Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology

Abstract

In Sophocles’ (496–406 B.C.) play Oedipus the King, Oedipus finds his way blocked by the Sphinx, who threatens to kill him unless he can answer this riddle: “What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?” Oedipus replies, “A human,” and is allowed to pass, because a person crawls as an infant, walks as an adult, and uses a cane when old. The Sphinx’s riddle is the riddle of human nature, and as time passes Oedipus comes to understand that it has a deeper meaning: “What is a human?” The deeper question in the riddle confounds Oedipus and remains unanswered to this day. The object of this book is to pursue the answer in the place where it should be logically found: the brain.