Broca claimed the third left frontal convolution of the brain as the center of articulate speech – a point now disputed. He was first to trephine for a cerebral abscess diagnosed by this theory of localization of function. He introduced term “aphemia” (“motor aphasia”, “Broca’s aphasia”). English translation in von Bonin. Some papers on the cerebral cortex, Springfield: Charles C Thomas, 1960. See No. 4619

Auburtin did much to establish the principle of cerebral localization. He demonstrated on a patient whose frontal lobe was exposed following a gunshot wound that merely touching the uninjured lobe with a spatula would abolish speech, which would return immediately when the spatula was removed. Digital facsimile of the separate offprint version from the Hathitrust at this link.

The beginning of knowledge of thalamic function. This work contains Luys’s descriptions of the two structures which bear his name: the subthalamic nucleus and the center median of the thalamus.

Meynert noticed regional variations in the histological structure of different parts of the gray matter in the cerebral hemispheres. He is credited with beginning the study of cytoarchitecture. Meynert described the fountain decussation of the tegmental tract (“Meynert’s decussation”) and several other structures in the brain. Published in book form, 1868.

Mitchell, leading American neurologist of his time, performed over 350 experiments upon the cerebellum. He emphasized its co-ordinating function, first postulated by Flourens, and he proposed his “augmentor” theory of cerebellar function.

These workers showed that electrical stimulation of the frontal cortex in various experimental animals caused movements of the extremities of the opposite side of the body, thus proving the existence of a motor area in the cerebral cortex, predicted earlier in the same year by Hughlings Jackson. Translation in J. Neurosurg., 1963, 20, 905-16. Reprinted, with translation, in R. H. Wilkins, Neurosurgical Classics, New York, 1965

Modern study of the functions of the thalamus began with the important investigations of Gudden. He is remembered eponymically by “Gudden’s commissure” and “Gudden’s atrophy” – specific thalamic nuclei degenerate when certain areas of the cerebral cortex are destroyed. His collected works were published in 1889. He was drowned in a lake at Starnberg by his patient Ludwig II, the mad king of Bavaria.

Contains 70 photographs of brain sections taken by Luys himself, with 64 lithographed schemas based on his drawings. Luys undertook this work when the evidence of his lithographs published in 1865 (No. 4012) was disputed. It is the first large-scale photographic atlas of the anatomy of the brain.

Bartholow confirmed in man the findings of Fritsch and Hitzig (No. 1405) that electrical stimulus of the cortex on one side stimulated muscles on the other side of the body.

Discovery of the giant pyramidal cells of the motor cortex.

Hitzig accurately defined the limits of the motor area in the cerebral cortex of the dog and the monkey.

Caton succeeded in leading off action potentials from the brains of animals, a first step towards the development of the electroencephalograph. See also Brit. med. J., 1877, 1, Suppl. 62-75.

One of the most strikingly beautiful neuroanatomies ever published, with exquisite reproductions of the color dye injection experiments. The authors confirmed the existence of the foramina of Magendie and Luschka, and studied the movement of the cerebrospinal fluid. All published. Digital facsimile from the Bayerische StaatsBibliothek at this link.

Ferrier may be said to have laid the foundations of our knowledge concerning the localization of cerebral function. His book includes his earlier work published in the West Riding Lunatic Asylum Reports. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Flechsig mapped out the motor and sensory areas of the cerebral cortex, and named the “pyramidal tract”. See Clarke & O'Malley, The human brain and spinal cord, p. 857, and pp. 277-81.
Digital facsimile from Bayerische StaatsBibliothek at this link.

Forel elucidated the subthalamic region, “campus Foreli”.

Lewis described the giant cells of the precentral convolution.

Exner identified the superficial tangential fibers of the molecular layer of the cerebral cortex, known eponymically as “Exner’s plexus”.

Exner’s book of 1881 on cortical localization contained maps based on the clinical manifestations of cerebral lesions…. Exner was among those postulating the existence of precise functional ‘centers’ with a minute parcellation of the cortex, based on the belief that the site of a lesion producing a specific functional disturbance indicated the location of that function. He is best known for siting his ‘writing center’ in the posterior part of the second frontal convolution.” (Clarke and Dewhurst).

Munk made important investigations on the functions of the temporal lobes.

Ott studied the nervous regulation of body temperature. His papers on the heat-center in the brain and on the thermoinhibitory apparatus were published in the same journal, 1887, 14, 150-62, 428-38; 1888, 15, 85-104.

