Mapping Minds, Breaking Barriers: Women Who Shaped Neuroscience

As part of the WiNUK series “Spotlight on Women in History”, we introduced you to eleven trailblazing women, who made fundamental discoveries across a wide range of neuroscientific disciplines, overcame significant barriers along their path and laid the foundation for future generations of female neuroscientists. By delving into four main themes, we would like to revisit the pioneering and inspiring scientists you were able to discover in the past three months. A fitting finale to the series and the year of 2025.

Theme 1: Foundations of Life and Physiology 

Our journey spotlighting women in neuroscience history begins with discoveries of the most fundamental biological processes of the human body. The WiNUK series presented four female scientists who uncovered essential biological components that sustain life, including molecular building blocks and cellular barriers of our nervous system as well as the role of routine behaviours, such as sleep. 

Maria Mikhailovna Manaseina (ca. 1841-1903), a Russian physician and physiologist, dared to ask a radical question: What happens when we cannot sleep? Through controversial animal experiments, she compared two groups of young puppies - one deprived of food, the other of sleep. The results were startling as food-deprived dogs survived 20-25 days, while sleep-deprived dogs died within 4 - 5 days. Manasseina concluded sleep was a biological necessity more urgent than food itself. Her research challenged the prevailing belief that sleep was a passive "shutdown" of the brain. Instead, she argued it represented an active state driven by unique physiological processes. Though her methods raise ethical concerns today, her insights were visionary. They culminated in the first comprehensive “sleep encyclopedia”: Sleep: Its Physiology, Pathology, Hygiene, and Psychology (1897), a handbook that integrated science, clinical observation, and practical guidance. Her ideas foreshadowed the discovery of EEG and modern sleep stages long before technology could prove her right. 

While Manasseina revealed sleep as a visible pillar of survival, other female scientists turned their attention to the invisible mechanisms sustaining life itself.

Lina Solomonovna Stern (1878-1968), a Russian-Swiss biochemist and physiologist, uncovered one of the brain's most critical defenses: the blood-brain barrier (BBB). At the University of Geneva, Stern and her collaborators investigated how molecules move from the blood into the brain. Using animal studies, they demonstrated that the brain maintains selective permeability through two distinct routes: via blood vessels (the endothelial blood-brain barrier) and via the choroid plexuses (the epithelial blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier). Though often miscited or overlooked, Stern's work was groundbreaking. She showed that the BBB's chemical composition and state are essential for normal brain function yet can also contribute to brain diseases given disequilibrium. Her discoveries laid the foundation for modern research on drug delivery, neuroprotection, and neuroinflammation and transformed how we approach treating the brain in the 21st century.

Elizabeth Roboz-Einstein (1904-1995), a Hungarian-American biochemist, took neuroscience in a new direction, specifically into the molecular world. Roboz-Einstein became the first to purify and characterise myelin basic protein (MBP), a breakthrough she achieved alongside her colleague Marian Kies. Her scientific research focused on myelin, which is the insulating sheath that enables rapid nerve conduction, and on its role in multiple sclerosis (MS). Roboz-Einstein demonstrated that MBP itself serves as an antigen that triggers immune attacks in experimental models of demyelinating diseases. The discovery that neurological disorders can be rooted in molecular imbalances was pivotal. As a pioneer of interdisciplinary science, Roboz-Einstein bridged chemistry, physiology, and neuroscience at a time when such integration was rare. Her research helped establish neurochemistry as a distinct discipline within neuroscience. Beyond her influential papers and reviews on myelin biochemistry, she actively shaped the biochemical groundwork for modern MS research and treatment. 

Our final spotlight in this theme belongs to Rita Levi-Montalcini (1909-2012), an Italian neurobiologist whose path to discovery was as remarkable as the discovery itself. Born into a traditional Jewish family that initially discouraged her ambitions, Levi-Montalcini defied expectations and pursued her medical studies at the University of Turin. In a time of fascist persecution and exile during WWII, she made one of the most transformative discoveries of the 20th century: nerve growth factor (NGF), a protein that guides neurons during development and supports their survival and growth throughout life. In the early 1950s, working alongside colleague Stanley Cohen, she identified NGF using a pioneering experimental approach: she transplanted mouse tumors into developing chick embryos and observed that the tumors stimulated explosive growth of nearby nerve fibre. Decades later, in 1986, Levi-Montalcini was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine alongside Stanley Cohen. Her discovery revolutionised our understanding of neurodevelopment, neurodegeneration, and regenerative medicine by revealing that the nervous system is actively shaped by molecular signals. Levi-Montalcini's journey to this breakthrough was a story of resilience we will return to later. 

To learn more about Rita Levi-Montalcini's remarkable life and legacy, read our dedicated blog post here.

Theme 2: Mapping the Mind - The Architects of the Brain 

Building on the discovery of fundamental biological processes, female neuroscientists turned their attention to the brain itself and became its cartographers. In this second theme, we will look back on three historical figures who each contributed to the mapping of the brain’s anatomical architecture at a unique scale, ranging from entire cortical areas to individual cell types. 

