Marco Catani - Brain Renaissance: From Vesalius to Modern Neuroscience

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Catani, Marco, author, commentator, translator.
Brain renaissance from Vesalius to Modern Neuroscience / translated, with commentary, by Marco Catani, Stefano Sandrone.
p. ; cm.
Translation and commentary of those chapters of De humani corporis fabrica dedicated to the brain.
Includes index.
ISBN 9780199383832 (alk. paper)
eISBN 9780199383856
I. Sandrone, Stefano, author, commentator, translator. II. Vesalius, Andreas, 15141564. De humani corporis fabrica. Selections. English. Analysis of (work): III. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Vesalius, Andreas, 15141564. 2. Brainanatomy & histology. 3. Anatomyhistory. 4. Physicianshistory. WL 300]
QP376
612.82dc23
2014032888

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To Raffaela, Giulia, Matteo and Chiara Maria with whom I share a wonderful journey (Marco Catani)

To my beloved grandfather Renato (Stefano Sandrone)

Brain Renaissance, from Vesalius to Modern Neuroscience has been written to mark the birth of the remarkable anatomist Andreas Vesalius five centuries ago, and the 450th anniversary of his lonely death on the coast of Greece.

Born in Brussels in 1514, Vesalius studied in Paris and Leuven. As professor of anatomy in Padua, he began writing the De Humani Corporis Fabrica at the age of 24. It took him four years to complete what is still considered a true landmark in the history of medicine. He supervised all aspects of the making of the book and his final publication in 1543 represented the final act of the realization of a true masterpiece of science and art.

How can a book published almost 500 years ago still be relevant to contemporary neuroscience? Andreas Vesalius was a Renaissance man who dared question the received wisdom of his day, which came from ancient teachings about the human body and mind. Inspired by the finest cartographers and artists of his time, Vesalius laid down a modern paradigm in science: the power of direct observation. The result was a new anatomy of the human body.

Five hundred years later, technological development permits the scientific and medical community to study the anatomy of the human body with a greater spatial and temporal resolution. Concerning the brain, the so called neuroimaging techniques, such as positron emission tomography (PET), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) tractography are essential tools for the analysis of organized neural systems in working and resting states, both in normal and pathological conditions. These methods, when complemented with microscopy techniques could open the possibility of mapping the entire wiring of the human brain.

As neuroscientists we exploit the advantages offered by modern neuroimaging techniques. But we are also deeply aware that our approach to neuroscience, although modern in the tools employed, intellectually owns much to Vesaliuss philosophy. Our book grew from a wish to understand the roots of our own discipline, which has involved tracing the origins of neuroscience back to that extraordinary period of artistic, intellectual, and scientific awakening, the Renaissance, and back to Vesalius.

The book is divided into three parts and readers can start at any of these parts, depending upon their personal interests.

of the book gives in English the eighteen chapters of Vesaliuss Fabrica dedicated to the brain, originally in Latin, the international language in his time.

Each of the translated chapters on the brain has brief explanatory notes. For those with direct relevance to modern neuroscience, we also provide a glance at the progress made since Vesalius wrote his book.

offers a brief overview of the major discoveries in neuroscience to have emerged since the publication of the Fabrica. Here we track the evolution of ideas and approaches to understanding the brain within their historical context, and pay tribute to the work of many pioneers. As our account moves toward modern times, the brain is perceived in terms of the major technical achievements of each era: the brain as an electrical device or in the 21st century, as a connectome, which identifies the brain as an intricate wiring system, a sort of social network for random but controlled interactions.

Working on this book has taken us on an unforgettable journey, inspired by the work of Vesalius. We wrote Brain Renaissance to share our understanding of Vesalius and his legacy, and the history of neuroscience. We also wrote it for the next generation of neuroscientists: we especially hope younger readers will be inspired by it to spend a life in science. Marco Catani and Stefano Sandrone, Zakynthos 7th September 2014