Thudichum, a German emigré, discovered cephalins and myelins in brain tissue. An enlarged German edition of his book was published at Tübingen, 1901. See biography by D. L. Drabkin, 1958, which includes an annotated bibliography of Thudichum’s writings. Reprint of the original work, with historical introduction by Drabkin, 1962.

Golgi’s histological studies made a clear conception of the nervous system possible for the first time. He demonstrated the existence of multipolar nerve-cells (Golgi cells) by means of his silver nitrate stain, and described the “Golgi apparatus” and “Golgi type II” nerve cells – cells with short axons ramified within the cortex. This discovery was first published as a series of papers in Riv. sper. Freniat., 1882-85. The discovery became chiefly known from the German translation, Untersuchungen über den feineren Bau des centralen und peripherischen Nervensystems (1894).

In 1906 Golgi shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Ramón y Cajal "in recognition of their work on the structure of the nervous system."

In 2000 Marina Bentivoglio and Larry W. Swanson translated, with an historical introduction, Golgi's paper on the mamalian hippocampus as it appeared in the 1886 work as "On the fine structure of the pes Hippocampi major (with plates XIII-XXIII)", Brain Research Bulletin 54 (2001) 461-483.

Beevor, physician to the National Hospital, Queen Square, London, collaborated with Horsley in an important series of investigations of the localization of cerebral function.

François-Franck’s studies on the excitability of the cerebral cortex and the localization of function followed work in collaboration with Pitres; Charcot wrote the preface. See also No. 1423.

“Westphal’s nucleus” – for accommodation – in the third cranial nerve. Called also “Edinger’s nucleus” (see the same journal, 1885, 16, 858-89).

A detailed analysis, by means of faradic stimulation, of the motor responses of the cerebral cortex, internal capsule, and spinal cord of higher primates.

Van Gieson’s acid fuchsin and picric acid stain for nerve tissue.

“Pick’s bundle” of nerve fibres in the medulla oblongata.

Gotch and Horsley showed that electric currents are produced in the mammalian brain, and they recorded them with the string galvanometer of the capillary electrometer. Their work led eventually to the development of the electroencephalograph.

Luciani succeeded in keeping dogs alive after total extirpation of the cerebellum, and initiated the modern study of cerebellar function. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

“Nissl’s granules”.

Three papers by Charcot and Pitres in 1877, 1878, and 1883 left no doubt as to the existence of cortical motor centres in man. These were later published in book form (above).

Classic summary of neuroanatomy at the end of the nineteenth century—comprehensive, beautifully illustrated, and scholarly. It is a goldmine of historical information with an outstanding bibliography.

Retzius studied a large series of subprimate, simian, and human brains, and clarified some of the more difficult problems of cerebral morphology.

Abt. 1: 32 Frontalschnitte durch eine Grosshirnhemisphäre / hergestellt und erl. von Dr. Ernst Hahn und Dr. Heinrich Sachs (1897) Breslau : Verl. der Königlichen psychiatrischen Klinik, in Comm. bei Schletter [1] Bl., 37 S., [1] Bl., XXXII Taf. , überw. Ill. Anmerkung: Jede Taf. besteht aus einem Orig.-Photo und aus einer Erklärungszeichnung.

Abt. 2, [Text]: 20 Horizontalschnitte durch eine Grosshirnhemisphäre / hergestellt und erläutert von Dr. Paul Schröder (1900).[2] Bl., 28 S., [1] Bl. , 1 Ill. , 4° Anmerkung: Taf.-Bd. separat in quer-4°.

Abt. 2, [Taf.]: [20 Horizontalschnitte durch eine Grosshirnhemisphäre] / [hergestellt und erläutert von Dr. Paul Schröder] (1900) Umfang: XX Taf. , 20 Ill., 20 Fotos , quer-4° Anmerkung: Text.-Bd. separat in 4° , Jede Taf. besteht aus einem Orig.-Photo und aus einer Erklärungszeichnung.

Abt. 3: 21 Sagittalschnitte durch eine Grosshirnhemisphäre / hergest. u. erl. von Otfrid Foerster (1903). [2] Bl., 30 S., [2] Bl., XXI Taf. , 22 Ill., 21 Fotos. Anmerkung: Jede Taf. besteht aus einem Orig.-Photo und aus einer Erklärungszeichnung.

