title: [Exploring the dark continent: medical image and brain].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Until the late 19th century, direct observation of the central nervous system was practically impossible. The discovery of X-rays in 1895 and their subsequent application in the field of medicine brought about a shift of paradigm that completely revolutionised the way in which neurology was practised. The possibility of viewing the inside of the brain had a pronounced impact on clinical practice, and enriched the diagnosis and treatment of brain pathologies in a manner that was unimaginable up until then.
  
  
  METHODS
  The aim of this study is to describe the birth and development of medical imaging of the brain, from the discovery of X-rays and the early days of radiography to the appearance of computerised tomography and magnetic resonance in the 60s, both of which are techniques that were to change the world of diagnostic imaging forever. This brief overview of the history of radiology also includes the origins of angiography and other techniques that are no longer in use, but which were ground-breaking innovations in their time, such as ventriculography or pneumoencephalography.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The procedures and techniques described in this article made it possible to view the inside of the brain, thereby facilitating the diagnosis and treatment of a number of neurological processes.
authors.affiliation: Institut Universitari de Neurorehabilitacio Guttmann-UAB, Badalona, Espana.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garcia-Molina
authors.affiliation: Institut Universitari de Neurorehabilitacio Guttmann-UAB, Badalona, Espana.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ensenat
mesh_terms: D000792:Angiography / Q000266:history; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D059906:Neuroimaging / Q000266:history*; D011859:Radiography / Q000266:history; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000266:history