Google Doodle honours Montreal neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield

Dr. Wilder Penfield, more than a Google doodle Neurosurgeon Dr. Richard Leblanc on what Dr. Penfield accomplished in Montreal in neurological studies.

Friday’s Google Doodle honours an impressive Montreal researcher.

The drawing is a reference to burnt toast, and neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield’s pioneering treatment of epilepsy.

He is also credited with the origin of the study of neuroscience and his legacy lives on every day in the field of medicine.

“He made fundamental discoveries of the brain. He discovered cells that were unknown at the time, of the brain, and have turned to be extremely important for instance in fields outside of neurosurgery,” explained Richard Leblanc, a neurosurgeon and the Montreal Neurological Institute. “For instance, one his discoveries is a cell called the oli, that is the cell most affected in MS. So (he was) a neurosurgeon made fundamental discoveries in medicine. He was very well trained. He trained with two Nobel Prize winners and brought the experience he had in the laboratory with the researchers to the practice of neurosurgery.”

Friday marks Penfield's 127th birthday.