The Woman Who Was Hung, Survived, and Sparked the Birth of Cognitive Neuroscience

The Story of Anne Green, Thomas Willis and William Petty

Midjourney

I was planning to take a little breather from the newsletter this week — it's been a busy week for me. But rather than taking the week off entirely, I decided to switch things up a bit and bring you something a little different from our typical deep dives.

If you’re new here, welcome! I’m glad you’re here. Just a heads-up, this week is a bit different than usual. We’ll be back to our regular programming next week.

This week, I'll share the short but fascinating story of how the field of cognitive neuroscience began—although it wasn’t called that then. For those wondering, cognitive neuroscience is the scientific study of how the brain is linked to cognitive processes like thinking, memory, behaviour, and possibly consciousness.

Let’s go!

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The year was 1650. The place was Oxford, England. And two physicians, Dr Thomas Willis and Dr William Petty, had recently been granted permission by King Charles I to perform autopsies on the bodies of criminals executed within 21 miles of Oxford.

On a cold winter morning, the bustling courtyard in Oxford filled with townspeople. They had come for one reason — to watch a young woman named Anne Green be hanged for murdering her newborn child. The problem was that Anne was led to the gallows for a crime she did not commit. In her final moments, Anne protested her innocence and a psalm was read, but the execution proceeded.

After hanging for a harrowing half-hour, Anne’s seemingly lifeless body was taken down and handed over to the doctors, who had planned to conduct an autopsy on her body that afternoon.

But no autopsy was performed that day.

As they prepared Anne's body in their office, an unexpected sound—a faint grumble—escaped from her throat. Leaping into action, the physicians administered a series of bizarre reviving treatments. They poured spirits into her mouth, massaged her limbs, bled five ounces of her blood, and treated her neck wounds with turpentine. They cared for her through the night. By morning, Anne was not only alive but conscious enough to ask for a — beer, no less!

Over the next few days, Anne's recovery was nothing short of miraculous. Five days later, she was out of bed and eating normally.

But not everyone was so ecstatic about Anne’s survival — the authorities wanted to rehang her.

Willis and Petty argued for her innocence, attributing her survival to divine intervention and asserting the baby was not murdered; it had been stillborn. After some persistence, Anne was set free. She went on to live a relatively normal life, having three more children.

But for Willis and Petty, life did not return to normal. This extraordinary event thrust them into the spotlight, earning them fame and, crucially, financial support.

Thomas Willis took advantage of this newfound recognition and funding to further his research.

His work involved treating patients throughout their lives and then performing autopsies upon their deaths. In doing so, he was the first to link specific brain structures to behaviours—an approach that forms the fundamental basis of cognitive neuroscience today (although we are more likely to use MRI machines than cadavers nowadays).

Working alongside his friend Christopher Wren—yes, the same Wren who designed St. Paul's Cathedral—Willis produced the most accurate drawings of the human brain of their time. In fact, these drawings were used in studying the brain for over 200 years. Together, they mapped out and named numerous brain regions, contributing significantly to the anatomical knowledge still used today.

His pioneering ideas on neuronal conduction and human intelligence are foundational to our understanding of brain function.

Anne Green's harrowing tale faded into a historical footnote as the years passed, but her role proved imperative. Her improbable revival supplied the spark and finances to discover the ideas and knowledge that developed into the field we now call cognitive neuroscience.

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