Our observation thus confirms the opinion of Monsieur Bouillaud who places in these
[frontal] lobes the seat of the faculty of articulate language.
--Paul Broca, 1861

After arousing considerable interest early in the 1800s, the phrenological movement
was shunned by most scientists and practicing physicians. Most of the intellectual
elite saw little good in Franz Joseph Gall's cranioscopic methods or in the idea of
cortical localization. Yet some individuals were more open-minded. They rejected
Gall's system of bumps, but were still willing to consider the idea that the cerebral
cortex may be composed of distinct functional areas.

If measuring the skulls of people with remarkable talents or deficiencies could no
longer be considered a valid method for learning about the brain, where did these
more open-minded scientists look for evidence for the localization idea? The answer
to this question is that they studied human patients with brain damage.

Without question, these minority clinician-scientists were more interested in some
functions than others. They were especially intrigued by the so-called higher func-
tions of mind. Of these functions, one alone took center stage--spoken language.

Jean-Baptiste Bouillaud ( Fig. 10.1 ) was the most ardent supporter of speech localiza-
tion in the cerebral cortex during the second quarter of the nineteenth century. ¹ He
studied medicine with two famous French physicians, Guillaume Dupuytren and
François Magendie. After receiving his medical degree in 1823, he was elected to the
French Académie de Médecine and appointed chair of clinical medicine at the Paris
Medical School. He also joined the staff of the Charité, one of the famous Paris
hospitals. Later he became dean of the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, president of
the Académie de Médecine, and commander of the Legion of Honor. Politically,

-137-