Contributions of Willis, Golgi and Mueller to the Understanding of Brain Functioning

Thomas Willis is often associated with the "circle of Willis," (or Cerebri anatome) an area of posterior communicating and anterior communicating arteries located at the base of the brain (Duke Neuropathology, 2002). Willis' Cerebri anatome not only shed new light on the brain and man's understanding of it, but it also sparked a number of different studies surrounding the area, it's function, and it's relation to the rest of the body. Willis lived during the seventieth century, and contributed a great deal to seventieth century neurological thought. Willis proposed that the cerebrum was the organ responsible for thought, and in animals the cerebrum is the "sensitive soul" (Molnar, 2004). In addition to Cerebri anatome, Willis contributed to the founding neurology and the understanding of brain function by recognizing the auditory nerve and the vagus, along with their varying branches, which expanded beyond the work of Galen (who preceded Willis is studies of the cranial nerves (Molnar, 2004).

Not only were Willis' contributions revolutionary, his methods were as well. Willis used many experimental methods that were ahead of his time and allowed him a peak into the human mind that his peers were unable to see. According to Rengachary et al. (2008) Willis pioneered the area of neurology contributing to the naming of a number of brain structures and describing a number of diseases associated with the brain.

Camillo Golgi was an Italian scientist who is best known for his contribution of the silver nitrate stain, a method that "stained" a "small percentage of neurons, allowing him to trace nerve structures more precisely" (Lanzoni, n.d). Using this method, Golgi was able to illustrate the entire nerve from body to dendrite. Furthermore, Golgi assigned a role to the dendrites, which he purported served a nutritive role (Finger, 1994). Golgi's staining methods allowed other scientists, including Cajal to further study the cells of the body and brain.

Johannes Mueller worked along the same lines as Charles Bell during the early ninetieth century, working with nerves and their various energies (Finger, 1994). Mueller wrote the popular "Hanbuch der Physiologie" which detailed his theory on nerve senses, and why they respond similarly to different stimuli. Mueller's work put into words his ideas, and made them more accessible to the public, as well as his peers who would go on to expand on our current understanding of the nerves. Mueller wrote, "The immediate object of our senses are merely particular states induced in the nerves, and felt as sensations either by the nerves themselves or by the senorium" (as qtd in Finger, 1994).

References:

Duke Neuropathology. (2002). Blood Supply. Retrieved October 19, 2009, from http://pathology.mc.duke.edu/neuropath/nawr/blood-supply.html

Finger, S. (1994). Origins of neuroscience: a history of explorations into brain function. New York: Oxford University Press.

Molnar, Z. (2004). Thomas Willis (1621-1675), the founder of clinical neuroscience. Nature Reviews, 5, 329-335.

http://www.kzoo.edu/psych/Molnar.2004.pdf

Lanzoni, S. (N.d). A Lot of Nerve. Retrieved October 19, 2009, from http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/a-lot-of-nerve

Rengachary, S. S, Xavier, A., Manjila, S., Smerdon, U., Parker, B., Hadwan, S., & Guthikonda, M. (2008). The legendary contributions of Thomas Willis (1621-1875): the arterial circle and beyond. Journal of Neurosurgery, 109, N/a. doi: 10.3171/JNS/2008/109/10/0765

http://thejns.org/doi/full/10.3171/JNS/2008/109/10/0765