title: Pioneers in CNS inhibition: 1. Ivan M. Sechenov, the first to clearly demonstrate inhibition arising in the brain.
abstract: This article reviews the contributions of Ivan Michailovich Sechenov [1829-1905] to the neurophysiological concept of central inhibition. He first studied this concept in the frog and on himself. Later his trainees extended the study of central inhibition to other mammalian species. Outside his own country, Sechenov is better known for his prescient contributions to physiological psychology. In Russia, however, he is also revered as "the father of Russian physiology," because of his contributions to neurophysiology and other aspects of physiology including blood gases and respiration, the physiology and biomechanics of movement, and general physiology concepts that appeared in his textbooks and later works he helped translate from largely German sources. After graduation from Moscow University Medical School in 1856 he spent 3½ years in Germany and Austria where he attended lectures and conducted research under the direction of several prominent physiologists and biochemists. In his subsequent academic career he held positions at universities in St. Petersburg (1860-1870; 1876-1888), Odessa (1871-1876) and Moscow (1890-1905). From 1860 onwards he was acclaimed as a physiologist in academic circles. He was also well known in Russian society for his public lectures on physiology and his views on physiological psychology. The latter resulted in him being branded "politically unreliable" by the tsarist bureaucracy from 1863 onwards. Sechenov's first (1862) study on central inhibition remains his most memorable. He delayed the withdrawal of a frog's foot from a weak acid solution by chemical or electrical stimulation of selected parts of the central nervous system. He also noted similar effects on his own hand during co-activation of other sensory inputs by tickling or teeth gnashing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Arizona, PO Box 210093, Tucson, AZ 85721-0093, USA. Electronic address: dgstuart@u.arizona.edu.
authors.forename: Douglas G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Stuart
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology, University College, London WC1E 6BT, UK; Division of Neurophysiology, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, The Ridgeway, London NW7 1AA, UK.
authors.forename: Andreas T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Schaefer
authors.affiliation: Les Micocouliers, 16, route de Rognes, 13410 Lambesc, France.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Massion
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia.
authors.forename: Brett A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Callister
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology*; D009482:Neurophysiology / Q000266:history*
keywords: Central inhibition; Electrophysiology; Peripheral inhibition; Physiological psychology; Reciprocal inhibition; Spinal reflexes