ABSTRACT
In dealing with most cases of vascular, neoplastic and inflammatory disease there are no great differences between the methods used by general pathologists and those of neuropathologists. Their methods diverge, however, in cases where detailed neuro-anatomical investigation is required – for instance, in dealing with ‘degenerative’ diseases or ‘organic’ mental disorders. Early basic knowledge in these fields owed more to the researches of neurologists and psychiatrists, mostly French and German, working around the turn of the century, than to the great Virchow and his followers. Standing apart from these is the towering figure of Ramón y Cajal.
