The year 2014 marked the 350th anniversary of the publication in London of Cerebri anatome, a groundbreaking work of neuroscience heavily influenced by the political and cultural context of Baroque Europe and mid-17th century England. This article aims to review the work of the English physician and anatomist Thomas Willis, specifically with regard to the contents of his Cerebri anatome. Willis's academic and professional career was influenced by the turbulent period of the English Civil War during which he studied medicine. Willis went from chemistry to dissection arguably because of his need to justify the body-brain-soul relationship. As a result, he became a fellow of a select club of eminent experimentalists, and afterward was a Fellow of the Royal Society. Later on, he went to London, leaving the academic life to dedicate himself fully to the profession of medicine. As a physician, Willis did not base his practice on aphorisms but on a 'bench to bedside' approach to medicine, while studying neuroanatomy -covering embryology, comparative anatomy and pathological anatomy -as a basis for the comprehension of neurological pathology. He developed innovative anatomical methods for the preservation and dissection of the brain, injection of coloured substances and illustration of his findings. In Cerebri anatome, Willis recognized the cerebral cortex as the substrate of cognition. He also claimed that the painful stimuli came from the meninges, but not from the brain itself. He explained for the first time the pathological and functional meaning of the brain's circular arterial anastomosis, which is named after him. He also specified some features of the cranial origin of the sympathetic nerves and coined the term 'neurologie'. Cerebri anatome marked the transition between the mediaeval and modern notions of brain function, and thus it is considered a cornerstone of clinical and comparative anatomy of the nervous system. The new contributions and methods employed by Willis justify his place as a father of neurology and a pioneer of translational research.

PTA prevalence was similar to those previously reported, being commonly left-sided, Salas et al.'s lateral or petrosal type, Weon et al.'s type 3 and with no gender predominance. CVD and aneurysms incidence in the presence of a PTA were higher than in general population. Its anatomical relations make it essential to consider its presence and directional blood flow when planning endovascular and neurosurgical treatments.

This article focuses on Jean Cruveilhier and particularly on his book Anatomie descriptive, which was a great success during the author’s lifetime. (Notwithstanding this, it is pertinent to point out that the five editions of Anatomie descriptive were surpassed in number by others of the Cruveilhier’s creations, such as Anatomie pathologique and Traité d’Anatomie pathologique.) Unlike other texts of the time and later, Anatomie descriptive presents the anatomy of the human body in a way that can be applied both by students and medical professionals. The objectives of Anatomie descriptive were to make understand how the functions of an organ can be inferred from its structure, and to encourage students and professionals to investigate the anatomical origin of health and disease phenomena. Depending on which sections of the book, the parts of the body were described with morphological, topographic or functional criteria. Many of Cruveilhier’s contributions influenced anatomical eponymy and keep today’s Terminologia Anatomica alive. All of this has made consider Jean Cruveilhier the most outstanding anatomist in France of the first half of the nineteenth century. Due to the scientific rigor Cruveilhier always applied and asked to be applied in the investigation of the anatomic changes linked to pathological processes, he could certainly be considered a predecessor of the objectivity sought by evidence-based medicine.