格脑致“心”:卢于道与中国神经科学之发蒙启蔽

Towards Understanding of Mind by Anatomy of Brains: Loo Yu-tao and the Enlightenment of Neuroscience in China

20世纪二三十年代,行为主义在美国步入新的阶段,大脑与意识的研究开始出现重返心理学实验室的倾向。正在芝加哥大学求学的中国青年学者卢于道受到业师比较神经学家赫里克的影响,立志终身探索大脑与心灵之间的关系。为此,他开展了三个方面的研究工作:(1)观测大脑半球的生长趋势和生长阶段,探索脑的个体发展,寻觅不稳定细胞以解释人类高阶心理;(2)分析低级哺乳动物到高级哺乳动物的大脑种系进化以考察心理进化的存在形式;(3)建立大脑的神经细胞结构模型以比较中西方人脑结构与智力的关系。卢于道的相关成果不仅推进了赫里克的学术主张,达到了当时国际一流的水准,更为重要的是,这些研究的开展为推动新生的神经科学在中国的发展起到了重要作用。

During the 1920s and 1930s,behaviorism in the United States was embarking or^a new stage. There was a tendency for the study on consciousness and brain to begin to return to the psychology laboratory.The young Chinese scholar Loo Yu-tao studied in the University of Chicago under the guidance of a neuroscientist, Herrick.Affected by his supervisor,Loo devoted all his life to probing the relationship between the brain and the spirit.Therefore,Loo launched his research work in three aspects:(1)he set up a structured model of nerve cells to compare the brain structure of intelligence between Chinese and Western people;(2)he analyzed the law of phylogenetics of the brain from the lower mammals to senior mammalian species in order to explore the form of evolution of consciousness;(3)he observed the growth trend and growth stage of the cerebral hemisphere for exploring the brain development of individual species,in order to discover labile type cells which are chiefly responsible for higher mental activity.The relevant results advanced and enriched Herrick's academic advocacy, which reached world-class level.More importantly,these researches promoted the enlightenment and development of newborn neuroscience in China.