Angelo Mosso's Circulation of Blood in the Human Brain

241 Pages·2014·11.69 MB·English

by  Marcus E. Raichle, Gordon M. Shepherd, Christiane Nockels Fabbri

Angelo Mosso’s
Circulation of Blood in the Human Brain

Angelo Mosso’s
Circulation of Blood in the
Human Brain
EDITED, WITH COMMENTARY, BY
MARCUS E. RAICHLE, MD
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
GORDON M. SHEPHERD, MD, DPHIL
YALE UNIVERSITY
TRANSLATION BY
CHRISTIANE NOCKELS FABBRI, PHD
YALE UNIVERSITY
1
1
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
and education by publishing worldwide.
Oxford New York
Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi
New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto
With offices in
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece
Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore
South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
in the UK and certain other countries.
Published in the United States of America by
Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
© Oxford University Press 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior
permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law,
by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization.
Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the
Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above.
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mosso, A. (Angelo), 1846–1910, author.
[Sulla circolazione del sangue nel cervello dell’uomo. English]
Angelo Mosso’s Circulation of blood in the human brain / edited, with commentary, by
Marcus E. Raichle, Gordon M. Shepherd ; translation by Christiane Nockels Fabbri.
p. ; cm.
Circulation of blood in the human brain
ISBN 978–0–19–935898–4 (hardback : alk. paper)
I. Raichle, Marcus E., editor, writer of added commentary. II. Shepherd, Gordon M., 1933– ,
editor, writer of added commentary. III. Title. IV. Title: Circulation of blood in the human
brain.
[DNLM: 1. Cerebrovascular Circulation—physiology. 2. Brain—blood supply. WL 302]
QP108.5.C4
612.8′24—dc23
2014028294
The science of medicine is a rapidly changing field. As new research and clinical experience broaden
our knowledge, changes in treatment and drug therapy occur. The author and publisher of this
work have checked with sources believed to be reliable in their efforts to provide information that
is accurate and complete, and in accordance with the standards accepted at the time of publication.
However, in light of the possibility of human error or changes in the practice of medicine, neither
the author, nor the publisher, nor any other party who has been involved in the preparation or
publication of this work warrants that the information contained herein is in every respect accurate
or complete. Readers are encouraged to confirm the information contained herein with other
reliable sources, and are strongly advised to check the product information sheet provided by the
pharmaceutical company for each drug they plan to administer.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction vii
Brief Biography of Angelo Mosso and His Times ix
Commentary: From Mosso to Modern Brain Imaging xvii
Notes on the Translation xxxi
Brief Translator’s Biography xxxiii
Translation: Circulation of Blood in the Human Brain 1
Critical Historical Introduction 7
1. Notes Concerning the Disease States of the Three Subjects in
Whom the Conditions of the Blood Circulation in the Brain Were
Studied 33
2. Description of the Equipment Used to Record the Pulse of the
Brain and of Other Parts of the Body 43
3. General Considerations Regarding the Configuration of the
Pulse 49
4. Concerning the Response of the Cerebral Circulation During
Increased Mental Activity and With Emotional and Sensory
Perceptions 63
5. Sleep and Its Relationships to Cerebral Blood Flow 74
6. Reflections on the Nature of Sleep and Its Concomitant
Phenomena 90
7. On the Fluctuations of the Cerebral Tracings That Are Controlled
by the Movements of the Vessels and of the Heart 98
8. Concerning the Movements of the Blood Vessels in the External
Ear of the Rabbit 110
9. The Influence of Respiratory Movements on the Blood Circulation
in the Brain and in the Lungs 116
10. Experimental Critique of the Investigations on the Pulmonary
Circulation Undertaken by Quincke and Pfeiffer, by Funke and
Latschenberger, and by Bowditch and Garland 134
vi TABLE OF C ONTENTS
11. Influence of the Respiratory Movements on the Systemic Blood
Pressure 157
12. Influence of Amyl Nitrite on the Blood Circulation in the
Brain 172
13. Anemia and Hyperemia of the Brain 178
14. Concerning the Blood Circulation Inside the Intact Skull 186
15. Investigations Into the Movements of the Cerebrospinal
Fluid 191
Index 197
INTRODUCTION
Brain imaging is one of the most powerful tools in modern research on brain
function in health and disease. The dramatic images of different regions of the
brain becoming active in response to different behaviors and emotional states
reflect changes in the circulation of blood to these regions. Few realize that the
origins of this approach go back to around 1880, to a pioneering physiologist who
was presented with several individuals whose brains, by trauma or disease, had
been exposed to direct observation and who seized the opportunity to obtain the
first evidence of changes in the circulation of the blood to the brain being related
to changes in human cognitive and emotional behavior. This pioneer was an
Italian, Angelo Mosso, who became one of the leading physiologists of his time.
The book summarizing his studies is a masterpiece. Mosso first gives a full
background of then-current understanding of brain structure and function. He
provides a detailed description of his new method for studying changes in the
circulation of the blood. He explains how he realized that he had a unique oppor-
tunity in three subjects to apply his method to the circulation of the blood in the
brain. The descriptions of his results are classics in the scientific method applied
to the most challenging organ of all, the human brain. Mosso concludes with the
significance of his findings in the context of what was then known about brain
function. Beyond this historical interest, his original study tells a dramatic story
that gives insight into the creative process in science, exemplifying Pasteur’s
