1759-1813

German physician, physiologist, and neurologist who in 1795 founded the first scientific journal of physiology, Archive für die Physiologie, and in 1805 the first journal of psychiatry, Magazin für psychische Heilkunde. His areas of research included tissue metabolism, tissue irritability, brain function, cerebral localization, mental diseases, the structure of nerves, and the so-called "life-force" behind biochemical processes. The island of Reil in the brain is named for him.