BORBOLETAS DA ALMA

To know the brain – we said to ourselves in our idealistic enthusiasm – is equivalent to discover the material course of thoughts and will. […] Like the entomologist hunting for brightly coloured butterflies, my attention was drawn to the flower garden of the grey matter, which contained cells with delicate and elegant forms, the mysterious butterflies of the soul, the beating of whose wings may some day (who knows?) clarify the secret of mental life. […] Even from the aesthetic point of view, the nervous tissue contains the most charming attractions. In our parks are there any tree more elegant and luxurious than Purkinje cellsfrom the cerebellum or psychic cell,that is the famous cerebral pyramid?

Santiago Ramón & Cajal

Recuerdos de Mi Vida

Como o entomologista caçando borboletas de cores vivas, minha atenção foi atraída para o jardim de flores da matéria cinzenta, que continha células com formas delicadas e elegantes, as misteriosas borboletas da alma, cujo bater de asas pode algum dia (quem sabe? ) esclarecer o segredo da vida mental.