Cajal's Brief Experimentation with Hypnotic Suggestion

Spanish histologist Santiago Ramón y Cajal, one of the most notable figures in Neuroscience, and winner, along with Camillo Golgi, of the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries on the structure of the nervous system, did not escape experimenting with some of the psychiatric techniques available at the time, mainly hypnotic suggestion, albeit briefly. While a physician in his thirties, Cajal published a short article under the title, “Pains of labour considerably attenuated by hypnotic suggestion” in Gaceta Médica Catalana. That study may be Cajal's only documented case in the field of experimental psychology. We here provide an English translation of the original Spanish text, placing it historically within Cajal's involvement with some of the key scientific and philosophical issues at the time.     

The impossible interview with the man of the neuron doctrine. Interview by Edward G Jones

This paper follows the form of that by Mazzarello that precedes it (Mazzarello, 2006) and presents an imaginary interview with Santiago Ramón y Cajal in December 1906. A few days earlier Cajal had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, an award that he shared equally with Professor Camillo Golgi. Golgi had been recognized for his work as a pioneer into investigations of the nervous system, primarily on account of his discovery of the "black reaction" of silver chromate impregnation of whole nerve cells and their processes. Cajal had been recognized for his implementation of that method and for laying with it the foundations of what was to become modern neuroanatomical science. Paradoxically, the two awardees had been led by their researches to diametrically opposed views of the organization of the nervous system. Golgi believed in a continuous network of axons that formed the basis of all the integrative properties of the nervous system, while Cajal had provided the information that led to the formulation of the neuron doctrine that saw the nervous system as being made up of chains of discontinuous cells joined by polarized functional contacts that we now call synapses. The paper takes the form of an interview with Professor Cajal in the Grand Hotel Stockholm. His responses to questions posed by the imaginary interviewer are all taken from Cajal's own writings.     

The impossible interview with the man of the hidden biological structures. Interview by Paolo Mazzarello

This paper presents an "impossible interview" to Professor Camillo Golgi, placed in time in December 1906. The Italian Professor Golgi from Pavia has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine ex aequo with the Spanish anatomist Santiago Ramón y Cajal. Both scientists have obtained the award for their work on the anatomy of the nervous system. However, they have opposite views on the mechanisms underlying nervous functions. Golgi believes that the axons stained by his "black reaction" form a continuous anatomical or functional network along which nervous impulses propagate. Ramón y Cajal is the paladin of the neuron theory, a hypothesis questioned by Golgi in his Nobel lecture of Tuesday, December 11. After the ceremony, an independent journalist has interviewed Professor Golgi in the Grand Hotel in Stockholm. Excerpts about his education, his main scientific discoveries, and his personal life are here given (reconstructing the "impossible interview" on the basis of Golgi's original writings).     

Pavlov and Cajal: Two different pathways to a Nobel Prize

Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936) and Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852–1934) were two contemporary scientists who not only had a great impact on Russian and Spanish science but also on the international stage. Both shared several common features in their life and work, yet they followed fundamentally different paths during their training as scientists. While Pavlov received his laboratory training under the guidance of Ilya Tsion (1843–1912), Cajal did not receive any formal training within a particular laboratory nor did he have a mentor in the traditional sense, rather he was mainly self-taught, although he was supported by key figures like Maestre de San Juan (1828–1890) and Luis Simarro (1851–1921). In this article, we compare the scientific training of these two Nobel Prize laureates and the influences they received during their scientific lives.     

The perineuronal net: a weapon for a challenge

Theories and data do not always fit and sometimes are sources of conflicts among scientists. This is the case of a morphological structure, the perineuronal net, which was denied on the basis of an ideological conflict between two giants of neurosciences: Camillo Golgi and Santiago Ramon y Cajal. The perineuronal net is a reticular structure enveloping many neurons. Orginally reported by Golgi in 1893 and 1898 and confirmed by several authors before the turn of the century, the perineuronal net was used by Golgi to support the reticular theory of the organization of the nervous system. Ramon y Cajal, the paladin of the neuronal theory who had also observed this anatomical structure, denied its existence suggesting that it was a fixation artifact. After Cajal's statements, only a few Italian scientists continued to work in this field, and after the 1930s the perineuronal net was forgotten. Only the recent advances in histochemical and immunocytochemical technology confirmed the existence of this structure opening new fields in functional neuroanatomy and neuropathology.     

