Epilepsy and brain function: common ideas of Hughlings-Jackson and Wilder Penfield.
Epilepsy & behavior : E&B July 1, 2012 R Edward Hogan, Edward A English
John Hughlings-Jackson, from epilepsy studies, proposed a brain model with levels of consciousness, a hierarchy of nervous centers, and a sensory-motor relationship. His ideas influenced Wilder Penfield, who used electrical stimulation to map the cerebral cortex in epilepsy patients. Penfield observed a "record of the stream of consciousness," akin to Hughlings-Jackson's "subject consciousness." Penfield suggested that while higher and lower centers explained reflex movements, another force controlled voluntary movements, which he termed the "computer" (automatic sensory-motor mechanism) and the "mind's mechanism" (highest brain mechanism). Their ideas form a continuum about epilepsy and brain function, remaining relevant to memory and the mind-brain relationship.