Ramón y Cajal’s descriptions of the limbic cortex are still the most authoritative. The above work and three shorter papers in the same volume were translated by L.M. Kraft as Studies on the cerebral cortex, London, 1955.

The precentral area of the cerebral cortex is known as “Campbell’s area”. Campbell and Brodmann were pioneers in the study of the architectonics of the cerebral cortex, or cerebral cytoarchitecture.
Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

The “thalamic syndrome”, investigations of the effect of localized thalamic injury.

Sherrington insisted that the essential function of the nervous system was the co-ordination of activities of the various parts of the organism. His work on the nervous system, especially his experimental studies of reflex action, had a profound influence upon modern physiology. During his period as Professor of Physiology at Oxford (1913-36) he created what was considered to be the best school of physiology in the world. Biography by Lord Cohen, Liverpool, 1958, and Ragnar Granit, London, 1966.

In 1932 Sherrington shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Adrian "for their discoveries regarding the functions of neurons."

Elliot Smith, Professor of Anatomy at Cairo, Manchester, and University College, London, initiated modern studies of cerebral function with his work on the cortical pattern of the human brain. He identified 50 areas.

“Brodmann’s areas”, the occipital and pre-occipital area of the cerebral cortex.

Brodmann was a pioneer in the study of cytoarchitectonics, and this work forms the basis for localization of function in the cerebral cortex. Brodmann's "areas" are used to designate cortical function regions.

Brodmann's broad comparative-anatomic approach, his recognition that the cortex is organized anatomically along the same basic principles in all mammals, and his idea of utilizing the morphogenesis of the cortex as a basis for the classification of cortical types and for the nomenclature of layers, were instrumental in dispelling the confusion that existed before Brodmann entered the field. His work first appeared as a series of papers in J. Psychol. Neurol. (Lpz.), 1903-08. His map of the human cortex appeared in the same journal, 1907, 10, 231-46, 287-334.

Broadmann studied the brains of diverse mammalian species, and developed a division of the cerebral cortex into 52 discrete areas, of which 44 are in the human, and the remaining 8 in the non-human primate brain. English translation of the 1909 work: Brodmann's localisation in the cerebral cortex; The principles of comparative localisation in the cerebral cortex based on cytoarchitectonics. Translated with editorial notes and an introduction by Laurence J. Garey. New York: Springer, 2006.

Stereotactic apparatus for the accurate location of electrodes in the brain. The apparatus devised by Horsley and Clarke opened the way to stereotactic surgery of the brain.

First experimental studies on hypothalmic function

First systematic account of the functions of the thalamus and its relationship to the cerebral cortex. Reprinted in No. 1304.

A monumental work on cerebral localization.

Weed mapped out the pathways of the circulation of the cerebrospinal fluid. He described the pathways in this paper with 40 pages of text and 5 plates. This was the third of his four-part series of papers entitled Studies on cerebro-spinal fluid. Digital facsimile of part III from PubMedCentral at this link.

Dusser de Barenne demonstrated the major functional subdivisions of the sensory cortex.

This investigation of the stretch reflex was of value in elucidating muscle tone and posture.

This work consisted of textbook of more than 800 pages and an atlas with 112 large-sized microphotographic plates of the cortex. The textbook contained detailed descriptions of their studies and an introduction to the history of cytoarchitectonic research. With their atlas, von Economo and Koskinas hoped to create a basis for future brain research and the localization of brain functions since they assumed that cytoarchitectonic differences reflect functional differences. They used letters to categorize the architecture, e.g., "F" for areas of the frontal lobe.

"The exceptionally high-resolution photographs of the human cerebral cortex presented here are a unique and lasting contribution to neuroanatomy" (Larry W. Swanson). In their chapter on the microscopic structure of the cerebral cortex, Clarke and O’Malley (1996) wrote that, “C. von Economo and G.N. Koskinas produced a monumental work on cortical areas (Die Cytoarchitektonik…), based on the work of Brodmann but identifying more than twice his number of areas [107]; it helped to dispel some of the confusion produced by the Vogt’s multiplicity of areas.” (p. 456). Abridged English translation, 1929. Complete English translation, edited, and published in large folio format, with additional appendix material and the plates reproduced full size as Atlas of cytoarchitectonics of the adult human cerbral cortex by Lazaros C. Triarhou (Basel: Karger, 2008).

