Special issue: Historical paper Challenging the supremacy of the frontal lobe: Early views (1906e1909) of Christfried Jakob on the human cerebral cortex Zoe ¨ D. The ´odoridou and Lazaros C. Triarhou* Economo-Koskinas Wing for Integrative and Evolutionary Neuroscience, University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece article info Article history: Received 14 July 2010 Revised 6 September 2010 Accepted 15 December 2010 Published online 21 January 2011 Keywords: Christfried Jakob cerebral cortex history of neuroscience frontal lobe localization of cognitive functions abstract This article focuses on a series of six studies that address functional localization in the frontal lobe; they were published in Argentina between 1906 and 1909 by Christfried Jakob (1866e1956), one of the great thinkers in early 20th century neuropathology and neuro- philosophy. At that time, the localization-holism controversy was at a peak, having been triggered by the historic Marie-De ´ jerine aphasiology debate. Jakob held the view that constitutive physiological elements of cognition are localized. Nonetheless, he cast doubt on phrenological approaches that considered the frontal lobe as ‘superior’ to the other cortical regions. Jakob studied the human frontal lobe from fetal life through senility, in normality and pathology, including tumors, injuries, softening, general paralysis and dementia. Based on those finds, he considered strict localization theories a dead-end. Taking a critical look at Flechsig’s ideas on the parallel ontogenies of frontal association centers and intellect, Jakob argued that the frontal lobe does not carry any selective advantage over the remaining human cerebral lobes or even over the frontal lobe in non- human primates. Regarding lesion experiments in laboratory animals, he pointed to methodological caveats, such as insufficient recovery time, that may lead to disorientating conclusions, and rejected e ´ lite brain research, calling it superficial and inexact. Jakob was convinced that the verification of the anatomical connections of the frontal lobe would elucidate its functions. Thus, he viewed the frontal lobe as a central station receiving input via olfactory pathways and thalamic radiations, pertinent to muscular and cutaneous senses, and attributed a perceptive character to a brain region traditionally associated with productive functions. Modern neuroscience seems to support Jakob’s rejection of distin- guishable motor and sensory regions and to adopt a cautious stance concerning over- simplified localization views. ª 2011 Elsevier Srl. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction After more than a century of cortical research, frontal lobe function still poses challenges. The complexity of the cerebral cortex has led authors to consider it anything from ‘the apparatus of civilization’ to an organ, the removal of which may not always lead to behavioral deficits (Teuber, 2009). The fact that the human frontal cortex occupies one-third of the * Corresponding author. Neuroscience Wing, University of Macedonia, 156 Egnatia Ave., Bldg. Z-312, 54006 Thessaloniki, Greece. E-mail addresses: ztheodoridou@hotmail.com (Z.D. The ´ odoridou), triarhou@uom.gr (L.C. Triarhou). Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cortex cortex 48 (2012) 15 e25 0010-9452/$ e see front matter ª 2011 Elsevier Srl. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2011.01.001