The Birth of Modern Neuroscience in Turin explores both the famous and the lesser known history of the inception of what we know as modern neuroscience. The pioneering contributions of neuroscientists from Turin and working in Turin and how they shaped the national and international community are critically explored.

This book is a journey to discover and rediscover famous and lesser known aspects of the birth of modern neuroscience in Turin, from pre-Enlightenment to the 1980s. The pioneering contributions of neuroscientists from Turin and working in Turin and how they shaped the national and international community are critically explored. A brief selection of topics covered by The Birth of Modern Neuroscience in Turin: - Luigi Rolando's neuroanatomical drawings - Cesare Lombroso's controversial stances on criminal anthropology - Angelo Mosso's pioneering 'neuroimaging' experiments - Ernesto Lugaro's contributions to neuroplasticity and psychiatry - Federico Kiesow and the development of experimental psychology in Europe - Camillo Negro's first clinical neurological movies - Giuseppe Levi's histological works and his mentorship - Rita Levi Montalcini and her Nobel Prize-winning discovery of the Nerve Growth Factor

This is a long overdue, erudite presentation of the major role of Turin in shaping modern neurosciences, from Rolando to Rita Levi Montalcini. It contributes to a growing critical interest in the interactions between European research centres, while giving original insights into the relationship between scientific institutions and the economical and socio-cultural environment.