Stanley Finger and Marco Piccolino
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195366723
- eISBN:
- 9780199897087
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195366723.003.0021
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, History of Neuroscience
Luigi Galvani merits the lion's share of the credit for expanding the doctrine of animal electricity beyond the singular powers of a few fish, and for doing this in a way that would reshape the life ...
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Luigi Galvani merits the lion's share of the credit for expanding the doctrine of animal electricity beyond the singular powers of a few fish, and for doing this in a way that would reshape the life sciences and markedly influence medicine. This chapter examines how Galvani's investigations led him to his revolutionary ideas about animal electricity, as expressed in his landmark publication of 1791. It shows how animal spirits—the elusive messengers of the soul that carried sensory and motor signals in classical and even later physiology—would only now start to be banished from science and medicine by newer electrical ideas.Less
Luigi Galvani merits the lion's share of the credit for expanding the doctrine of animal electricity beyond the singular powers of a few fish, and for doing this in a way that would reshape the life sciences and markedly influence medicine. This chapter examines how Galvani's investigations led him to his revolutionary ideas about animal electricity, as expressed in his landmark publication of 1791. It shows how animal spirits—the elusive messengers of the soul that carried sensory and motor signals in classical and even later physiology—would only now start to be banished from science and medicine by newer electrical ideas.
Stanley Finger
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195181821
- eISBN:
- 9780199865277
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195181821.003.0008
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, History of Neuroscience
Physiologists in the opening decades of the 18th century were skeptical of existing theories about how the nerves work. Some scientists began to wonder whether the nervous system may work by ...
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Physiologists in the opening decades of the 18th century were skeptical of existing theories about how the nerves work. Some scientists began to wonder whether the nervous system may work by electricity, a term coined by the British physicist William Gilbert around 1600. Because so many people were involved with electricity, and because knowledge about electricity led to developments in so many different scientific fields, some broad-minded historians say that there was no single figure dominating the study of electricity at this time. When discussions narrow to just the history of neurophysiology, however, Luigi Galvani stood out. Galvani's experiments and theories were not as revolutionary as they were evolutionary. Galvani studied electricity with animals because this was one of the most exciting things an aspiring scientist could do, and he was the recipient of a wealth of experimental findings and new ideas. This chapter looks at Galvani's experiments with animals such as frogs, his theory on animal electricity, and his conflict with Alessandro Volta. Works on electrotherapy and the electric fish are also considered.Less
Physiologists in the opening decades of the 18th century were skeptical of existing theories about how the nerves work. Some scientists began to wonder whether the nervous system may work by electricity, a term coined by the British physicist William Gilbert around 1600. Because so many people were involved with electricity, and because knowledge about electricity led to developments in so many different scientific fields, some broad-minded historians say that there was no single figure dominating the study of electricity at this time. When discussions narrow to just the history of neurophysiology, however, Luigi Galvani stood out. Galvani's experiments and theories were not as revolutionary as they were evolutionary. Galvani studied electricity with animals because this was one of the most exciting things an aspiring scientist could do, and he was the recipient of a wealth of experimental findings and new ideas. This chapter looks at Galvani's experiments with animals such as frogs, his theory on animal electricity, and his conflict with Alessandro Volta. Works on electrotherapy and the electric fish are also considered.
C. U. M. Smith, Eugenio Frixione, Stanley Finger, and William Clower
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199766499
- eISBN:
- 9780199950263
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199766499.003.0015
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, History of Neuroscience
This chapter takes a look at efforts made in the study of the possibility that humans could create and store electricity, just like certain animals. It first introduces Luigi Galvani, who studied the ...
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This chapter takes a look at efforts made in the study of the possibility that humans could create and store electricity, just like certain animals. It first introduces Luigi Galvani, who studied the possibility that like electric fishes, the nerves and muscles of barnyard animals, humans, and frogs work by electricity. It then studies some of the enduring features of the animal spirit paradigm and Alessandro Volta's critique of Galvani's study. It also looks at some of the new findings on electric fish experiments in Italy and the physiological advances in Germany. This chapter ends with a discussion on 20th-century developments on nerve electricity.Less
This chapter takes a look at efforts made in the study of the possibility that humans could create and store electricity, just like certain animals. It first introduces Luigi Galvani, who studied the possibility that like electric fishes, the nerves and muscles of barnyard animals, humans, and frogs work by electricity. It then studies some of the enduring features of the animal spirit paradigm and Alessandro Volta's critique of Galvani's study. It also looks at some of the new findings on electric fish experiments in Italy and the physiological advances in Germany. This chapter ends with a discussion on 20th-century developments on nerve electricity.
Alan J. McComas
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199751754
- eISBN:
- 9780199897094
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199751754.003.0002
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, History of Neuroscience, Sensory and Motor Systems
Using early microscopes, Leewenhoek and Fontana describe nerve fibres. Galvani discovers that electricity causes frog muscles to twitch, though the existence of “animal” electricity is doubted by ...
