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Thomas Willis (1621-1675) was an English physician who is referred to as the father of neurology. He coined the term neurology in his work Cerebri anatome in 1664. By dismantling the Brain from the skull, Willis was the first to connect parts of the brain to their functions and discovered the artery system. He made discoveries in linking epilepsy and other diseases with the nervous system. From his observations, he pinpointed parts of the brain that were responsible for bodily functions, such as vision, hearing, touch, and reflexes. He became a pioneer in research for the Disease diabetes, which used to be named after him as "Willis's Disease.

Sources: https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/neurology-1700s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Willis

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Stephen Hales Discovering Nerve Function

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Stephen Hales Discovering Nerve Function

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Stephen Hales (1677-1761) was an English clergyman who conducted some of the first studies surrounding nerve function. Hales made discoveries in blood pressure through an animal experiment in which he connected a goose's trachea to a live horse's carotid artery, then measured how far up a glass tube the force of the heart pumped the horse's blood. At the time, the belief was that blood pressure was the cause of muscle contractions. With research, Hales concluded that muscle contraction was due to the nervous system, not blood pressure. Further into his research, Hales conducted an experiment on decapitated frogs where he pricked the frog's skin which stimulated its reflexes. Through this experiment, Hales concluded that the nervous system is extended to the spinal cord and is not only in the brain.

Sources:
https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/neurology-1700s

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 Albrecht von Haller Discovering Muscle Action 

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 Albrecht von Haller Discovering Muscle Action 

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Albrecht von Haller (1708-1777) was a Swiss physiologist and professor who made discoveries surrounding muscle action. Haller conducted almost 200 experiments! Through his research, he concluded that muscle fibers contracted independently to the nerves around them, which illustrated that the nervous system and muscle action are two separate systems. By doing so, he explained what makes the heart beat: the contraction of muscle tissue stimulated by the influx of blood.

Sources:
https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/neurology-1700s

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Albrecht-von-Haller

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Robert Whytt Questioning the Meaning of the "Soul"

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Robert Whytt Questioning the Meaning of the "Soul"

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Robert Whytt (1714-1766) was a Scottish pioneer surrounding the idea of the soul. He viewed the soul as a substance that was prominent in the nervous system and was what was responsible for communicating reflexes in the human body. This contrasted with the popular belief of the soul as a religious phenomenon. Whytt demonstrated that only a small part of the spinal cord was needed for a reflex, not the entire thing. Whytt used the example of a pupil contracting in response to light to illustrate that certain reflexes could be destroyed when cranial nerves were severed. Whytt published On the Vital and other Involuntary Motions of Animals in 1751 which outlined his unique view of the soul.

Sources: https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/neurology-1700s

https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/college-history/robert-whytt

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Luigi Galvani Discovering the Relationship Between External Stimuli and Muscle Contractions

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Luigi Galvani Discovering the Relationship Between External Stimuli and Muscle Contractions

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Luigi Galvani (1737-1798) was an Italian physician who discovered the relationship between electricity and muscle contractions. He made this discovery while studying frogs. He had the frogs legs bound from a copper wire, he noticed that the frogs' legs twitched when it came into contact with an iron block. Galvani concluded that nerves were receptors of external stimuli, such as electricity.

Sources:
https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/neurology-1700s

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Luigi-Galvani

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Pictured above is the outline of Luigi Galvani's experiment on frog legs. In this expirement, the frog legs twitched when put through electric stimuli, illustrating the relationship between muscle movement and external stimuli.

Source:
https://www.wondriumdaily.com/how-galvanis-animal-electricity-theory-led-to-the-invention-of-the-battery/

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The Docent I chose for this Mini Exhibit is Thomas Willis. He was an English researcher who lived from 1621 to 1675. He is recognized as the first person to link the parts of the brain to their functions with his most notable discovery being that of the arteries of the brain. Willis pioneered the new field of neurology and inspired researchers for centuries to come.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Willis