Visual Pathways

c. 1901 (Spain)

1 sheet, drawing with India ink on paper; 21,8 × 31,2 cm

Cajal Legacy
Cajal Institute (Spanish Main Research Council). Madrid. Cajal Legacy-26115

Our understanding of the human central nervous system took a major step forward at the beginning of the 20th century, with the work of the Spanish physiologist Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934).

Ramón y Cajal contributions to neuroanatomy are manifold but his most important was without doubt the clarification of the nature of nerve cells, showing the individual character of neurons, and the highly interconnected networks formed by these cells. His careful and striking drawings are superb examples of scientific diagrams and of illustrations carefully conceived to explain complex anatomical and physiological structures.

The document presented here is a drawing made by Ramon y Cajal around 1901, showing an outline of the optical pathways.

The document is a general scheme of the nerve cells from the eye to the brain, that is the radiations of the optical centres and the visual pathways. It is clear enough to allow the identification of the different organs and parts depicted: A, Retina; B, Optic nerve; C, Common ocular motor nerve; D, External geniculate body; E, Superior colliculus; F, Optic fibers; G, Visual cortex; K, Central optical pathway; J, Path of visual memories; L, Motor pathway born in the visual sphere; M, Descending optical path of the superior colliculus; H, Common ocular motor nucleus; O, Collaterals of the central motor ways.

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