Cerebral hyperaemia, the result of mental strain or emotional disturbance.

  • Hammond, William A. (William Alexander), 1828-1900.
Date:
1878
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Cerebral hyperaemia, the result of mental strain or emotional disturbance. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    In this connection it is interesting to refer to the remarks made by that honored physician, Dr. Ama- riah Brigham, * some thirty years ago : The general proposition which I wish to estab- lish is made evident also from the fact that whatever excites the mind excites and stimulates the brain. This we know from experience in a severe head- ache. We perceive the pain to be increased by in- tense study or thinking, and that mental application determines more blood to the head. So true is it that mental excitement produces an increased flow of blood to the head, that surgeons are very careful to pre- serve a quiet state of mind in those whose heads are wounded. Sir Astley Cooper, speaking of such inju- ries, says that if any mental power remains all excite- ment of the brain should be avoided, and relates the following case : ' A young gentleman was brought to me from the north of England who had lost a portion of his skull just above the eyebrow. On examining the head I distinctly saw the pulsations of the brain, which were regular and slow, but at this time he was agitated by some opposition to his wishes, and di- rectly the pulsations of the brain were increased, and became more violent, and more blood rushed to the brain. If, therefore, you omit to keep the mind free * Mental Exertion m relation to Health. English edition, London: 1864, p. 20. The American editions, of which there were several, have long been out of print.