Santiago Ramón y Cajal: Artistic legacy in Science, 90 years later

Ninety years after his death in 1934, the artistic beauty of the innovative brain images created by physician and histologist Santiago Ramón y Cajal, as well as his revolutionary neuroanatomical theory, remains relevant today. As a scientist who isolated brain nerve cells, he visualized them as physically distinct entities, answering one of the most crucial questions of his time. Prior to his work, the prevailing belief was in the reticular theory, which suggested that nervous tissue was continuous and formed a network of interconnected cells. His anatomical studies helped establish the foundations of modern neuroscience. Cajal, who worked in solitude for many years, embodied one of the most important virtues of a scientist in his life: perseverance.