Angelo Mosso's Circulation of Blood in the Human Brain

Modern brain imaging is revolutionizing the study of brain function in health and disease. Few realize that its origins began with a pioneering study in the nineteenth century by an Italian scientist, Angelo Mosso, of several subjects brought to him with head injuries that exposed their brains to direct observation. He took advantage of this opportunity to observe for the first time changes in cerebral blood flow in relation to different behaviors, the same changesthat are the basis for the measurements underlying modern methods. Although Mosso was widely recognized for this highly original study by his contemporaries, through a German translation in 1881, there has never been a translation through which his magnificent achievement could be recognized in English. His rightful role as the pioneer in brain imaging has thus not been recognized. This unique volume corrects that deficiency. Through it, the modern reader, whether an expert in the field or an interested scientist or member of the public, can gain a newperspective on the remarkable insights Mosso gained into how behaviors as subtle as thinking about a subject or feeling an emotion can produce the changes in pulsations of the brain that he observed. The special features of this volume begin with a brief summary of Mosso's life. Two pioneers of modern brain imaging, Marcus Raichle and Gordon M. Shepherd, then provide an extensive commentary that succinctly summarizes Mosso's work and explains its relevance to modern methods. The authors not only emphasize Mosso's role as a pioneer in brain imaging, but also through this study as a pioneer in the eventual rise of cognitive neuroscience. The English translation then follows, together withall of the plates and illustrations of the original volume. The result is a classic of neuroscience now available for wide appreciation by neuroscientists, neurologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, historians of science and medicine, and the general public.

This fascinating manuscript illuminates the thought process of a brilliant scientist and forerunner of modern neuroscience. In rescuing Mosso from oblivion, Fabbri, Raichle and Shepherd have given historians, students and neuroscientists a valuable new resource to fill gaps in the narrative that modern neuroscience was built upon. Moreover, the works of Mosso give us a new perspective on age old questions of the mind and perhaps pause to appreciate the newage of wonder we live in and to attack these questions with renewed vigor and greater humility., This unique work stands alone in terms of value and placing Mosso in historical perspective as the inventor of the plethysmograph and as a researcher who measured the relationship between emotion and brain activity.

Marcus E Raichle, MD, PhD, Departments of Radiology, Neurology, Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri, USAGordon M Shepherd, PhD, Department of Neurobiology, Yale University Medical School, New Haven, CT, USA.