title: [Spanish neuroscience in times of Don Quixote].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra published his immortal work Don Quixote of La Mancha in a time of crisis and decadence in Spain that occurred during the transition between the 16th and 17th centuries.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In 2016 we commemorate the fourth centenary of the death of our distinguished man of letters, and thus in this article we analyse the status of Hispanic neuroscience, both in the Quixote itself and in other works by the most significant contemporary writers of that time.
  
  
  METHODS
  Despite the adverse historical circumstances, the shift from the Renaissance to the Baroque periods, in the Crown of Castile, was a flourishing period for literature (Spanish Golden Age) and other Hispanic arts (painting, sculpture, architecture and music), as well as bearing witness to a prodigious creativity in the field of neuroscience, including the field of natural philosophy. In his book Antoniana Margarita the physician Gomez Pereira laid the foundations for brain mechanism and the concept of conditioned reflexes several decades ahead of his time. The apothecary Miguel Sabuco also anticipated the concept of neurotransmission centuries ahead of his time in his New Philosophy. The physician Juan Huarte de San Juan was the founder of neuropsychology and experimental psychology, and his Examination of Men's Wits has been one of the most influential and widely translated scientific texts of all times. Its concepts are clearly reflected in Cervantes' Quixote.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This analysis of Cervantes' work within the cultural setting of the book is intended as a homage to the immortal figure of our 'Prince of Wits' in the fourth centenary of his death.
authors: Hospital Central de la Defensa, 28043 Madrid, Espana.
authors: Antonio
authors: A
authors: Martín-Araguz
authors: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Espana.
authors: Yvett
authors: Y
authors: Mikola
authors: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Espana.
authors: Raquel
authors: R
authors: Almendral-Doncel
authors: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Espana.
authors: Javier
authors: J
authors: Campos-Bueno
mesh_terms: D003702:Delusions / Q000266:history; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D006801:Humans; D008093:Literature, Modern; D008513:Medicine in Literature; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000266:history; D008959:Models, Neurological; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009445:Neuroanatomy / Q000266:history; D009488:Neurosciences / Q000266:history*; D010684:Philosophy / Q000266:history*; D011603:Psychophysiology / Q000266:history*; D012945:Social Values; D013030:Spain