Who is generally credited with introducing the notion that different mental functions are located in different parts of the brain?

• A. Franz Joseph Gall
• B. Paul Broca
• C. Carl Wernicke
• D. John Hughlings Jackson

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is localization of brain function—the view that different mental abilities are supported by distinct brain regions. Franz Joseph Gall is the figure commonly credited with introducing this notion. He developed phrenology, proposing that many separate faculties—such as memory, perception, and temperament—have specific locations in the brain, and that the size of the skull over those regions would reflect the prominence of each faculty. While phrenology itself was later discredited, Gall’s key contribution was to put forward a systematic claim that different parts of the brain underpin different mental functions, a idea that underpins much of later neuroscience.