Molecular Biology and Genetics

Galen of Pergamon is undoubtedly one of the most important figures in the history of medicine. Even though he did not reach the peaks of fame and popularity in medicine as Hippocrates, known as the "father of modern medicine", Galen had great reputation as a philosopher and physician. Moreover, Galen was also an experimental anatomist and physiologist. Although he was influenced by earlier medical and philosophical views, his contributions to biology and medicine dominated the European medicine for 1500 years. His books were read by professors to understand human and animal anatomy at the prestigious universities in medicine such as Paris and Bologna. 1 He was popular with his public demonstrations of anatomical experiments. Galen achieved the peak of his career when he was appointed as a personal physician of the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Throughout his life Galen was interested in the treatment of patients, in research and publication of his works, which mainly included several branches of medicine such as physiology, anatomy, neurology, pharmacology and pathology. In this paper, Galen will be examined in terms of his anatomical and physiological contributions to the neuroscience that he provided by his careful examinations on central nervous system. Galen's knowledge about nervous system is fascinating along with other branches of medical science, which makes his contributions to neural science valuable. The brain and spinal cord forming the central nervous system are responsible for integration of sensory input and generation of motor output. However, what Galen did state for this function of nervous system and its connection with movement, sensation, and cognition is the major concept to be questioned. The psychic pneuma was his strongest statement for the source of functioning of the brain and nerves. His interest in psychic pneuma indicates Galen's recognition of previous ideas about medicine and philosophy of neural science, since