Besides his work on digestion, Pavlov is remembered for his investigations upon conditioned reflexes. An English translation of another work by Pavlov, entitled Conditioned reflexes, appeared in 1927. 

First recording of human brain activity, which Berger called electroencephalography. Berger actually recorded his first EEG in 1924, but did not publish the technique until 1929. He showed that the electrical activity of the human brain could be recorded from the intact scalp.

Lashley related nervous function and behavior with well-defined areas of the brain, particularly in connection with cerebral lesions.

Location of the heat-regulating center in the hypothalamus.

Confirmation of Berger’s findings (No. 1446). See also Brain, 1934, 57, 355-85.

In this Hughlings Jackson Lecture, Foerster published his famous cytoarchitectonic map of the human cerebral cortex.

In 1949 Hess shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Egas Moniz in 1949 “for his discovery of the functional organization of the interbrain as a coordinator of the activities of the internal organs.”

“Schneider’s membrane”, the pituitary membrane of the nasal chamber and sinuses.

Scarpa made important researches concerning the auditory and olfactory apparatus of fishes, birds, reptiles, and man. See L. Sellers and B. Anson, [Scarpa’s] Anatomical observations on the round window, Arch. Otolaryng., 1962, 75, 2-45.

Müller’s early studies on specific nerve energies are included in the above work. Later he stated, in his Handbuch der Physiologie, Coblenz, 1840, 2, 258, his law of specific nerve energies – each nerve of special sense, however excited, gives rise to its own peculiar sensation.

Includes description of the “canal of Schlemm”, the circular canal at the junction of the cornea and the sclerotic.

Includes Weber’s law on the relationship between stimulus and sensation. English translation of De tactu, New York Academic Press, 1978. Weber's hearing test is on p.41.

English translation of Tastsinn, Academic Press, 1978.

First published account of the tactile nerve endings – “Wagner’s corpuscles”.

Sensory perception. Wundt was one of the founders of experimental psychology.

Fechner–Weber law on stimulus and sensation. See also Nos. 1457 & 4972.

Among Brown-Séquard’s best work was his study of the pathways of conduction in the spinal cord.

Investigation of the cutaneous distribution of the separate pairs of spinal nerves.

Donders’s most important work was performed in the field of ophthalmology, but he wrote a classic treatise on the physiology of speech. Also published in Onderzoekingen gedaan in het Physiologisch Laboratoriumder Utrechtsche Hoogeschool, 1870, 3, 354-73.

Besides his investigation of the specific energies of cutaneous nerves, Blix is remembered for his work on the thermodynamics of muscular contraction; he designed a muscle indicator diagram; he was also the first to suggest centrifugal force in the separation of red and white blood cells.

Goldscheider recorded important investigations on the nerves conveying the sensation of temperature and on the nerves of cutaneous sensation

Psycho-galvanic reflex described.

Ewald clarified the function of the eighth cranial nerve.

Ferry modified Weber’s law on the relationship between stimulus and sensation. Following the work of Porter, Proc. roy. Soc. (Lond.), 1898, 63, 347; 1902, 70, 313, the term “Ferry–Porter Law” came into being.

For his studies on olfaction and olfactometry Zwaardemaker developed the so-called “camera inodorata” (odorless chamber), or olfactometer.  His instrument to check the patency of the nasal passages is still in use.

In his investigations on cutaneous sensibility Frey introduced his method of testing the sensitiveness of pressure points by means of bristles mounted in a handle.

Winkler was Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at Amsterdam and Utrecht. He published more than 200 papers, among the most important being that on the central pathways of the eighth nerve.

Hoffmann stressed the role of the skin as a secretory organ, producing hormone-like substances; he suggested the term “esophylaxis” for this function.

Varolio described a new method of dissection which enabled him to observe and describe the pons for the first time. By this new method Varolio was able to make some contributions to the knowledge of the course and termination of the cranial nerves and to trace the course of the optic nerve approximately to its true termination. His name is perpetuated in the “pons varolii”.

First exact description of the lacrimal duct. Carcano gave the true position of the lacrimal gland and showed the route taken by the tears.

Scheiner, a Jesuit astronomer, was a pioneer in physiological optics. He demonstrated how images fall on the human retina, noting the change in curvature of the lens during accommodation, and devised the pin-hole test (“Scheiner’s test”) to illustrate accommodation and refraction.

