THE CEREBRUM AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 151 



various parts of the body are extensive regions linked 

 with them and with each other by paths composed of 

 "association fibers." Hence the association areas seem 

 to rank above the others in the cerebral organization, 

 being one remove farther from the receptors and effectors 

 in which the nervous system begins and ends. 



Presumably it is the association areas which register 

 most fully the details of the individual history, and so 

 come to be in some sense the protoplasmic record of 

 experience and of character. But the representation is 

 diffuse, and the attempt to attribute a specific share to 

 this or that fraction of the whole has not been very suc- 

 cessful. The most attractive description of the associa- 

 tion areas and the possible distribution of their work is 

 that of Flechsig. 1 He has suggested that the association 

 area which lies mainly in the parietal lobe is particularly 

 engaged in correlating the impulses received in the primary 

 sensory areas around it. The great frontal area which is 

 more distinctly withdrawn from the sensory stations, 

 but which adjoins the motor centers, may be supposed 

 to transmit impulses to the cell groups controlling move- 

 ment. The influence exerted through the frontal region is 

 assumed to be largely of an inhibitory character. 



If the views advanced by Flechsig were quite correct, 

 it should be possible to find confirmatory evidence in the 

 nature of insanity when induced by local brain disease. 

 Degeneration in the parietal region might be expected to 

 cause dulness, apathy, and inaction because the power 

 to appreciate the significance of things seen, heard, and 

 felt would be impaired. On the other hand, damage 

 to the frontal convolutions might be expected to lead to 

 erratic, ill-regulated conduct, perhaps to violence or de- 

 pravity. The facts are not entirely in accord with the 

 theory, but many individual cases are so, and it is pos- 

 sible that all can be explained under its broad provi- 

 sions. 



Clinical observations constantly impress upon us the 

 1 Gehirn und Seele, Leipzig, 1896. 



