Brown-Séquard, a restless mind

Abstract

Brown-Séquard, a remarkable medical personality of the 19 th century, was born in a small island of the Indian Ocean. He travelled over the world exerting his skills: a successful physician, and an innovative researcher, with a very ample range of interests. His favored subject was the nervous system. The spinal cord was studied extensively, with novel and important discoveries on the sensory pathways. He identified cases with spinal cord hemisection, and described the clinical presentation corresponding to a syndrome which bears his name (Brown-Séquard syndrome), for which he is best known among neurologists. Regarding the brain, he proposed nine mental and physical functions (organs) related to dynamically interconnected cell clusters, in harmony with the “ réseau de cellules anastomosées ”, “ activités dynamogeniques et inhibitrices ”, and “ action à distance ” concepts. Finally, he is considered by some as the “father” of endocrinology, due to his studies on glands and their secretions.