title: Thomas Willis of the "circle of Willis".
abstract: Thomas Willis is best known for the circle of Willis. The life story of this 17th- century medical genius, who remains an inspiration for all neuroscientists 300 years later, is summarized in this article. We outline his academic achievements, including his description of the famous basal arterial circle, and we attempt to obtain insight into his visionary thought process through this historical review.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. kchoudhari@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Kishor A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Choudhari
authors.forename: Divyesh
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Joe J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Leyon
mesh_terms: D002941:Circle of Willis; D049670:History, 17th Century; D009445:Neuroanatomy / Q000266:history*; D009488:Neurosciences / Q000266:history*; D010820:Physicians / Q000266:history*; D011173:Portraits as Topic