Mosso was studying the physiological concomitants of various
mental states; in particular, he had started recording changes
in blood circulation during laboratory-generated emotions. One
of his patients, Michele Bertino, was a 37-year-old man who
experienced a traumatic injury and was left with only a thin
layer of skin covering a gap in his skull. While assessing
Bertino with a special sphygmograph (a registering apparatus
measuring in vivo brain volume changes, which were interpreted
as measurements of brain circulation; see figure), Mosso noticed
a sudden increase in pulsations over the cortex when the church
bells rang at noon. He then asked Bertino if he felt that he
should have said his midday prayers, and when Bertino answered
in the positive, the pulsations increased again. Intrigued by
that, almost performing a cognitive activation task ante
litteram, Mosso asked him to multiply 8 by 12. Once again the
sphygmograph recorded an increase in the pulsations, both when
the question was asked and when Bert