title: The centre thought to control sensory and motor activity in the early history of medicine.
abstract: In Ancient Greek medicine the heart instead of the brain was sometimes thought to be the organ co-ordinating sensory and motor activity. The history of the origin of this erroneous idea is outlined. The relative importance of observations and theory in early medical investigations is discussed, and the anatomical dissections leading to the establishment of the brain as the centre of sensory and motor function are described.
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Quin
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D000076145:Greece, Ancient; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology*; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D009043:Motor Activity; D009482:Neurophysiology / Q000266:history*; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology