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Sir Charles Scott Sherrington was born in London, England in 1857. He was an English physiologist who was awarded and honored the Noble Prize (1932) and the Copley Medal (1927) for his work in understanding the nervous system function. He was a Doctor, lecturer and a professor. He became a part of the Royal Society in 1893 and then served as President and then knighted in the early 1900s.

He is important to neuroscience because his work on animals influenced the thought of brain surgery on disorders such as paralysis and atrophy.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Scott-Sherrington

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Sir Charles Scott Sherrington attended medical school at St. Thomas Hospital in 1878. While in medical school, Sherrington attended a conference in London where Sir Michael Foster spoke about experimental studies related to the function of nerves. This work was being conducted in Europe at the time. This conference created some sort of uneasiness about the of work done by Ferrier and Goltz. This all caught Sherrington's eye and he decided to work on this problem with Langley in Cambridge, where they published a paper in 1884. This was the beginning to Sherrington's work and his introduction to neurological work.

This is important to neuroscience because it shows how the work of people prior can influence current studies.

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1932/sherrington/biographical/

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Before meeting the Spanish neurologist, Ramon y Cajal on his trip to Spain, Sherrington was recently appointed to be a Professor at the University of Liverpool. After meeting Cajal, he switched his studies to the problems with Spinal Reflexes. He published multiple papers covering research from spinal reflexes to nerve supply of muscles.

This is important to neuroscience because it shows how researchers can go from one area to another and contribute to work. For instance, many researches can be experts in one or more area.

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1932/sherrington/biographical/

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Ramon y Cajal published more than 100s of articles describing the fine and precise structure of the nervous system. He specialized in the brain and spinal cord, including muscles and other tissues. He used staining techniques to understand neurons in other pathways which could be used to trace connections between grey matter and the spinal cord. When Sherrington met Cajal while he was studying the spinal cord, he became instantly interested.

This is important to neuroscience because it demonstrates neuroscientists bouncing ideas off of one another- which helps the growth of the area. Many minds working together can solve problems- which is used now when trying to complete research and other diagnosis. This is also important to other areas of neuroscience because his staining techniques was very helpful when diagnosing brain tumors. The staining helps separate the different types of cells/tissues.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Santiago-Ramon-y-Cajal

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1906/summary/

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Santiago Ramón y Cajal
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1906

Born: 1 May 1852, Petilla de Aragón, Spain

Died: 17 October 1934, Madrid, Spain

Affiliation at the time of the award: Madrid University, Madrid, Spain

Prize motivation: "in recognition of their work on the structure of the nervous system."

Prize share: 1/2

Life

Santiago Ramón y Cajal was born in Petilla de Aragón in Navarra, Spain, as the son of a doctor. Though he was talented artistically, he chose to study medicine at the University of Zaragoza, where his father lectured in Applied Anatomy. After serving as an army medic, Cajal received his PhD in Madrid in 1877 and became a professor of anatomy at the University of Valencia in 1883. He also held professorships at universities in Barcelona and Madrid as well as serving as Director of the Zaragoza Museum. Santiago Ramón y Cajal was married with seven children.

Work

Our bodies are controlled by the interaction between the brain and the nervous system, which extends throughout the body. Camillo Golgi's discovery in the 1870s that nerve cells could be colored using silver nitrate opened up new opportunities for their study. Santiago Ramón y Cajal began using this method in 1887 and achieved many groundbreaking results in the years that followed. This included proving that each nerve cell is an independent entity and nerve synapses transfer nerve impulses from one cell to another.

To cite this section
MLA style: Santiago Ramón y Cajal - Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2022. Wed. 20 Apr 2022. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1906/cajal/facts/>

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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1906

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Santiago Ramón y Cajal The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1906 Born: 1 May 1852, Petilla de Aragón, Spain Died: 17 October 1934, Madrid, Spain Affiliation at the time of the award: Madrid University, Madrid, Spain Prize motivation: "in recognition of their work on the structure of the nervous system."

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Sherrington published many books which contributed to the development of neuroscience. He published his most well known book in 1906 titled: The Integrative Action of the Nervous System. After this being published, he was asked to hold lectures at Yale University and he remained here until retirement. He also wrote a book in 1906 titled: Mammalian Physiology: a Course of Practical Exercises.

