Barrel Cortex, and more Cyanotypes

Hendrik van der Loos, linocut print, 11" x 14" by Ele Willoughby, 2022

This was a custom order I made earlier this fall: A linocut of neuroscientist Hendrik Van der Loos (1929-1993) and his discovery (along with medical student Thomas Woolsey), of the barrel cortex, along with the mouse head & whiskers linked directly to it.

Some species of rodents have a region of the somatosensory cortex that was named the #barrelcortex after its shape, and which contains the barrel field. The 'barrels' of the barrel field stain darker than neighbouring regions (within cortical layer IV) when stained to reveal the presence of cytochrome c oxidase. These dark-staining regions are a major target for somatosensory inputs from the thalamus of the #brain, & each barrel corresponds to a region of the body! Most distinctively, the whisker barrels, structures were first discovered by Woolsey & Van der Loos in 1970, come in an array, similar to the way whiskers are arrayed & they hypothesized that they could be matched up & each barrel represents 1 whisker. Due to this distinctive cellular structure, organisation, & functional significance, the barrel cortex is a useful tool to understand cortical processing & has played an important role in neuroscience. The majority of what is known about corticothalamic processing comes from studying the barrel cortex, and researchers have intensively studied the barrel cortex as a model of neocortical column. The whisker barrels are the focus of the majority of barrel cortex research, and 'barrel cortex' is often used to refer primarily to the whisker barrels.

Cyanotype skeletons by Ele Willoughby

I made several cyanotypes of my skeleton linocut on acetate along with leaves and wildflowers. A couple turned out quite pale and ghostly with the skeleton barely visible. So I made a linocut on top. I like the effect. It's a little eerie or dreamlike.