Willis and the cortical neuron

On the quatercentenary of his birth, it is appropriate to celebrate the writings and discoveries of the British neuroanatomist Thomas Willis (1621–75) about the cerebral cortex and its connections.1 Willis observed that complexity in the convoluted surface of the cerebrum, with continuity of the underlying structures, accounts for differences in memory, imagination, and intelligence among species. In mammals and fishes that act mainly by instinct, the convolutions of the cerebral cortex are relatively under-developed.