Meibom described the conjunctival Meibomian glands, holocrine type exocrine glands along the rims of the eyelid inside the tarsal plate. They were, however, already known to Galen and were figured by Casserius in 1609.

Discovery of the blind spot in the retina, the existence of which Mariotte deduced from his experiments investigating the fate of light rays striking the base of the optic nerve. Facsimile reprint in J. Brons, The blind spot of Mariotte…, Copenhagen & London, 1939.

First English treatise on the anatomy of the eye. Briggs described the papilla of the optic disc and hypothesized that vibrations caused by rays of light striking fibers of the retina were conveyed to the papilla, and thence to the optic thalami, on the model of a spider’s web.

Briggs’ treatise on the physiology of vision influenced Sir Isaac Newton, who reprinted it in book form with his own introduction, London, 1685.

“Descemet’s membrane” was first described by Duddell. Descemet described it in 1758; see No. 1484.1.

The first complete study of the anatomy of the eye, including the first description of the “zonule of Zinn” and the “annulus of Zinn”.

“Descemet’s membrane”, the posterior membrane of the cornea; see No. 1482.

Porterfield was Professor of the Institutes and Practice of Medicine at Edinburgh from 1724-26. His book included many original observations. It was the first important British work on the anatomy and physiology of the eye

An investigation of how and why the iris contracts. See P.K. Knoefel, Felice Fontana: life and works, Trento, [1984], See also No.2103.

Thomas Young is regarded as one of the most versatile of all scientists. In the above work he showed that the act of accommodation is due to a change of curvature of the crystalline lens, whereby light rays of various lengths can be brought to a focus on the retina.

Includes the first description of astigmatism, with measurements and optical constants.

Young, the “Father of physiological optics”, established the wave theory of light, explaining the phenomena of interference and dispersion.

Soemmerring is best remembered for his fine anatomical illustrations, of which those devoted to the human eye are a good example. In 1791 he made important observations on the macula lutea: "De foramine centrali limbo luteo cincto retinae humanae," Comment. Soc. reg. Sci. Gotting., 1795-98 (1799), 13, 3-13; on p. 4 he states that he made these observations on January 27, 1791. French translation in Demours, No. 5842.1.

Although Tenon did not discover the fibrous capsule and the interfascial space of the orbit, they are named after him.

“Jacob’s membrane”, the layer of the retina containing the rods and cones.

Purkynĕ’s graduation dissertation on the subjective visual phenomena earned for him the appreciation of Goethe and the chair of physiology at Breslau. Reprinted in his Opera omnia, vol. 1, pp. 1-56,1918. There were two issues of the first edition published the same year. The second edition was published in 1823.

Purkynĕ was first to examine the interior of the human eye and the dog eye, using only a candle and a concave spherical lens. He thus invented the ophthalmoscope three decades before Helmholtz (1851; No. 5866). Reprinted in his Opera (No. 82), 1918,1, 163-94. English trans. in John, Jan Evangelista Purkyne, Philadelphia, 1959. See Albert & Miller, Jan Purkinje and the ophthalmoscope, Amer. J. Ophth., 1973, 76, 494-99.

Purkynĕ was also the first to classify fingerprints. Reprinted in his Opera omnia (No. 82), vol. 1, pp. 163-94, 1918. English translation in John, Jan Evangelista Purkynĕ, Philadelphia, 1959.

Experimental proof that vision depends on the integrity of the cerebral cortex. See No. 1391 for his first paper on the subject. Partial English translation in von Bonin, Some papers on the cerebral cortex, Springfield: Charles C Thomas, 1960.

Homer described the tensor tarsi (Horner’s) muscle, supplying the lacrimal apparatus. It was first described by Du Verney in 1749

“Purkynĕ phenomenon” or “Purkynĕ shift”, a change in the apparent relative luminosity of colors in a dim light (scotopic vision) compared with that in full daylight (photopic vision). Also published in Rust’s Mag. ges. Heilk., 1825, 20, 3-83, 199-276, 391-423. See V. Kruta J.E. Purkynĕ, physiologist. A short account of his contributions… with a bibliography of his works. Prague: Academia Publishing House, 1969.

Includes Müller’s law of specific nerve energies. For an English translation, see his Elements of physiology, transl. W. Baly, London, 1838, vol. 1, pp. 766-67. Includes (p. 73) his explanation of the color sensations produced by pressure upon the retina.

“Fielding’s membrane”, the tapetum of the retina.

First English work on ocular anatomy.