da Vinci made many contributions to the field of neuroscience, among his many other accomplishments. It is possible that a lot of this work took place in Amboise. Many of his drawings of the nervous system were not published until long after his death. He was primarily interested in sensory stimuli and how they are processed in the brain as well as neuroanatomy. One of his sketches of the brain showed the first accurate drawing of the meningeal arteries and cranial fossae. He labeled an area of the brain the “senso commune” which is where he believed the senses were processed in the brain. He believed that this area, hypothesized to be the anterior ventricle, was also where the soul resided. Da Vinci did experiments to learn more about sensory systems. He was the first to find that the olfactory nerve is one of the cranial nerves. He also studied the spinal cord and believed it was the foundation of movement and life (Pevsner, 2002).
Figure 2. One of da Vinci’s sketches of the brain. (http://www.drawingsofleonardo.org/)
After reading this article, I realized that early neuroscience heavily focused on the soul. Neuroscientists were interested in where it was located and how it functioned. Neuroscience now turned to more of a physiological focus. This article as well as our neuroethics class have taught me to think more about what makes us who we are. I was also surprised by how long ago scientists were interested in learning more about the brain. Neuroscience is still an emerging field, and there is still a lot more to discover!
References:
Pevsner, J. (2002). Leonardo da Vinci’s contributions to neuroscience. Trends in Neurosciences., 25(4), 217-220.