Cécile Mugnier Vogt (1875-1962), a French neurologist, dedicated her life to understanding how the brain is organised. Following her medical studies at the Universities of Lyon and Paris, Vogt moved to Germany and worked within the research lab of Oskar Vogt. Cécile Mugnier Vogt was a pioneer of cytoarchitecture, which refers to the microscopic study of how nerve cells are organised. In fact, she was among the first to create systematic maps of the cerebral cortex alongside Oskar Vogt. Together they classified brain regions according to their cellular architecture and showcased that different cortical areas could be linked to specialised brain functions. In this regard, her work was revolutionary as the cerebral cortex was previously believed to be a uniform, undifferentiated mass by many scientists of the time. In 1914, Cécile and Oskar Vogt founded the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Brain Research in Berlin, one of the earliest institutes dedicated exclusively to neuroscience. Cécile Vogt became one of the first women to direct a major research institution in Germany, where she led research teams, established rigorous methodological standards, and published extensively. Despite her profound scientific contributions - and 13 Nobel Prize nominations - her work was frequently overshadowed by the prominence of her husband. Today, her insights are recognised as foundational to the development of modern brain atlases, neuroimaging, and the study of functional brain organisation, underscoring the lasting significance of her work.

While Vogt mapped entire cortical regions, Manuela Serra (1900-1988) turned her attention to the brain's smallest architects: glial cells. Born in Spain, Serra began working in Santiago Ramón y Cajal’s prestigious research lab in Madrid as a laboratory technician. Despite lacking formal university training, her exceptional observational skills and dedication to research set her apart. During this time, she became the first researcher to clearly identify microglia in amphibians and the first in Europe to document astrocyte mitosis, which is the division of star-shaped glia cells. These two groundbreaking contributions highlighted the key role of glial cells in brain health and disease. Additionally, Serra published her findings as a sole author, a remarkable achievement during an era when women were rarely credited for their scientific work. Her contributions were so significant that Cajal himself recognised her as a skilled and independent scientist. Yet, like many women in early 20th-century science, Serra's contributions were largely forgotten for decades and overshadowed by her famous mentor and the male-dominated scientific hierarchy.

Fast-forward to the 21st century: May-Britt Moser (1963-), a Norwegian neuroscientist, revealed how the brain encodes the essential task of navigating space. In collaboration with her former partner Edvard Moser, she discovered grid cells in the entorhinal cortex using animal studies. Grid cells are neurons that fire in a remarkably precise hexagonal pattern as an animal moves through its environment. These cells act as the brain's "inner GPS," creating a coordinate system that allows us to know where we are and where we are going. Her discovery, for which she shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2014) with Edvard Moser and John O'Keefe, transformed our understanding of spatial cognition and memory. Her research revealed that the brain actively records location by computing neural codes rather than passively perceiving this information. Moser's work continues today at the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience in Norway, where she explores how the brain represents not just space, but time, experience, and meaning.

Theme 3: Memory, Learning, and the Plastic Brain

Across two centuries, female neuroscientists revealed revolutionary insights that challenged centuries of dogma. Among the most profound: the brain is not a fixed structure, but a dynamic organ constantly sculpted by experience, environment, injury, and time.

Brenda Milner (1918-), a British-Canadian neuropsychologist, fundamentally transformed our understanding of human memory through her groundbreaking work with a single patient known as H.M. In 1953, H.M. underwent experimental brain surgery to treat severe epilepsy. The procedure successfully reduced his seizures by removing portions of his medial temporal lobes, including the hippocampus. However, H.M. could no longer form new long-term memories. Every day was new to him; every conversation was forgotten within minutes. Milner's meticulous studies of H.M. over five decades revealed something extraordinary: memory is not a single system, but multiple distinct systems. Despite his inability to remember new facts or events, H.M. could still learn new motor skills, such as mirror drawing. His performance improved while lacking any conscious memory of any practice. This dissonance proved that the brain separates declarative memory (facts and events) from procedural memory (skills and habits). Now over 100 years old, Milner's work has earned her the Balzan Prize (2009), the Kavli Prize (2014), and countless other honors. Her research with H.M. laid the foundation for cognitive neuroscience and remains one of the most influential case studies in the history of neuroscience. 

While Milner mapped memory systems, Margaret Kennard (1899-1975), an American neurologist, investigated how the brain recovers from injury and discovered that timing matters. Through careful experiments with primates, Kennard observed that young animals recovered more fully from brain lesions than adults. This phenomenon became known as the "Kennard Principle": the younger the brain at the time of injury, the better its capacity for functional recovery and reorganisation. Her work was pioneering in demonstrating developmental brain plasticity, referring to the idea that the immature brain has a remarkable ability to reorganise itself after damage. Though later research revealed the principle has important exceptions, Kennard's insights launched decades of investigation into the critical periods of brain development, neural compensation, and rehabilitation strategies that continue to shape clinical practice today.

