Agostino Gemelli and the problem of the localization of cognitive functions in the brain

Journal title RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA
Author/s Paolo Bartolomeo
Publishing Year 2014 Issue 2013/4 Language Italian
Pages 8 P. 429-436 File size 607 KB
DOI 10.3280/RIP2013-004007
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In 1918, Agostino Gemelli published a paper on his Rivista di Filosofia Neo- Scolastica. The subject was the theory of brain localization of cognitive functions. Gemelli explored some salient facts related to brain localization and the criticism they raised. He mentioned the possibility of a more integrated view of the functioning of the central nervous system, inspired by the theories of his mentor Camillo Golgi. Here we briefly review the history of brain localizations, starting from phrenology through the discoveries of Paul Broca and other pioneers of neuropsychology in the second half of the 19th century. We then resume Gemelli’s considerations in this 1918 paper and stress their relevance to the present theoretical debate between functional segregation and integration in the central nervous system.

Keywords: Agostino Gemelli, cerebral cortex, cognition, segregation, integration

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Paolo Bartolomeo, Agostino Gemelli e il problema della localizzazione cerebrale delle funzioni cognitive in "RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA " 4/2013, pp 429-436, DOI: 10.3280/RIP2013-004007