Luis Simarro Lacabra [1851–1921]: From Golgi to Cajal Through Simarro,via Ranvier

Knowledge of cerebral structure and function in its modern form can be traced to the neurone doctrine based largely on the work of Santiago Ramón y Cajal [1852–1934] and his lifelong exploitation of the Golgi method. Cajal openly acknowledged his debt to the neuropsychiatrist Luis Simarro Lacabra [1851–1921] who introduced him to the method in 1887, and recalled that the sight of the silver-impregnated nerve cells was the turning point which led him to abandon general anatomy and concentrate on neurohistology. Simarro, who dissipated his free time in trying to improve not only the scientific but also the political world around him, was able to produce exciting Golgi preparations of the cerebral cortex after he returned from voluntary exile in Paris from 1880 to 1885. Certainly it was there that he learned the methods of experimental histology from Louis-Antoine Ranvier [1835–1922] whose laboratory exercises, in the guise of lectures, he attended assiduously.     

Perpetual peace and shareholder sovereignty: the political thought of José de Carvajal y Lancaster

This article contributes to the recent historiography on Enlightenment plans for European peace by shedding light on the political and intellectual work of the neglected Spanish minister and intellectual José Carvajal y Lancaster. The article begins by outlining the intellectual context surrounding the War of Spanish Succession, and proceeds to analyse the ways that Carvajal deployed, both in his texts and in power, Enlightenment ideals to reform the Spanish Empire and achieve perpetual peace in Europe. The ideas of his first work, his Testamento Político, revealed the ways that the logic of joint-stock companies could catalyse the reform of the Spanish Empire. His measures in government, in turn, illustrated how international cooperation could be mutually beneficial, but turned on his fraught relationship with the future Marquis of Pombal. Finally, his text Mis Pensamientos, written in 1753, envisaged a formal commercial and political coalition between the Spanish and the British Empires. Carvajal’s vision for European peace was at once utopian and clear-eyed, and the ideas behind his plan persist as demanding questions for our age.     

Gustaf Retzius and Camillo Golgi

Gustaf Retzius (1842-1919), the Swedish anatomist and anthropologist, and Camillo Golgi were contemporaries. They met on several occasions and came in closer contact when Golgi, together with Ramon y Cajal, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in Stockholm in 1906. Retzius came from an illustrious family. His father was professor of anatomy at Karolinska Institutet and Gustaf himself made a fast career. At 35, he was appointed to a professorship in histology, especially created for him at Karolinska Institutet, and later he became professor of anatomy in the same institution. Retzius was exceedingly productive, and published more than 300 scientific papers, most of which dealt with the nervous system and sensory organs. The majority of these were included in his magnificent volumes Biologische Untersuchungen, Neue Folge (Biological Investigation, New Series), which appeared from 1890 to 1921, and in Das Gehororgan der Wirbelthiere ("The Acoustic Organ of Vertebrates", 1881 and 1884), which may be his internationally better know contribution. Much of his work, especially on invertebrates, was based on Ehrlich's methylene blue method, but he also used the Golgi method early on. Particularly his studies of the innervation of the sensory organs became of great importance for the support of the neuron doctrine. His standing internationally was reflected in his membership in many of the most prominent academies abroad, as well as in invitations to him to give a "Croonian Lecture" in 1908 and "The Huxley Lecture" in 1909.     

Newman and his Audiences: 1825–1845

This article examines Newman's communication with others in a variety of modes. It suggests there was a deliberate underlying theme of preaching in whatever he did, not only from the pulpit, where his skills were famous, but in virtually all his other forms of discourse, from letter-writing to his setting up of the "retreat" at Littlemore. He used whatever means were available, including marketing and journalism as well as scholarly work, to bring a concept of public witness to his mission. His social life, as evidenced in his generally scrupulously kept appointments diaries, is analysed to demonstrate that it too was part of his holistic approach. The suggestion is that Newman was much more aggressive and publicly aware than is generally recognized and that he combined an intense personal internalizing with active public performance in a wide range of spheres.     

Cajal's views on the Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine (October 1904)

In this report we present and discuss an unpublished letter written by Santiago Ramon y Cajal in October 1904 in relation to his possible nomination for the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine. This letter shows that Cajal was aware of his previous nominations for the Prize. He was convinced that these nominations had not been successful because neither anatomy nor histology were among the sciences included in the Nobel Statutes' definition of Physiology or Medicine. He gives a list of the merits he thought might be used for a new nomination, which included only works concluded during the previous five years.     

Cajal's Views on the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine (October 1904)

In this report we present and discuss an unpublished letter written by Santiago Ramón y Cajal in October 1904 in relation to his possible nomination for the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine. This letter shows that Cajal was aware of his previous nominations for the Prize. He was convinced that these nominations had not been successful because neither anatomy nor histology were among the sciences included in the Nobel Statutes' definition of Physiology or Medicine. He gives a list of the merits he thought might be used for a new nomination, which included only works concluded during the previous five years.     

Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón and 16th-Century Building Techniques: The Cimborio Vault of Archbishop Fonseca College Chapel in Salamanca (Spain)

Rodrigo Gil is one of the greatest masters of Spanish architecture. His brilliant career is partially explained by the efficiency of his design methods and his building techniques, especially evident in his ribbed vaults. If we examine the latter as a whole, the first aspect to be noted is undoubtedly their great formal complexity. However, the detailed study discloses that rather limited geometric and building techniques are hidden behind those elaborated patterns, aimed at simplifying and making the execution more economical. In order to bring some of these devices to light, one of his best-known vaults was selected for an in-depth study. The construction of a large-scale model of it also revealed some interesting features regarding the placing of the centerings and shorings during the erection.     

Revisiting the 1981 Nobel Prize to Roger Sperry, David Hubel, and Torsten Wiesel on the occasion of the centennial of the Prize to Golgi and Cajal

In 1981 the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology was awarded to Roger Sperry for his work on the functional specialization of the cerebral hemispheres, and to David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel for their work on information processing in the visual system. The present paper points to some important links between the work of Sperry and that of Hubel and Wiesel and to their influences on neuroscience in the best tradition going back to Cajal.     

Colgi, Cajal and the Neuron Doctrine

Camillo Golgi and Santiago Ramon y Cajal shared the Nobel Prize in 1906 for their work on the histology of the nerve cell, but both held diametrically opposed views about the Neuron Doctrine which emphasizes the structural, functional and developmental singularity of the nerve cell. Golgi's reticularist views remained entrenched and his work on the nervous system did not venture greatly into new territories after its original flowering, which had greater impact than is now commonly credited. Cajal, by contrast, by the time he was awarded the Nobel Prize, was already breaking new ground with a new staining technique in the field of peripheral nerve regeneration, seeing the reconstruction of a severed nerve by sprouting from the proximal stump as another manifestation of the Neuron Doctrine. Paradoxically, identical studies were going on simultaneously in Golgi's laboratory in the hands of Aldo Perroncito, but the findings did not seem to influence Golgi's thinking on the Neuron Doctrine.     

‘A Great People Struggling for Their Liberties’: Spain and the Mediterranean in the Eyes of the Benthamites

Summary

This article examines the relationship of Jeremy Bentham and some of his disciples within Romantic Liberalism in the Mediterranean in the early 1820s. By studying the content of Bentham's correspondence with his collaborators and some Spanish political leaders, the text sheds light on Bentham's ideas on constitutional rule, the independence of Latin America and religious tolerance.     

Golgi,Cajal and the Neuron Doctrine

Camillo Golgi and Santiago Ramón y Cajal shared the Nobel Prize in 1906 for their work on the histology of the nerve cell, but both held diametrically opposed views about the Neuron Doctrine which emphasizes the structural, functional and developmental singularity of the nerve cell. Golgi's reticularist views remained entrenched and his work on the nervous system did not venture greatly into new territories after its original flowering, which had greater impact than is now commonly credited. Cajal, by contrast, by the time he was awarded the Nobel Prize, was already breaking new ground with a new staining technique in the field of peripheral nerve regeneration, seeing the reconstruction of a severed nerve by sprouting from the proximal stump as another manifestation of the Neuron Doctrine. Paradoxically, identical studies were going on simultaneously in Golgi's laboratory in the hands of Aldo Perroncito, but the findings did not seem to influence Golgi's thinking on the Neuron Doctrine.     

宋教仁“欺诈之罪”辨析

1908年初,宋教仁为援助清政府对日谈判,曾请求清政府支款购买相关历史证据,后来却自承有“欺诈之罪”.至今也仍有学人据此断定宋氏确曾进行了“诈骗”.然而,在考察宋氏在当时的所思所虑所行以及其在当时的处境之后,不难发现,这很可能只是其一时的故意之说.     

St-Germain des-Prés, St Vincent and the martyrs of Cordoba

The Translatio Georgii, Aurelii et Nathaliae , in which Aimoin recounts the journey of Usuard of St-Germain to Cordoba in search of relics, and the use which Usuard made of Spanish material in his Martyrology , reveal many inconsistencies. These are explained, by comparing these texts with Aimoins's Translatio Beati Vincentii and other evidence for St-Germain, as the result of attempts to bolster the monastery's standing with Charles the Bald at a time of political difficulty.     

Novelas pensantes

There is an observable trend in Spanish contemporary fiction to reveal the logic behind the creation of a new paradigm of reality. According to Gianni Vattimo, Daniel Innerarity, and Jean Baudrillard, this paradigm, initially described as a spectacle, ends up occupying the space of everyday life. Within this framework, the counter-nostalgic and "thinking" novel adds to the communicative function of language a destabilizing intent that allows the novelist to scratch the protective surface that prevents the subject from having contact with him- or herself and with his or her surroundings.