Be forewarned, the pictures in the linked paper are not for the squeamish. But they are fascinating if you have any interest in the structure of the brain. I could not tear my eyes away from Figure 1, “Ventral surface of H.M.’s brain”.

The linked paper details a postmortem exam of a patient’s brain. Back in 1953, a patient, known as HM, suffered from epilepsy. His doctor’s performed brain surgery. Inexplicably, after the operation, HM suffered from an inability to store short term memories. He could learn new skills, but could not remember how or when he learned them. This was an important case, but back in 1953 there just was not enough knowledge of how the brain operated to draw any conclusions.

Fortunately, technology was advanced enough to freeze and slice the brain, saving it for later use. Over time, technology improved and the ability to take pictures of, and eventually digitize and 3D render those slices, came into being.

The linked paper is the result of the most modern of these efforts. Fantastic.