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Using early microscopes, Leewenhoek and Fontana describe nerve fibres. Galvani discovers that electricity causes frog muscles to twitch, though the existence of “animal” electricity is doubted by Volta. Nobili is able to measure an injury current in muscle and Matteucci obtains dramatic, though indirect, evidence for some kind of impulse in muscle contraction. The impulse, or “negative variation,” is detected by du Bois Reymond with a sensitive galvanometer and its velocity in frog nerve is measured by Helmholtz using two methods. Hermann likens the structure and function of the nerve fibre to a series of electric components and his contemporary, Bernstein, invents an ingenious mechanical device for determining the brief time-course a the nerve impulse. Bernstein proposes that the difference in electrical potential across a resting nerve or muscle fibre membrane is due to unequal concentrations of potassium ions on the two sides, the membrane itself being semipermeable. Bernstein envisages the impulse arising because of a brief and unselective increase in membrane permeablility. Elsewhere Ranvier discovers interruptions in the sheaths of the myelinated nerve fibres.Less
Using early microscopes, Leewenhoek and Fontana describe nerve fibres. Galvani discovers that electricity causes frog muscles to twitch, though the existence of “animal” electricity is doubted by Volta. Nobili is able to measure an injury current in muscle and Matteucci obtains dramatic, though indirect, evidence for some kind of impulse in muscle contraction. The impulse, or “negative variation,” is detected by du Bois Reymond with a sensitive galvanometer and its velocity in frog nerve is measured by Helmholtz using two methods. Hermann likens the structure and function of the nerve fibre to a series of electric components and his contemporary, Bernstein, invents an ingenious mechanical device for determining the brief time-course a the nerve impulse. Bernstein proposes that the difference in electrical potential across a resting nerve or muscle fibre membrane is due to unequal concentrations of potassium ions on the two sides, the membrane itself being semipermeable. Bernstein envisages the impulse arising because of a brief and unselective increase in membrane permeablility. Elsewhere Ranvier discovers interruptions in the sheaths of the myelinated nerve fibres.
Michael Brian Schiffer
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520238022
- eISBN:
- 9780520939851
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520238022.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This chapter shows that electrobiologists adopted electrical technology for research on plants and animals. It specifically addresses the electrobiologists' activities and inventions. In adapting ...
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This chapter shows that electrobiologists adopted electrical technology for research on plants and animals. It specifically addresses the electrobiologists' activities and inventions. In adapting electrical technology for plant research, electrobiologists fashioned the first electrical machines that ran without human power. Experiments by Jean Jallabert, Pierre Bertholon, Martinus van Marum, Giuseppe Toaldo, Jan Ingen-Housz, Stephen Gray, William Harvey, Wilhelm von Barneveld, Benjamin Martin, Henry Cavendish, Isaac Newton, Luigi Galvani, and Eusebio Valli are summarized. The works of Walsh and Cavendish were not the first to implicate electricity in physiological processes. Volta's theory is known as the “contact” theory of electricity. Both Galvani and Volta had discovered important new effects, but neither took advantage of opportunities to compromise on theory. Galvanism became the favorite source of electricity for physiological investigations. Electrical experimenters of the eighteenth century were especially enthusiastic about the potential of their technology to alleviate human suffering.Less
This chapter shows that electrobiologists adopted electrical technology for research on plants and animals. It specifically addresses the electrobiologists' activities and inventions. In adapting electrical technology for plant research, electrobiologists fashioned the first electrical machines that ran without human power. Experiments by Jean Jallabert, Pierre Bertholon, Martinus van Marum, Giuseppe Toaldo, Jan Ingen-Housz, Stephen Gray, William Harvey, Wilhelm von Barneveld, Benjamin Martin, Henry Cavendish, Isaac Newton, Luigi Galvani, and Eusebio Valli are summarized. The works of Walsh and Cavendish were not the first to implicate electricity in physiological processes. Volta's theory is known as the “contact” theory of electricity. Both Galvani and Volta had discovered important new effects, but neither took advantage of opportunities to compromise on theory. Galvanism became the favorite source of electricity for physiological investigations. Electrical experimenters of the eighteenth century were especially enthusiastic about the potential of their technology to alleviate human suffering.
Alan McComas
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199751754
- eISBN:
- 9780199897094
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199751754.001.0001
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, History of Neuroscience, Sensory and Motor Systems
The nerve impulse is the basis of all human thoughts and emotions, and of all sensations and movements. As such, it has been the subject of scientific enquiry for more than two centuries, beginning ...