In the Integrative Action of the Nervous System, he summarized around 2 decades of work into one book. He summarized experimental observations and ideas about fundamental neuroscience. The book touched upon the debate about the "Reticular Theory" vs the " Neuron Doctrine." The book became a basis to modern day neuroscience, while at the time he mentioned words that were never heard of before and now those words and ideas are common knowledge. This book is very important to all areas of neuroscience.

https://academic.oup.com/brain/article/130/4/887/278000

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1932/sherrington/biographical/

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Sherrington proposed a word called a specialized synapse. He defined a synapse as an area that can separate two nerve cells that would come together. He based this term/ research off of observations he made off of reflexes. Microscopes at the time could not see synapses so he had to describe it through his writing and merely a guess. He wanted to use the word 'syndesm,' but someone suggested the word synapse from its greek terminology.

After coining this word, it lead to much greater findings later in history- thus why it is important to neuroscience. He contributed to later neuroscience. His findings helped coin the famous knee-jerk reflex and bring awareness to more nerve- muscle communication.

https://neuroscientificallychallenged.com/posts/history-of-neuroscience-charles-scott-sherrington

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After coining the word synapse, an even more influential movement he studied was proprioception. He ultimately chose this word because proprius is Latin for "own." He wanted to make it clear that sensory information sent from muscles came from the individual's brain.

This word came about when he started his work on spinal reflexes. He understood that muscles send and receive information.

This work, again, lead to more findings and greater discussion down the road for future neuroscientists. Sherrington is important to neuroscience because he opened many doors and opportunities for people to investigate. He left a lot of questions for further answering.

https://neuroscientificallychallenged.com/posts/history-of-neuroscience-charles-scott-sherrington

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An example of reciprocal innervation is when we take a step on the floor and when the extension of one leg is activated, the muscles involved in the retraction of that same leg must be inhibited. If this did not happen, our muscles would always be in competition with one another.

Sherrington did not discover this, Renes Descartes did, but he spent a multiple of years studying it. Again, his studies help understand further neuroscience as his investigations helped modern day neuroscientists understand how simple reflexes together can create complicated behavioral actions.

https://neuroscientificallychallenged.com/posts/history-of-neuroscience-charles-scott-sherrington

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One of his last discoveries before going into retirement was his focus on mapping the motor nerves. He mapped the nerves traveling from the spinal cord to the sensory nerves all the way down to the spinal cord. This took him roughly 10 years. He did this by mapping the motor cortex of an ape. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1932.

This only gave the future neuroscientists a better understanding of how muscles worked. His work was expanded on from apes to humans. Sherrington is important to neuroscience because he touched upon everything which created the basis of neuroscience.

https://neuroscientificallychallenged.com/posts/history-of-neuroscience-charles-scott-sherrington

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After he retired from the field, he picked back up writing. His book, Man on His Nature, which he published when he was 80 was described as a dualistic teaching. This was a surprise for Sherrington has he never could imagine or speak upon the brain and the mind being separate after doing all his work.

His work of this book only left questions of mind and matter for later neuroscientists.

https://academic.oup.com/brain/article/130/8/1984/307525

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ALS is a motor neuron disease that affects nearly 100,000 Americans yearly. There is no found cure but recently in 2022 there has been some progression.

Using mesenchymal stem cells, also known as MSCs, can replace or slow down the degeneration of motor neurons in the human body.

Sherrington helped create the understanding to motor neurons which are used now in daily neuroscience when describing movement or the lack of movement.

It is important to understand how, once huge findings, later have become known knowledge to someone studying neuroscience in the modern day world.

https://www.dvcstem.com/post/stem-cells-als

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The Queen of England knighted Charles of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his work. He had a total of 22 awards from other universities around the world. One of his awards was the Noble Prize in Physiology and Medicine (1932). He was awarded this for his discoveries regarding the functions of neurons.

He had a multitude of professions from a lecturer- to a world renowned researcher. He was one of the most well known and respected researchers in Europe and North America- as he was a professor at Yale University for some of his career.

He was an early supporter of the Feminist Movement- in favor of allowing women acceptance into Oxford University medical school.

There are many aspects of Sherrington that impacted the future of neuroscience. He was a well rounded, intelligent man who was supported around the world.

https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/charles-scott-sherrington-6309.php