The origins of localization
The concept that different parts of the brain did
different things started with Spurzheim and Gall,
whose phrenology became quite fashionable:
The phrenologist said that a given area of the
brain increases in size, as does the overlying
skull,  when its function is exercised, and a good
clinician can, by laying on hands,  tell you what
parts have been most exercised.