The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2)James, William
Philosophy
The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2)
James, William
Psychology
Even when the entire motor zone of a dog is removed, there is no
permanent paralysis of any part, but only this curious sort of relative
inertia when the two sides of the body are compared; and this itself
becomes hardly noticeable after a number of weeks have elapsed. Prof.
Goltz has described a dog whose entire left hemisphere was destroyed,
and who retained only a slight motor inertia on the right half of
the body. In particular he could use his right paw for holding a
bone whilst gnawing it, or for reaching after a piece of meat. Had
he been taught to give his paw Before the operations, it would have
been curious to see whether that faculty also came back. His tactile
sensibility was permanently diminished on the right side.[12] In
_monkeys_ a genuine paralysis follows upon ablations of the cortex
in the motor region. This paralysis affects parts of the body which
vary with the brain-parts removed. The monkey's opposite arm or leg
hangs flaccid, or at most takes a small part in associated movements.
When the entire region is removed there is a genuine and permanent
hemiplegia in which the arm is more affected than the leg; and this
is followed months later by contracture of the muscles, as in man
after inveterate hemiplegia.[13] According to Schaefer and Horsley, the
trunk-muscles also become paralyzed after destruction of the _marginal_
convolution on _both_ sides (see Fig. 7). These differences between
dogs and monkeys show the danger of drawing general conclusions from
experiments done on any one sort of animal. I subjoin the figures
given by the last-named authors of the motor regions in the monkey's
brain.[14]
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Left Hemisphere of Monkey's Brain. Mesial
Surface.]
_In man_ we are necessarily reduced to the observation _post-mortem_ of
cortical ablations produced by accident or disease (tumor, hemorrhage,
softening, etc.). What results during life from such conditions is
either localized spasm, or palsy of certain muscles of the opposite
side. The cortical regions which invariably produce these results are
homologous with those which we have just been studying in the dog,
cat, ape, etc. Figs. 8 and 9 show the result of 169 cases carefully
studied by Exner. The parts shaded are regions where lesions produced
_no_ motor disturbance. Those left white were, on the contrary, never
injured without motor disturbances of some sort. Where the injury to
the cortical substance is profound in man, the paralysis is permanent
and is succeeded by muscular rigidity in the paralyzed parts, just as
it may be in the monkey.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.--Right Hemisphere of Human Brain. Lateral
Surface.]
[Illustration: FIG. 9.--Right Hemisphere of Human Brain. Mesial
Surface.]
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