When was it recognized that thinking occurs in the brain and not in the heart? Historically speaking, this misconception used to exist, right? Somewhat like Copernican heliocentrism, no? When (and, if you wish, how) did this folk concept regarding the biological basis of cognition come to be revised?

When was it recognized that thinking occurs in the brain and not in the heart?
Alcmaeon of Croton, who lived in the late 6th and early 5th century B.C., is said to have been the first to discover the optical and other sensory nerves. He believed that the nerves were hollow and conducted the sensation to the brain. Alcmaion saw the brain as the organ of perception, memory, thought and the control of action.

The Wikipedia article on the History of Neuroscience gives some more information on the later developments of this view.



Source:


Lloyd, G. (1975). Alcmeon and the early history of dissection. Sudhoffs Archiv, 59, 113–47.