axiom that in the field of observation, chance favors the prepared mind.
Mosso’s studies were first summarized in a monograph in Italian, followed by
a German edition, both of which are still unavailable in English. As two inves-
tigators involved in the development of modern brain imaging in humans and
in laboratory research, we have felt it important to arrange for the translation
of this historic volume. The present work brings long-overdue recognition to
Mosso as a founder of modern brain imaging and modern cognitive neurosci-
ence. In Dr. Christiane Nockels Fabbri we found an outstanding translator and
are much indebted to her for her meticulous text. As the translation evolved,
GMS reviewed it with her in detail from the point of view of what was known
about neuroscience during the period of the late 19th century. In turn, MER has
examined the entire manuscript from the perspective of the evolution of human
brain imaging and cognitive studies.
viii INTRODUCTION
Mosso’s meticulous approach to human physiology is on full display in this
volume. The direct observations on the relation of behavior to brain circulation
are reported in Chapters 1 through 5, 7, 9, 12, and 13. But he takes pains to sup-
port his conclusions in relation to many previous and current investigations of
the circulation in general. He thus reports there and in the other chapters his
extensive experiments on himself, colleagues, dogs, and rabbits for the effects
of the circulation in the arms and body on the changes observed in the brain;
the possible influence of respiratory movements on brain circulation; and the
effects on brain circulation of pharmacological agents, anemia and hyperemia,
and cerebrospinal fluid.
The reader will note the abundant illustrations in the text. The majority, apart
from several graphic images of Mosso’s subjects and experimental apparatus,
are tracings of brain pulsations recorded under a variety of conditions. While
these may seem repetitive to modern readers, we nevertheless emphasize that
they were some of the earliest published recordings by Mosso’s new plethysmo-
graph, an instrument that enabled him to measure and document for the first
time objective changes in cerebral blood flow. Careful correlation with the text
will enable the reader to appreciate the insights Mosso achieved with each of
these recorded measurements.
For further background on Mosso and his many-faceted career, the reader
may wish to consult excellent accounts by Cogo et al. (2000), Iadecola (2002),
Di Giulio et al. (2006), Zago et al. (2009), and Sandrone et al. (2012). Here we
provide a brief orientation to his life within the specific context of his studies of
the brain, followed by a Commentary, building on Raichle (2000) and Shepherd
(2010), on the subsequent development of modern brain imaging and its current
role in understanding brain function in health and disease.
REFERENCES
Cogo A, Ponchia A, Pecchio O, Losano G, Cerretelli P (2000) Italian high altitude
laboratories: past and present. High Alt Med Biol 1:137–147.
Di Giulio C, Daniele F, Tipton C (2006) Angelo Mosso and muscular fatigue: 116 years
after the first congress of physiologists: IUPS commemoration. Adv Physiol Educ
30:51–57.
Iadecola C (2002) Intrinsic signals and functional brain mapping: caution, blood ves-
sels at work. Cereb Cortex 12:223–224.
Raichle M (2000) A brief history of human functional brain mapping. In: Brain
Mapping: The Systems (Toga A, Mazziotta J M, eds), pp 33–75. San Diego: Academic
Press.
Sandrone S, Bacigaluppi M, Galloni M, Martino G (2012) Angelo Mosso (1846-1910).
J Neurol 259:2513–2514.
Shepherd G (2010) Creating Modern Neuroscience:  The Revolutionary 1950s.
New York: Oxford University Press.
Zago S, Ferrucci R, Marceglia S, Priori A (2009) The Mosso method for recording brain
pulsation: the forerunner of functional neuroimaging. Neuroimage 48:652–656.
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF ANGELO MOSSO
AND HIS TIMES
Angelo Mosso (Fig. 1) was born on May 30, 1846, in Chieri, Piedmont, near Turin,
in Italy. As a boy he often helped his father, a carpenter, in his work, which gave
him practical experience in handling tools and equipment. He was raised in near
poverty, which gave him a lifelong commitment to using science to relieve the
physical and mental burdens of workers. He studied medicine in the University
of Turin Medical School, and upon graduating in 1870 served for 2 years as a
military medical officer. To pursue an academic career, he took training under
Moritz Schiff in Florence, Carl Ludwig in Leipzig, and Claude Bernard in Paris
during the 1870s, which stimulated his interest in the physiology of the vascular
system. From Schiff (Haymaker and Schiller, 1970) he learned about the nervous
control of the blood vessels that enables them to constrict or dilate in response
to local activity in the body. Bernard, too, had studied vasomotor control as part
of his characterization of how the body maintains the constancy of its “milieu
interieur” (Hoff and Guillemin, 1967).
Ludwig was particularly important for Mosso’s training, because he had
invented the kymograph in 1846, one of the first mechanical instruments for
the quantitative study of bodily processes. This was a blackened paper on a
rotating drum, on which a needle inscribed the movements of a physiological
experiment, such as the beating of an excised turtle heart or the contraction
of a skeletal muscle. (This instrument was still in use, as this writer can attest,
complete with blackening the paper over a sooty flame, in student physiological
laboratories at Harvard and Oxford in the late 1950s and early 1960s.) Ludwig
applied the kymograph to record the varying pressure in blood vessels, regarded
as the first objective means of measuring physiological variables. Mosso adopted
this approach to measuring volume changes in the kidney and other organs (Di
Giulio et al., 2006) and became inspired to apply this “graphical method” to
registering objectively physiological changes. During this time Mosso also met
other German leaders of the new scientifically based physiology, such as Emil Du
Bois Reymond and Ernst von Brucke (reviewed in Shepherd, 1991). To finish his
European tour, in Paris he visited Claude Bernard and especially Etienne-Jules
Marey, the pioneer of cinematography and scientific measuring approaches such
as myography (Di Giulio et al., 2006).