Final answer:
Santiago Ramón y Cajal used Golgi stain to show that neurons are individual cells, not continuous, by illustrating separate entities with gaps known as synapses. Cajal and Golgi shared the Nobel Prize for their contributions to neuroscience, which was pivotal in understanding neuronal structure and function.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the 1880s, Santiago Ramón y Cajal used the Golgi stain method to visualize neurons and their structures. This histological staining technique allowed Cajal to observe that neurons were individual cells rather than a continuous network. The evidence for this was based on Cajal's detailed drawings of neurons, where he showed separate entities with distinct gaps between them, later known as synapses. His work confirmed that neurons communicated with each other via these specialized junctions, overturning the previous belief that the nervous system was made up of a continuous network of tissue.
Cajal's work, paired with Camillo Golgi's earlier development of the silver staining technique, was groundbreaking in the field of neuroscience. Despite their differing interpretations of the data, both Golgi and Cajal shared the Nobel Prize for their contributions to understanding the nervous system, providing fundamental insights that furthered the study of neuronal structure and function.