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The contribution of Santiago Ramon y Cajal to functional neuroscience

Abstract

Santiago Ramón y Cajal — arguably the most accomplished anatomist in the history of neuroscience — became recognized as such not only because of his incredible anatomical skills and his indefatigable working habits, but also because of his uncanny sense of the functional implications of his work, a sense that made him a true genius in the field of biology.

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Figure 1: The organization of the central visual pathways.
Figure 2: The directionality of the 'nervous current'.
Figure 3: Physical dimensions of the neuronal circuits of a mammal, a cephalopod and an insect.

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Acknowledgements

I thank I. Meinertzhagen for conversations on neuronal size in insects.

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FURTHER INFORMATION

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences

neural information processing

Ramòn y Cajal, Santiago

MIT Encyclopedia of Cognitive Sciences

Cajal, Santiago Ramón y

neural networks

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Llinás, R. The contribution of Santiago Ramon y Cajal to functional neuroscience. Nat Rev Neurosci 4, 77–80 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1011

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