Charles Scott Sherrington: biography of this English neurophysiologist

Different branches of medicine are dedicated to the study of the nervous system, such as neurology and neurophysiology. Fortunately, these two disciplines have come a long way over the years. A leading figure in this regard was Charles Scott Sherrington, an English neurophysiologist and Nobel Prize winner in Medicine in 1932.

In this article we will know this important figure in the history of medicine through a biography of Charles Scott Sherrington, and we will comment on the contributions and the most relevant data on his academic and professional career.

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Charles Scott Sherrington Biography: Who Was He?

Charles Scott Sherrington (1857-1952) was an English neurophysiologist, as well as a Nobel Prize in Medicine, who was born in Islington, London, on November 27, 1857, and who died in Eastbourne (England), on March 4, 1952. This English doctor focused on studying, above all, the different functions of the cerebral cortex.

Charles received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1932, thanks to his contributions in the field of neurophysiology.

His contributions for which he received this award had to do with the functioning of the nervous system from the point of view of the neuron and synapses., and his works on the functions of the cerebral cortex, as well as his reflexological investigations.

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Childhood, adolescence and personal life

When Charles Scott Sherrington was still young, his father passed away. His mother remarried, this time to Caleb Rose, from a cultured family with a passion for literature and art, fields that also interested Charles.

When he was little (and also as a teenager), Charles was a great athlete, who excelled in different schools, such as the Queen Elizabeth's School (Ipswich), where he was in 1871, and Gonville and Caius Collegue (Cambridge), a little more go ahead. It was in the latter that Charles practiced rugby and also rowing. On the other hand, he also excelled in winter sports in Grindelwald.

As for his personal life, we highlight his wedding to Ethel Mary, in 1892, daughter of John Ely Wright.

Trajectory

Charles Scott Sherrington began his medical studies at St. Thomas Hospital in 1876, and two years later, in 1878, he passed the examination of the Royal College of Surgenos. He made a stay in Edinburgh and later traveled to Cambridge in 1879.

It is there, at the University of Cambridge, where he carried out much of his career in medicine, and where he graduated in 1885. Charles he was influenced by physiologist Michael Foster, who was one of his teachers.

Two years after his graduation, Charles Scott Sherrington began working at St. Thomas Hospital, where he had already been, this time to teach medicine. Later, he developed different experiments in the veterinary department of another university, the University of London, which was called the Brown Institution.

Charles's academic and professional life took turns, and in 1885 he began working as a professor of medicine at the University of Liverpool. Later, in 1913, he worked as a professor of physiology at the University of Oxford, one of the most important in the world and with the highest reputation.

Achievements

Regarding his achievements and professional recognition, in addition to the aforementioned and outstanding Nobel Prize winner, Charles Scott Sherrington was president of the Royal Society for five years, from 1920 to 1925. The Royal Society, with its full name "Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge", in Spanish translates as "Royal Society of London for the Advancement of Natural Science".

This society is the oldest scientific society in the United Kingdom, as well as one of the oldest in Europe, and has received the participation, contribution and collaboration of very important scientists over many years, from different fields and scopes.

Charles also received awards for his academic and professional work. Some of them were: the Grand Cross of the British Empire, in 1922, and the Order of Merit, two years later, in 1924.

After a long career dedicated to academics, Charles retired from classes in 1935. However, he continued to give lectures and write different publications on medicine and neurophysiology.

Relevant contributions to science

Neurophysiology, the science to which Charles Scott Sherrington devoted his entire life, is a specialty of medicine and at the same time a branch of neurosciences. His mission is to study the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS).

That is, the brain and spinal cord (CNS) and the muscles, nerves, and sensory organs (PNS). All this also implies addressing all those diseases or pathologies that affect one of these two systems (or both).

Charles introduced the concept of "synapse" in 1897. As a result of this, he postulated the synaptic hypothesis, which described the interactions that occurred between reflexes; According to this hypothesis, neural information travels from neuron to neuron, and it does so through a small interval between cells, called “synapse”.

Also, Charles Scott Sherrington he contributed to the description of the nervous mechanisms of muscle movement.

Charles pointed out that nerve stimulation of one muscle is capable of inhibiting the movement of the opposing muscle. He called this phenomenon "Sherrington's Law."

Another of Charles's contributions was the classification of human sensory organs, according to the origin of the stimulus they perceive. Specifically, he grouped them into: exteroceptor, interoceptor and proprioceptive organs.

On the other hand, it should be noted that Charles Scott Sherrington is considered the father of English neurology, along with John Hughlings Jackson, an English neurologist, who was also a member of the Royal Society, along with Charles.

In this sense, the contributions of Charles in relation to the treatments and the subsequent development of the medical specialty of neurosurgery stand out.

Plays

As for his works, these are numerous, but we are going to mention two of the most important: The integrative action of the nervous system (1904) and Reflex activity of the spinal cord (1932).

Death and legacy

After a lifetime dedicated to neurophysiology and the study of the nervous system, Charles's health is he became frail, and Charles Scott Sherrington passed away, at the age of 95, from insufficient cardiac.

It happened in an English city, Eastbourne, on March 5, 1952. To this day, Charles is still considered one of the pioneers of English neurology.

Bibliographic references:

• Gillispie, Ch. C. Dictionary of scientific biography, New York, Charles Scribner’s sons, vol. XII, pp. 395-403.
• Rothschuh, K.E. Physiology, In: Laín (dir), Universal History of Medicine, Barcelona, ​​Salvat, vol. 6, 59-97, 1974.
• Ruiza, M., Fernández, T. and Tamaro, E. (2004). Biography of Charles Scott Sherrington. In Biographies and Lives. The biographical encyclopedia online. Barcelona, ​​Spain).
• Valderas, J.M. (2017). Charles Scott Sherrington, Synapse and Reflexes. Research and science.