Article contents
Neurogenesis and the Development of “Synapses”, with Particular Reference to the Conditions in Lepidosiren Paradoxa
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 February 2018
Extract
Since the appearance of von Baer's work on animal development in 1828 (1), the mode of origin and development of the nerves has been continuously under discussion. A vast number of observations has been made concerning the visible evidences presented by fixed and sectioned material, and very many experiments have been performed to elucidate the nature of the processes at work. Yet no account of nerve development has so far received general assent, and for some time the advantages ensuing from the adoption of an agreed opinion appear to have been allowed to work in favour of its acceptance. These advantages have been found to be academic rather than real. While the formulation of hypotheses is not a proceeding which can be stigmatized as unscientific or unsound, in the absence of useful developments their retention discourages inquiry. This discouragement is the more likely to occur when, as in neurology, more than a century of effort by many workers has not succeeded in establishing beyond question facts which are of fundamental importance. It is a reason why the central problems of neurogenesis have come to occupy a field not wholly favourable to fruitful discussion.
- Type
- Part I.—Original Articles
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1938
References
- 3
- Cited by
eLetters
No eLetters have been published for this article.