But can a healthy brain change too, not just in response to injury, but to experience itself? Marian Diamond (1926-2017), an American neuroscientist, answered with a resounding yes. In her now-famous experiments during the 1960s, Diamond placed laboratory rats in two different environments: one bare and boring, the other filled with toys, tunnels, and companions. After several weeks, she examined their brains under the microscope and made a revolutionary discovery. Rats in enriched environments had thicker cortices, more dendritic branches, and larger neurons. This was the first direct anatomical evidence that experience physically reshapes the brain, even in adulthood. Diamond's work challenged the prevailing view that brain structure was fixed after development and opened the door to understanding lifelong neuroplasticity. Beyond scientific research, her greatest legacy was her passion for education. As a beloved professor at the University College of Berkeley, she inspired generations of students to see the brain not as a static organ, but as a living landscape shaped by how we live.

Theme 4: Legacy and Resilience - Overcoming Barriers

The final theme of this WiNUK series reveals a lesson woven through every story: science demands not only brilliance, but resilience and perseverance. Each of the eleven women featured here advanced neuroscience while simultaneously confronting and overcoming systems designed to exclude them. Whether in the surgery room during wartime or in research labs that denied them recognition, they proved that skill, creativity, and determination could triumph over gender discrimination, institutional hierarchy, and historical circumstance.

Sofia Ionescu-Ogrezeanu (1920-2008), a Romanian neurosurgeon, made history in the most dramatic circumstance imaginable. While being a medical student at the University of Bucharest, she performed emergency brain surgery to save a young boy's life wounded in 1944 during WWII. At the time, Ionescu-Ogrezeanu was 24 years old and with that operation, she later became recognised as the world’s first female neurosurgeon. Later Ionescu-Ogrezeanu joined Romania's pioneering "Golden Neurosurgical Team", a group of innovative surgeons who advanced neurosurgical techniques in Eastern Europe during the mid-20th century. Over her long career, Ionescu-Ogrezeanu went on to perform thousands of surgeries and published over 120 articles nationally and internationally. Her work ranged from tumor removals to pioneering techniques in pediatric neurosurgery. Despite being a trailblazer who opened the door for future female neurosurgeons, Ionescu-Ogrezeanu remained relatively unknown outside Romania for decades. Her story is a powerful reminder that even historic "firsts" can be overlooked. Today, as neurosurgery slowly becomes more diverse, her legacy serves as both inspiration and a call to remember the pioneers who came before. 

Long before Ionescu-Ogrezeanu entered the operating room, other women were fighting to enter the profession. Maria Mikhailovna Manasseina (ca. 1841-1903) became the first woman to receive a medical degree in Russia, an achievement that opened doors for generations of women physicians. Her path to sleep research began with breaking down the barriers that limited women from entering the medical field. Lina Solomonovna Stern (1878-1968) shattered another ceiling: in 1918, she became the first woman appointed as a full professor at the University of Geneva. While her groundbreaking research on the BBB brought her international recognition, it also made her a target of political persecution. After returning to the Soviet Union in the 1920s, her prominence as a Jewish scientist made her increasingly vulnerable during Stalin's anti-Semitic purges. In 1949, she was arrested as part of the fabricated "Doctors' Plot” and sentenced to exile in Central Asia. Nevertheless, Stern continued her research work under impossible circumstances. After Stalin's death, Stern was released and reinstated, resuming her research until her death at age 90. 

Perhaps no journey captures resilience more completely than that of Rita Levi-Montalcini (1909-2012). As highlighted in Theme 1, Levi-Montalcini discovered the NGF while conducting research in a makeshift bedroom laboratory during WWII. She worked in secret after being stripped of her university position by fascist racial laws in 1938. Importantly, her impact extended beyond academic research into a lifelong commitment to breaking barriers for future scientists. She became an Italian Senator for Life in 2001, using her platform to advocate for science education and women's rights. In 1992, she established the Rita Levi-Montalcini Foundation, dedicated to supporting education for African women and promoting gender equity in STEM fields worldwide. Levi-Montalcini lived to 103, working and publishing nearly until the end of her life. "The body does what it wants," she famously said. "I am not my body; I am my mind." 

Their Legacy, Our Future 

At a time of ongoing gender inequality in the field of neuroscience, it is more critical than ever to highlight the pioneering work of female neuroscientists. Covering a time period of over 120 years (1841-1963), we have presented a selection of eleven women, who made groundbreaking discoveries and demonstrated extraordinary resilience in their personal and academic lives. Their stories span from proving sleep is essential for survival, to mapping the brain's architecture, to revealing how our minds store memories and navigate space. We hope the WiNUK’ series Spotlight on Women in History has sparked your curiosity about the often-overlooked contributions of women in neuroscience, and inspired you to pursue your own path in science with the same courage and determination these pioneers demonstrated.

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This article was written by Greta Maier and edited by Neave Smith, with graphics produced by Neave Smith. If you enjoyed this article, be the first to be notified about new posts by signing up to become a WiNUK member (top right of this page)! Interested in writing for WiNUK yourself? Contact us through the blog page and the editors will be in touch.