Horsley was the first to use electrical stimulation of the human cerebral cortex intraoperatively

Fedor Krause has previously been credited with being the first surgeon to use electrical stimulation to define epileptic foci in the human cerebral cortex before extirpation. We provide evidence indicating that Krause was probably preceded by Horsley, and Bidwell and Sherrington in England, and by Keen in the United States. Sir Victor Horsley apparently first used electrical stimulation diagnostically in 1884 and slightly later (1886) to define epileptic foci. (C) 2002 by Elsevier Science Inc.