Javier DeFelipe

Cortical white matter: Beyond the pale

Santiago Ramón y Cajal

Edward G. Jones

This is the first English-language publication of the complete works of the great Spanish neurohistologist, Santiago Ramon y Cajal, on the cerebral cortex. The new translations include all Cajal's very early contributions on the cortex of small mammals, relevant chapters from his definitivetextbook, and all his great works on the human cerebral cortex made at the peak of his career. The book also presents Cajal's surveys of cortical structure dating from his later years. It is extensively annotated, and the editors have verified and completed all Cajal's references. Specialintroductory chapters review the state of knowledge during each period covered, and the work concludes with an extensive essay on modern cortical neurohistology in which the quality and lasting significance of Cajal's contributions are highlighted.

An Annotated Translation of the Complete Writings

Cajal on the Cerebral Cortex

Henry Markram

Kathleen S. Rockland

The columnar organization is currently the most widely held hypothesis to explain the cortical processing of information, making its study of potential interest to any researcher interested in the cerebral cortex, both in a healthy and pathological state. Enough data are now available so that the Blue Brain Project can realistically tackle a model of the sensory column in rat. Few will deny however, that a comprehensive framework of the function and structure of columns has remained elusive. One set of persistent problems, as frequently remarked, is nomenclature. "Column" is used freely and promiscuously to refer to multiple, distinguishable entities; for example, cellular or dendritic minicolumns (<50um), and afferent macrocolumns (200-500um). Another set of problems is the degree to which the classical criteria (shared response properties, shared input and common output) may need to be modified and, if so, how. A third, related set of problems is to define area-specific and species-specific variations. Finally, more of an ultimate goal than a problem, is to achieve fundamental understanding of what columns are and how they are used in cortical processes. Therefore, one of the major objectives is to translate recent technical advances and new findings in the neurosciences into practical applications for the neuroscientist, the clinician, and for those interested in comparative anatomy and brain evolution.

The neocortical column

This book shows hundreds of figures produced throughout the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century by Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934) and his contemporaries. Cajal was captivated by the beautiful shapes of the cells of the nervous system. He and his fellow scientists saw neurons as trees and glial cells as bushes. Given their high density and arrangement, neurons and glial resembled a thick forest, a seemingly impenetrable terrain of interacting cells mediating cognition and behavior. In unraveling the mysteries of the brain, these researchers encountered an almost infinite number of cellular forms with an extraordinary beauty, which they could not help but put pen to paper, allowing them to discover a new artistic world- the neuronal forest- that gave free rein not only to their imagination, but to a new way of viewing the brain as well. The first part of the book focuses on the scientific atmosphere in Cajal's times, on the history of the neuron, and the anatomical challenge posed in studying neuronal connections. It also delves into the artistic skills of Cajal and other pioneers in neuroscience and how the neuronal forests have served as an unlimited source of artistic inspiration. The second part consists of 275 original drawings by Cajal. --Publisher's description.

Javier DeFelipe

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