Brad+Mitchell+Entry+10

Over the course of a century a great amount of progress has been made in the field of neuroscience. At the start of the 19th century there were two separate, conflicting theories. One theory described the nervous system as a series of independent cells and the other describing the same thing as “a large network of tissue, or reticulum, formed by the fused processes of nerve cells.” The amazing part is that both came to these conclusions based upon the same evidence. Although, in their defense compared to the present, their technology was very primitive. Until the advent of more efficient staining processes and more powerful microscopes there was a lot of guess work involved in the attempt to create an accurate model. “A far more useful staining method was discovered by Camillo Golgi… The method, now known as Golgi staining or Golgi impregnation, involves hardening of tissue in potassium bichromate and ammonia, followed by immersion in a silver nitrate solution. The Golgi stain visualizes a small number of cells in a tissue sample; the cells are stained at random and in their entirety, so that silhouettes of the cell body, axon and dendrites are clearly visible.” Even though he did not know it at the time Golgi made a other very important discovery “including the identification of projection neurons, interneurons and tendon organs. He also elucidated the part of the Plasmodium life cycle that took place in red blood cells, and correlated the fever and chills, which are symptoms of the disease, with release of the microbe into the blood. In 1898 he identified what he termed the "internal reticular apparatus"; the identification of this structure, which would later be named the Golgi complex.” After this time the two theories combined.