ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the ability to account for some of the common features of syndromes whose anatomical basis appears to be well established. Although the connectionist approach to disturbances of the higher functions of the nervous system has been highly successful, it should by no means be thought that it has led to more than an initial understanding of the problems posed by these disorders. In the classical period that ended approximately with World War I, the approach to the aphasias and other disturbances of the so-called higher functions of the nervous system relied heavily on anatomical knowledge. The chapter describes the problems involved in anatomical interpretations of the higher functions of the nervous system. Stimulated by T. Meynert's sketch of the major outlines of the cortical connections, he attempted to account for the syndromes of aphasia. Some activities in man probably use directly descending pathways normally.
