Giant Fusiform Cells of the Brain: Discovery, Identification, and Probable Functions

The article is devoted to giant fusiform cells of the brain (or giant spindles), neurons that are believed to play an important role in the implementation of the most complex forms of human psyche. Current data on the location, morphological and morphometric peculiarities, molecular phenotype of these neurons, as well as on the size, tangential, radial, and interspecific distribution, and ontogenetic and age dynamics of their population, are examine in detail in the work. The problem of definition and identification of giant spindles as a separate type of brain neurons is covered in detail. The possible functions of giant spindles are considered, especially from the point of view of the function of the areas of their preferential location (frontoinsular and anterior cingulate cortex). Available data on a possible involvement of giant spindles in mental and neurological pathology are also collected. In the second part of the article, the issue of the discovery of giant spindles and the role of outstanding neuromorphologists (V. Betz, S. Ramon y Cajal, and C. von Economo) in the description of these cells are discussed in detail. Based on the analysis of existing works and evidence of modern researchers, we demonstrate that Volodymyr Betz provided the first concise description of the localization and morphology of giant spindles, which from a modern point of view, can be considered sufficient to designate these cells as a separate population of spindle-shaped neurons of the brain.