Looking for a Homunculus
A query + response from CADUCEUS-L. I will forward HISTNEUR-L responses to the original poster; or cc: your reply to: cching@hawaii.edu OR ching@hml.org. Russell Johnson --- Begin Forwarded Message --- Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 13:38:30 -0800 (Pacific Standard Time) From: RUSSELL A JOHNSON <rjohnson@library.ucla.edu> Subject: Re: Looking for a Homunculus To: caduceus-l@list.umaryland.edu Cc: cching@hawaii.edu, ching@hml.org The drawing for which you are looking is reproduced in Penfield's _The Cerebral Cortex of Man_, from Penfield and Boldrey's 1937 paper, "Somatic motor and sensory representations in the cerebral cortex of man as studied by electrical stimulation" (Brain, 60: 389-443). It may also be found as figure 148 in the 2nd edition (rev. and enl.) of Edwin Clarke and Kenneth Dewhurst's _An Illustrated History of Brain Function_ (San Francisco: Norman Pub., 1996). Or maybe this isn't quite what your patron wants, because this initial drawing had no genitalia and was a _combined_ sensory and motor homunculus. Penfield noted that the purpose of the figure, in the spirit of sacrificing truth for clarity, was "to illustrate the order and comparative extent of elements in the sensory and motor sequence" (Penfield, 1950, p. 25), but that there were "certain unavoidable inaccuracies in the drawing. It does not show the differences between sensory and motor representation" (W. Penfield and H. Jasper, _Epilepsy and the Functional Anatomy of the Human Brain_. Boston: Little, Brown, and co., [1954], p. 70) which are apparent in the separate sensory and motor homunculi drawn along the surface of cross sections taken through the Rolandic fissure of the brain (these 2 figures are seen in Kandel, Samson Wright, and hundreds of others' books and articles). At some point someone came along and joined pieces of Penfield's (Mrs. H.P. Cantlie's, that is, from Penfield and Boldrey's data) 1937 drawing into one figure, a version of which is seen today in most physiological psychology / psychobiology / behavioral neuroscience introductory textbooks. You can see an example of this cut and paste-job at <http://www.pluriverso.com/journey.htm> and a recognizable but poorly scanned copy of the separate sensory and motor homunculi at <http://www.hhmi.org/senses/a/a120-lg.htm> . I couldn't easily find the source of this figure (nor the sculpture which someone--perhaps Herb Jasper?--fashioned). So, I am taking the liberty of forwarding your query to HISTNEUR-L, the history of neuroscience listserv (see <http://www.medsch.ucla.edu/som/bri/archives/histneur.htm> for information), to see if one of the experts there can provide information. Cheers, Russell Johnson On Thu, 17 Feb 2000 09:13:57 -1000 Carolyn Ching <cching@hawaii.edu> wrote: < I have a patron looking for a line drawing of a homunculus. He says that < he recalls seeing it in a textbook many years ago. The drawing is of a < human figure standing upright. The figure has a big head, big fingers, big < toes, and big gentalia. The size of the part of the body was relative to < its sensitivity (i.e., most painful parts of the anatomy). < < The patron has looked at the following drawings: < < 1. Fig 26-5 on page 372 in Eric R. Kandel, et al. Principles of Neural < Science, 3d ed (New York, NY: Elsevier, 1991) < 2. Fig 137 on page 358 in Roy R. Grinker, Paul C. Bucy, Neurology, 4th ed < (Springfield, Ill.: Charles C Thomas, 1949) < 3. Fig 13-7 on page 291 in Malcolm B. Carpenter, Core Text of < Neuroanatomy, 2nd 3d (Baltimore, Md.: Williams & Wilkins Co., 1978) < < None of these are what he wants. < < Captions for drawings 1 and 3 refer to Wilder Penfield and Theodore < Rasmussen, The Cerebral Cortex of Man: A Clinical Study of Localaization < of Function (New York, NY: Macillan, 1950). I will be checking this item < later since I need to order it via ILL. < < In the mean time, does anyone have any ideas where this figure may be < found? I have looked through some of our Librarys collection on medical < illustration, neuroanatomy and neurophysiology texts. < < Thanks in advance, < Carolyn Ching < Reference/Special Collections Librarian Voice: 808-536-9302, x113 < Hawaii Medical Library Fax: 808-524-6956 < 1221 Punchbowl Street Email: ching@hml.org < Honolulu, HI 96813 ___________________________________________________ Russell A. Johnson rjohnson@library.ucla.edu Archivist and Cataloger (310) 825-6940 History & Special Collections Division Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, UCLA Box 951798 Los Angeles CA 90095-1798 <http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/biomed/his/hisdiv.htm> Archivist (310) 825-3191 or 206-2753 Neuroscience History Archives Brain Research Institute, UCLA Box 951761 Los Angeles CA 90095-1761 <http://www.medsch.ucla.edu/som/bri/archives/nhahome.htm> --- End Forwarded Message ---