BASIC AND APPLIED SCIENCE IN THE FIELD OF NEUROLOGY 



By Wilder Penfieud 



Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University 



The unsolved problems in the field of neu- 

 robiology are a challenge to scientist, clin- 

 ician and humanitarian. Within the ner- 

 vous system are millions of neurone cir- 

 cuits. In them throbs the essential energy 

 of life. Through them the body and the 

 mind alike are controlled, and sensorimotor 

 mechanisms are coordinated and integrated 

 in such a way that conscious thought and 

 direction of human activity are possible. 

 In common parlance, the nervous system 

 is the meeting place of body and soul, and 

 the future history of mankind may depend 

 in some degree upon more effective study 

 of this relationship. 



The analysis of neurone mechanisms 

 within the nervous system has only begun. 

 Rapid advance in this most difficult field 

 is possible now if better coordination can 

 be established between basic science and 

 clinical medicine. That coordination would 

 develop a new field of applied neurobiolog- 

 ical science. 



Neurobiology may be considered under 

 three headings: basic sciences, clinical de- 

 partments and applied sciences. Writing 

 as a clinician, I must look upon the basic 

 sciences from the point of view of their 

 importance to man's own internal mech- 

 anisms. 



Basic Sciences. Among the basic sciences 

 concerned, a clinician thinks first of the 

 following: biology, chemistry and physiol- 

 ogy of the nervous system, electronics, neu- 

 roanatomy, neurocytology, neurohistology, 

 embryology, genetics, and also psychology, 

 which may be a basic as well as an applied 

 science. There is little for me to say about 

 these departments except that advance in 

 clinical medicine depends upon their de- 

 velopment. 



Much of the basic work is best done in 

 protected university departments. It is 



obvious that, in order to be effective, basic 

 science must be pure, pure in the sense 

 that workers in the field are allowed to 

 follow clues to possible discovery wherever 

 these paths may lead and without neces- 

 sarily considering the ultimate practical 

 application of the knowledge gained. 



Nevertheless, great stimulation may come 

 to the basic scientist however "pure" he may 

 be if he can have close association with 

 the workers in other departments. It may 

 prove to be a healthy influence also if the 

 true scientist is exposed to some contact 

 with clinicians and their problems. This 

 interrelationship can be brought about, in 

 some cases, only by rearrangement in uni- 

 versity laboratories and hospitals so as to 

 provide actual juxtaposition of related 

 groups to each other and to groups of pa- 

 tients. 



Clinical Departments of Neurobiology. 

 No one man can any longer acquaint him- 

 self completely with current contributions 

 to more than one field, and thus the hor- 

 izontal partitions of the "healing art," that 

 existed in a past not wholly forgotten, 

 between the physician who thought much 

 and did little and the surgeon who did 

 much and thought only by special permis- 

 sion, is no longer adequate. 



Inevitable specialization is rapidly chang- 

 ing the organization of the field of medi- 

 cine. The controlling force that is bring- 

 ing about this change is the need of the pa- 

 tient. His need is for a physician who 

 understands all the recent knowledge in 

 regard to one at least of the systems of 

 the body; a physician who may or may not 

 also be able to operate when required but 

 who adds to his specialized knowledge fa- 

 miliarity with the basic science in his 

 field. And yet it is essential for the pa- 

 tient that his physician should not be nar- 

 row in his specialism, not a man who while 



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