Angelo Mosso (30 May 1846 – 24 November 1910) is the 19th century Italian physiologist who invented the first

neuroimaging Neuroimaging is the use of quantitative (computational) techniques to study the structure and function of the central nervous system, developed as an objective way of scientifically studying the healthy human brain in a non-invasive manner. Incr ...

technique ever, known as 'human circulation balance'. Mosso began by recording the pulsation of the human cortex in patients with skull defects following neurosurgical procedures. From his findings that these pulsations change during mental activity, he inferred that during mental activities blood flow increases to the brain. Remarkably, Mosso invented the 'human circulation balance', only recently rediscovered, to non-invasively measure the redistribution of

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in th ...

during emotional and intellectual activity also in healthy subjects: this is therefore regarded as the first

technique ever, forerunner of the more refined techniques of fMRI, and PET. He was born in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. Th ...

, studied medicine there and in

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, and

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, and was appointed

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...

pharmacology Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemi ...

(1876) and professor of

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemic ...

(1879) at Turin. He invented various instruments to measure the pulse and experimented and wrote upon the variation in the volume of the pulse during

sleep Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited Perception, sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefuln ...

, mental activity, or emotion. In 1900–01 he visited the

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and embodied the results of his observations in ''Democrazia nella religione e nella scienza: studi sull' America'' (1901). In 1882 he founded with Emery the ''Archives Italiennes de Biologie'', in which journal most of his essays appeared. Among his other works are: * ''Die Diagnostik des Pulses'' (1879) * ''Sulla paura'' (1884) * ''La paura'' (1891; English translation by E. Lough and F. Kiesow
''Fear''
London, 1896) * ''La fatica'' (1891; English translation by M. A. and W. B. Drummond
''Fatigue''
New York, 1904)
''La Temperatura del cervello''
(1894)
''Fisiologia dell' uomo sulle Alpi''
(1897; third edition, 1909); English translation, 1898 * ''Mens Sana in Corpore Sano'' (1903) * ''Vita moderna degli Italiani'' (1905)
''Escursioni nel mediterraneo e gli scavi di Creta''
(1907; second edition, 1910; English translation, ''The Palaces of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...

and their Builders'', New York, 1907) * ''La preistoria: original della civilta mediterranea'' (1910; English translation by M. C. Harrison
''The Dawn of Mediterranean Civilization''
New York, 1911) * ''Nuovo Antologia'' (in collaboration) Mosso was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1897.

Inventions

Mosso's ergograph in Verdin's catalogs, 1890 and 1904

*Mosso's balance, rediscovered by Stefano Sandrone and colleagues * Mosso's ergograph — (1890) An apparatus for recording the force and frequency of flexion of the fingersErgograph according to Mosso, modified by Lombard
Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin * Mosso's sphygmomanometer — An instrument for measuring blood pressure in the arteries : The American Illustrated Medical Dictionary (1938)

References

External links

* * *
Biography in English

Mosso's first neuroimaging experiment ever

Biography in Italian

Short biography and bibliography
in the Virtual Laboratory of the

Max Planck Institute for the History of Science The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (German: Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte) is a scientific research institute founded in March 1994. It is dedicated to addressing fundamental questions of the history of knowledg ...

Some places and memories related to Angelo Mosso
o
Himetop – The History of Medicine Topographical Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosso, Angelo 1846 births 1910 deaths Italian physiologists Italian male writers 19th-century Italian inventors Physicians from Turin Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences