Volodymyr Oleksiyovych Betz( ua, Володи́мир Олексійович Бец) ( – )Kushchayev, Sergiy V., et al. "The Discovery of the Pyramidal Neurons: Volodymyr Betz and a New Era of Neuroscience." JOURNAL OF NEUROSURGERY. Vol. 113. No. 2. 5550 MEADOWBROOK DRIVE, ROLLING MEADOWS, IL 60008 USA: AMER ASSOC NEUROLOGICAL SURGEONS, 2010. was a Ukrainian anatomist and histologist, professor of the Saint Vladimir University (Kyiv, now Ukraine), famous for the discovery of giant pyramidal neurons of primary motor cortex. Volodymyr Betz began his education in the

Nizhyn Nizhyn ( uk, Ні́жин, Nizhyn, ) is a city located in Chernihiv Oblast of northern Ukraine along the Oster River. The city is located north-east of the national capital Kyiv. Nizhyn serves as the administrative center of Nizhyn Raion. It ...

Gymnasium (the Russian Empire at that time). Later he transferred to the 2nd

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

Gymnasium and graduated from it in 1853. In 1860 he received a physician's diploma from the Medicine faculty (now

Bogomolets National Medical University Bogomolets National Medical University (NMU) is a medical school founded in 1841 in Kyiv, Russian Empire by the Russian Tsar Nicolas I. The university is named after physiologist Alexander A. Bogomolets. NMU provides medical training for over 10 ...

) of Saint Vladimir University in Kyiv (now

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...

) and was appointed a

prosector A prosector is a person with the special task of preparing a dissection for demonstration, usually in medical schools or hospitals. Many important anatomists began their careers as prosectors working for lecturers and demonstrators in anatomy and p ...

's aide at the

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

department. He went abroad to study in May 1861 and returned in September 1862, having studied with and attended the lectures of professors Brücke, Bunsen, Kölliker, Helmholtz, Kirchhoff. From 1864 to 1867 he lectures anatomy and histology at the university, rising in 1868 to the rank of Extraordinary Professor and in 1870 becoming Ordinary Professor of the anatomy department. Brain tissue preparations made by Betz were awarded medals twice - at the All-Russian manufacturing exhibition in 1870 and at Vienna World Exposition of 1873. In 1874, Volodymyr Oleksiyovych described the giant pyramidal neurons in the primary motor cortex, which later were named ''

Betz cell Betz cells (also known as pyramidal cells of Betz) are giant pyramidal cells (neurons) located within the fifth layer of the grey matter in the primary motor cortex. These neurons are the largest in the central nervous system, sometimes reaching ...

s''.Betz W. (1874) ''Anatomischer Nachweis zweier Gehirncentra.'' Centralblatt für die medizinischen Wissenschaften. 12:578-580, 595-599. Betz' most prominent works include: * "On the hepatic blood circulation" (1863) * "A new method of human CNS exploration" (1870) * "On the grouping of the convolutions of human brain" (1871) * "Two centers in the human brain cortex" (1875) * "An anatomy of the human brain surface, with an atlas and 86 tables" (1883) * "Historical figures of the Russian South-West" (1883, coauthored by prof. B.A.Antonovych)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Betz, Vladimir Alekseyevich 1834 births 1894 deaths People from Oster Anatomists from the Russian Empire Histologists Russian neuroscientists Academics from the Russian Empire Medical writers Inventors from the Russian Empire Medical educators Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni Biologists from the Russian Empire