Rs. Fishman, HOLMES,GORDON, THE CORTICAL RETINA, AND THE WOUNDS OF WAR - THE 7TH SNYDER,CHARLES,B. LECTURE, Documenta ophthalmologica, 93(1-2), 1997, pp. 9-28
By the rum of the 20th century, localization of function in the cerebr
al cortex of the brain had advanced considerably, but a relatively vag
ue idea only existed that human vision was represented in the vicinity
of the calcarine cortex. World War I produced a large number of isola
ted missile wounds of the brain. Their study yielded a complete topogr
aphical mapping of the visual field in the primary cortical vision cen
ter, and is a basis of our modem interpretation of visual fields. This
map has been recently modified by MRI studies to show that the magnif
ication of the central retinal projection onto the cerebral cortex to
be even greater than previously thought. Many names are associated wit
h the story of how war led to this knowledge. This essay refers to Har
vey Gushing, William Osler, Tatsui Inouye, and most particularly to th
e career and contributions of the British neurologist Gordon Holmes.