advice for a young investigator

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1、ForewordSantiagoRamónyCajal(1852–1934)isoneofthemorefascinatingpersonalitiesinscience.AboveallhewasthemostimportantneuroanatomistsinceAndreasVesalius,theRenaissancefounderofmodernbiology.However,Cajalwasalsoathoughtfulandinspiredteacher,hemadeseverallastingcontributionstoSpanishliterature

2、(hisautobiogra-phy,apopularbookofaphorisms,andreºectionsonoldage),andhewroteoneoftheearlybooksonthetheoryandpracticeofcolorphotography.Furthermore,hewasanexceptionalartist,perhapsthebestevertodrawthecircuitsofthebrain,whichhecouldneverphotographtohissatisfaction.Inhisearlythirties,Cajalwr

3、oteandillustratedtheªrstoriginaltextbookofhistologyinSpain,whichremainedastandardthroughouthislifetime.Theªrstdraftofhisuniquebookofpractical,fatherlyadvicetoyoungpeopleintheearlystagesoftheirresearchcareerswasbegunsoonaftermovingtothechairofhistologyandpathologicalanat-omyattheUniversity

4、ofMadridaboutadecadelater—whenhealsowrotetheªrstmajorreviewofhisinvestigationswithCamilloGolgi’ssilverchromatemethod:1LSHORTNewIdeasontheStructureoftheNervousSystem(1894).REGULAR1LLONGJOB#525CAJALAdviceforaYoungInvestigatorFM01.CHPP.viiviiiForewordThissuccinctbookredeªnedhowbraincircuitsh

5、adbeendescribed.Init,Cajalpresentedhistologicalevidencethatthecentralnervoussystemisnotasyncytiumorreticulumofcellsascommonlybelievedatthetime.Instead,itconsistsofindividualneuronsthatusuallyconductinformationinjustonedirection.Theinformationoutputoftheneuronisdownasingleaxonanditsbranche

6、stoterminalboutonsthatendonorneartheinputsideofanotherneuron(itscellbodyanddendrites).Cajalhaddiscoveredthesynapseandwithfundamentalinsightwentontodescribetheorganiza-tionofallthemajorneuralsystemsintermsofchainsofindependentneuronsandtheconceptoffunctionalpolarity(unidirectionalinformati

7、onºowincircuits).Hewastheªrsttoexplaininmoderntermstheorganizationofreºexandvoluntarycontrolpathwaystothemotorsystem,andthisconceptualadvancewasthestructuralfoundationofSirCharlesSherrington’smodernphysiologicalexplanationofreºexesandtheircontrol.BythetimetheAdvicef