The Nobel Prize Ceremony in 1906 was a fight between the gods and the gods.
Santiago Ramón Cajal, the father of "modern neuroscience", won the Nobel Prize in Physiology along with Camelot Gorky.
Although they won the Nobel Prize for their achievements in the same field of research, the two people have very different views on neurophysiology.
Mesh theory
The first person to propose the reticular theory of nerves was a German histologist named Joseph Grach. He believes that the human nervous system is a network-like structure.
Every clearly visible neuronal cell under the microscope is somehow connected into a whole, like the body's vascular network.
In this way, the nervous system can form a complete structural and functional unit, realizing complex operational functions. Gorky was a proponent of Joseph Grach's net theory.
Joseph Grach, Image source: Wikipedia
The reticular theory was supported by a large number of academic researchers in the biological academic community at that time, and its strong theoretical support was that once it was assumed that the nervous system was a naturally connected whole, and there was some invisible connection between cells, there was no need to continue to consider how each scattered cell cooperated with each other, and many details could be omitted.
Camilo Gorky, Image source: Wikipedia
Neuron theory
Another school of neuron theory represented by Cajal believes that nerve cells exist independently between them, neurons belong to a physiological unit of the human central nervous system, and each neuron is an independent entity.
Dendrites and axons stretch out from the nerve cell body, which is responsible for support and nutrition.
Kajal Image source: Wikipedia
And how were neurons discovered by Cajal?
In 1873, italian scientist Gorky pioneered the silver dichromate staining method, mixing silver nitrate with potassium dichromate to prepare silver dichromate, and using silver dichromate for the staining of brain tissue.
Gorky found that the staining effect of the vast majority of brain tissue is not ideal, and only about 3% of neurons are very clearly displayed under the action of silver dichromate, but the complete structure of a neuron can be clearly observed.
Five years later, Kajal, returning from medical school, improved the procedures for silver dyeing, and the technique of using silver dyeing was further developed.
Cajal observed the finer structure of nerve cells and took the opportunity to exert his talent for painting—drawing delicate nerve cells and recording his observations truthfully, and later these paintings by Cajal became classics.
Cone neurons in the cerebral cortex drawn by Cajal on paper in 1904, Credit: Cajal Institute (CSIC), Madrid
Under the microscope, Cajal found a key point: the axons of nerve cells have gaps between them and other cells, and they are not closely connected. Since then, he has adhered to the principle of seeing is believing, and has become a strong supporter of the neuronal theory.
He summarized the research of his predecessors and proposed three important inferences about the theory of neurons:
First, the signal of nerve impulses is transmitted from one neuron to the next by means of excitation.
Second, the cell bodies, axons, and dendrites of nerve cells can all produce action potentials.
Third, neurons produce a "dynamic polarization" phenomenon, the signal transmission of nerve impulses is sequential, dendrites to the cell body, the cell body in turn to the axon.
These three inferences accurately describe the core process by which the nervous system transmits signals.
However, due to the fact that the various experimental means and equipment at that time were not developed, people's cognitive level was limited, resulting in the two influential sides of the academic circles having different opinions, and neither faction had sufficient basis to completely overturn the views of the other.
Electron microscopy drives the neuronal theory
To visualize the connections between nerve cells, it was only possible to push back 50 years in Kajal's time.
After the invention of the electron microscope, the neuron theory gained the strongest support, and various biologists finally determined the status of the neuron theory in the academic world through a series of new studies.
But even though Kajal and Gorky's differences on neuronal theories could not be reconciled, the 1906 Nobel Prize in Biology was awarded to two scientists whose conclusions were completely different.
Because both have made great contributions to the study of human life, human beings can understand themselves more progressively. Scientific research has always pursued objectivity, but the value of the study of the morphological structure of the nervous system of Kajal and Gorky is beyond doubt in the academic community.
With the progress and development of science and technology, the research theories of predecessors have laid an important position of neuron theory as the cornerstone of today's neuroscience theory, and Cajal has naturally become the founder of neuronal theory.
Observation and empirical evidence are the most important tests in natural science research.
As Cajal said at the 1906 Nobel Prize ceremony: "Admittedly, it is very economical and convenient to assume that the motor and sensory nerves of the nervous system can be connected into an uninterrupted network, but unfortunately, nature does not seem to care about the preference of human intelligence for convenience and consistency, preferring to show complexity and diversity." ”
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Audit expert: Zhu Guangsi, member of Beijing Science Popularization Association.
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