Historical Overview of Electroencephalography: from Antiquity to the Beginning of the 21st Century

Abstract The history of epilepsy is intermingled with the history of human existence dating back to antiquity. Hippocrates, the founder of scientific medicine, was the first to de-mystify the condition of epilepsy by providing a more scientific approach to it. Since then, many centuries have passed until the recording of electrical waves was applied. First in experimental animals and close to the human brain. The birth of epileptology was characterized by the advent of electroencephalography and the delineation of underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. Starting in the 16-17th century, William Gilbert Galileo and Thomas Willis investigated electricity of various substances, and Otto von Guericke developed the first electrostatic apparatus. About two centuries later Cybulski and Jelenska- Macieszyna, published photographs of EEG, and some years later Hans Berger published its results. From then on, the progress to electroencephalography was rapid in all areas. The aim of this article is to present the historical overview of electroencephalography starting from the ancient years until the beginning of the twenty-first century