What: "Yet the space for animal spirits grew smaller and smaller as the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system became more elaborate. By 1653, William Harvey still might cite medieval authorities: "According to Avicenna, the nerves are like plantings of the brain, and provide ready intelligence for the organs of sensation; like the fingers of the hand; wherefore the brain neither sees or hears, yet knows all things." But he also took great pride in his century's extensive anatomical studies that had identified the optic, auditory, and olfactory nerves. And despite Descartes' insistence on the hollow nerve, the Scottish medical student John Moir record in his 1620 lecture notes: "nerves have no perceptible cavity internally, as the veins and arteries have." "

Writer: Avicenna

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Date: Feb 28 2014 4:20 PM