Luigi Rolando

Life and work

The story behind the role.

Italian anatomist.

Luigi Rolando (16 June 1773, Turin – 20 April 1831, Turin) was an Italian anatomist known for his pioneering research in brain localization of function. He studied medicine in Turin, later continuing his education in Florence, where he studied engraving, drawing, anatomical dissection, and conducted microscopic investigations of nerve tissue. From 1804 he was a professor at the University of Sassari, and in 1814 was appointed professor of anatomy at the University of Turin. As a University of Turin professor, he devoted his life to the study of brain anatomy. A range of neuroanatomical and neurological entities are named after him: the Rolandic vein, the Rolandic artery (central sulcal artery), the pre-Rolandic artery (precentral sulcal artery), the Rolandic operculum (post-central operculum), the Rolandic area (primary motor cortex), the substantia gelatinosa of Rolando, the fissure of Rolando (central sulcus) and Rolandic epilepsy.

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