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Phrenology

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Phrenology was a theory, popular in the 19th century, that different mental abilities and character traits are located in particular areas of the brain, and that the shape of a person's skull shows how strong each one is.[1][2] It is now regarded as unscientific, but it was the first important theory that different parts of the brain have different functions.[1][3]

Origins

Phrenology began with the German-born physician and anatomist Franz Josef Gall (1758–1828), who worked in Vienna.[1][2] Gall said his ideas began when he was nine, after noticing that a classmate with an excellent memory for words had bulging eyes.[4] He argued that the brain is the organ of the mind and is made of distinct parts, each with its own function, and that the size of each part, seen through the skull, reflects the strength of that function.[5] He called his approach "organology" and proposed 27 organs, "from acquisitiveness to the talent for architecture".[6]

Gall also did serious work on the brain. For example, he suggested that each side of the brain controls the opposite side of the body.[7] His ideas were seen as anti-religious: his books were banned by the Church and he was refused a Catholic burial.[1]

The word phrenology was coined by Gall's assistant Johann Spurzheim, who split from Gall in 1813 and turned organology into a more practical system.[7][6] Spurzheim's version had five main principles:[7]

  1. the brain is the organ of the mind;
  2. the mind has about three dozen faculties;
  3. each faculty has a fixed place in the brain;
  4. a stronger faculty means more brain tissue in that place;
  5. the shape of the skull shows the strength of the faculties.

Popularity

In Britain the Edinburgh lawyer George Combe (1788–1858) became phrenology's leading champion. His book The Constitution of Man (1828) was one of the best sellers of Victorian Britain.[6] Combe helped to found the Phrenological Society of Edinburgh in 1820, and similar societies were soon set up in 29 other cities.[8] Phrenology was especially popular with working-class and middle-class people, partly because it seemed to offer a way of knowing one's own abilities and improving oneself.[8][8]

In the United States the brothers Orson and Lorenzo Fowler opened clinics in New York, Boston and Philadelphia in the late 1830s, selling books, magazines, model heads and measuring instruments. They founded the American Phrenological Journal in 1838.[9] A phrenological "reading" gave clients a plan of action for strengthening their weaker faculties, and some clinics even acted as personnel offices for employers.[9]

Scientific rejection

The French physiologist Pierre Flourens (1794–1867) tested phrenology by removing parts of animals' brains. Gall had said that the cerebellum controlled sexual behaviour, but damaging it caused problems with movement instead.[4] From larger lesions Flourens concluded, wrongly, that the control of behaviour is spread widely across the brain.[4] By the 1860s scientists and doctors in Europe and North America had rejected phrenology, although it stayed popular with the public well into the 20th century.[3][4]

Legacy

Although phrenology was wrong, the idea that brain functions are localised survived.[4] In 1861 the French surgeon Paul Broca examined the brain of a patient who could say only the syllable "tan", and found damage in the left frontal lobe. The region is now called Broca's area and is linked with producing speech.[10][10][11] The scientist David Ferrier later called his own experiments on brain localisation "scientific phrenology" and dedicated his book The Functions of the Brain to Gall.[12]

See also

== References ==

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Goodwin, C. James (2015). A History of Modern Psychology (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-118-83375-9. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Benjamin, Ludy T., Jr. (2019). A Brief History of Modern Psychology (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-119-49324-2. Retrieved 2026-10-23.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Benjamin, Ludy T., Jr. (2019). A Brief History of Modern Psychology (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-119-49324-2. Retrieved 2026-10-23.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Benjamin, Ludy T., Jr. (2019). A Brief History of Modern Psychology (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-119-49324-2. Retrieved 2026-10-23.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ Pickren, Wade E.; Rutherford, Alexandra (2010). A History of Modern Psychology in Context. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-470-27609-9. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Pickren, Wade E.; Rutherford, Alexandra (2010). A History of Modern Psychology in Context. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-470-27609-9. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Goodwin, C. James (2015). A History of Modern Psychology (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-118-83375-9. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Pickren, Wade E.; Rutherford, Alexandra (2010). A History of Modern Psychology in Context. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-470-27609-9. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Benjamin, Ludy T., Jr. (2019). A Brief History of Modern Psychology (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-119-49324-2. Retrieved 2026-10-23.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Benjamin, Ludy T., Jr. (2019). A Brief History of Modern Psychology (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-119-49324-2. Retrieved 2026-10-23.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ Benjamin, Ludy T., Jr. (2019). A Brief History of Modern Psychology (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-119-49324-2. Retrieved 2026-10-23.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ↑ Pickren, Wade E.; Rutherford, Alexandra (2010). A History of Modern Psychology in Context. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-470-27609-9. Retrieved 2026-10-23.
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