Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40294406›Full record

ArticleTopics in cognitive science2026

Cosmovision as Cognitive Technology: The Case of Mesoamerican Medicinal Knowledge.

Johan De Smedt, Helen De Cruz

Abstract readHistorical Article
In one paragraph

Article in Topics in cognitive science, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Johan De SmedtDepartment of Philosophy, Saint Louis University.
Helen De CruzDepartment of Philosophy, Saint Louis University.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

We examine the use of cognitive technologies in the acquisition and retention of botanical and medicinal knowledge. We focus on the Cruz-Badianus codex, a 16th-century Nahua (Aztec) herbarium which discusses the use of plants for a range of illnesses. We show how the codex reflects the Mesoamerican cosmovision, in particular, the association of the human body and cosmos, and the polarity and balance of hot and cold. We hypothesize that the cosmological and philosophical ideas that underlie the medicinal uses prescribed in the codex are not incidental, but rather help to scaffold knowledge, retain in memory successful remedies, and aid the transmission of information.

Indexed as

Cognitive ScienceHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticePlants, MedicinalHistory, 16th CenturyHumansAffordancesCognitive technologiesCruz‐Badianus codexIndigenous medicinal knowledgeNahua (Aztec)

Identifiers

PMID40294406
PMCPMC12831609

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.