Which Spanish neuroscientist won the 1906 Nobel Prize for showing that the human brain is made of individual neurons?

Santiago Ramón y Cajal won the 1906 Nobel Prize for showing that the human brain is made of individual neurons.

Using improved staining methods, Cajal produced exceptionally detailed drawings of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. He argued that neurons are separate cells that communicate across tiny gaps, an idea now called the neuron doctrine. His work challenged the competing reticular theory, which proposed that nervous tissue formed one continuous network.

Cajal shared the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Camillo Golgi. Golgi had developed the silver-staining method Cajal used, but he interpreted the resulting images differently and continued to support the reticular theory. The award recognized their work on the structure of the nervous system.

Cajal is often called the father of modern neuroscience. His drawings remain important historically because they revealed distinct neuron shapes and connections before researchers had modern microscopes or molecular tools.