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The nerve impulse is the basis of all human thoughts and emotions, and of all sensations and movements. As such, it has been the subject of scientific enquiry for more than two centuries, beginning with Galvani’s chance observation that a frog’s leg twitched in response to an electrostatic discharge nearby. From being a metaphysical concept, the impulse became a phenomenon that could be recorded and have its velocity determined. However, the nature of the brief permeability changes in the nerve membrane that made the impulse possible, and of the way in which the nerve endings influenced the excitability of connecting neurons, remained problems that taxed the ingenuity of physiologists for many years. An important breakthrough was the discovery of giant nerve fibres in the squid, fibres large enough for new techniques to be employed, as in the voltage-clamp experiments of Hodgkin and Huxley immediately after World War II. The story culminates with the recent discovery of the 3-dimensional structure and detailed functioning of the ion channels, following MacKinnon’s X-ray diffraction studies, and with the revelation that a host of clinical disorders result from malfunction of the ion channels.Less
The nerve impulse is the basis of all human thoughts and emotions, and of all sensations and movements. As such, it has been the subject of scientific enquiry for more than two centuries, beginning with Galvani’s chance observation that a frog’s leg twitched in response to an electrostatic discharge nearby. From being a metaphysical concept, the impulse became a phenomenon that could be recorded and have its velocity determined. However, the nature of the brief permeability changes in the nerve membrane that made the impulse possible, and of the way in which the nerve endings influenced the excitability of connecting neurons, remained problems that taxed the ingenuity of physiologists for many years. An important breakthrough was the discovery of giant nerve fibres in the squid, fibres large enough for new techniques to be employed, as in the voltage-clamp experiments of Hodgkin and Huxley immediately after World War II. The story culminates with the recent discovery of the 3-dimensional structure and detailed functioning of the ion channels, following MacKinnon’s X-ray diffraction studies, and with the revelation that a host of clinical disorders result from malfunction of the ion channels.
Robert M. Stern, William J. Ray, and Karen S. Quigley
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195113594
- eISBN:
- 9780199846962
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195113594.003.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Health Psychology
Psychophysiology is a relatively new discipline. In the mid-1950s, a group of physiological psychologists began referring to themselves as psychophysiologists. However, the subject matter of ...
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Psychophysiology is a relatively new discipline. In the mid-1950s, a group of physiological psychologists began referring to themselves as psychophysiologists. However, the subject matter of psychophysiology — the interaction of mind and body — has been studied for centuries by people trained as philosophers, physicists, physicians, physiologists, and, most recently, psychologists. John Stern (1964) defined the work of psychophysiology as “any research in which the dependent variable (the subject's response) is a physiological measure and the independent variable (the factor manipulated by the experimenter) a behavioral one”. Stern's definition of psychophysiology is not incorrect, but with the passage of time it has become too limiting. The type of research he was defining examined the physiological changes that accompanied certain psychological or behavioral manipulations. More recent experiments conducted by psychophysiologists show that it is equally tenable to manipulate physiological variables and examine behavioral changes. This chapter discusses the history of psychophysiology, Luigi Galvani's research on the electrical properties of the skin, theory on how electricity could improve people's health, and early instruments used to record psychophysiological changes.Less
Psychophysiology is a relatively new discipline. In the mid-1950s, a group of physiological psychologists began referring to themselves as psychophysiologists. However, the subject matter of psychophysiology — the interaction of mind and body — has been studied for centuries by people trained as philosophers, physicists, physicians, physiologists, and, most recently, psychologists. John Stern (1964) defined the work of psychophysiology as “any research in which the dependent variable (the subject's response) is a physiological measure and the independent variable (the factor manipulated by the experimenter) a behavioral one”. Stern's definition of psychophysiology is not incorrect, but with the passage of time it has become too limiting. The type of research he was defining examined the physiological changes that accompanied certain psychological or behavioral manipulations. More recent experiments conducted by psychophysiologists show that it is equally tenable to manipulate physiological variables and examine behavioral changes. This chapter discusses the history of psychophysiology, Luigi Galvani's research on the electrical properties of the skin, theory on how electricity could improve people's health, and early instruments used to record psychophysiological changes.
Michael Brian Schiffer
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262195829
- eISBN:
- 9780262283120
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262195829.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
This chapter describes the technological transitions from the invention of a multitude of electrical devices to “the first age of electricity.” It begins with a description of the different types of ...
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This chapter describes the technological transitions from the invention of a multitude of electrical devices to “the first age of electricity.” It begins with a description of the different types of electrical inventions and devices that were the precursors of modern day electrical technology. Benjamin Franklin invented a lightning rod and two different types of electric motor; the works of Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta in the field of static electricity are described next. Galvani, an obstetrician, performed a number of experiments using small animals such as frogs to demonstrate that static electricity is present in the bodies of animals. The chapter concludes with a description of the contribution made by Humphry Davy in the field of galvanism.Less
This chapter describes the technological transitions from the invention of a multitude of electrical devices to “the first age of electricity.” It begins with a description of the different types of electrical inventions and devices that were the precursors of modern day electrical technology. Benjamin Franklin invented a lightning rod and two different types of electric motor; the works of Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta in the field of static electricity are described next. Galvani, an obstetrician, performed a number of experiments using small animals such as frogs to demonstrate that static electricity is present in the bodies of animals. The chapter concludes with a description of the contribution made by Humphry Davy in the field of galvanism.
