Trends in Neurosciences
ForumLeonardo da Vinci's contributions to neuroscience
Section snippets
Leonardo's early neuroanatomical studies: the skull and senso comune
Leonardo’s anatomical activity began in Milan in the period 1487–1493 11., 12., 16., 17., 18., 19.. His earliest surviving neuroanatomical studies consist of a series of drawings of the skull that date from c.1489. In preparing these compositions, Leonardo was partly motivated as an artist studying surface features of human anatomy, and in them he displayed his unsurpassed draftsmanship. The skull shown in Fig. 1a reveals the first accurate depictions of the anterior and middle meningeal
Imaging the ventricles
After pursuing other interests, from painting the ‘Last Supper’ to inventing ball bearings, Leonardo resumed his anatomical studies in around 1506. He used his expertise as a sculptor to perform a brilliantly original experiment to define the shape of the cerebral ventricles. ‘Make two vent-holes in the horns of the greater ventricles, and insert melted wax with a syringe, making a hole in the ventricle of memory; and through such a hole fill the three ventricles of the brain. Then when the wax
Conclusions
Leonardo's fame as an artist was enormous in his own lifetime, and in many ways has grown over time. By contrast, his specific accomplishments in science have always been harder to appreciate. This is in large part because his notes were not all transcribed, translated, published and interpreted until the 20th century. It is also difficult for today's scientists to comprehend Leonardo's background of medieval science and technology. For example, after reading the literature of optics and then
Further information
Supplementary information, including additional figures and translations of Leonardo's writings on the brain, can be found at http://pevsnerlab.kennedykrieger.org/leonardo.htm
Acknowledgements
I thank N. Varg for helpful discussions, and Mary E. Blue, Kirby D. Smith and James S. Ackerman for comments on the manuscript.
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