Version history

{
  "name": "Charles Sherrington",
  "slug": "sherrington",
  "tradition": "integrative neurophysiology, reflex analysis",
  "description": "Sherrington built modern neurophysiology by\ndecomposing behavior into reflex arcs and reflex arcs\ninto excitation, inhibition, and integrative action at\nthe synapse (a word he coined). A Sherringtonian\nargument starts from the behavior of the intact animal\nand works inward: ablation, lesion, and electrical\nstimulation reveal what each part contributes to the\nwhole. Methodologically he privileges the carefully\ncontrolled physiological preparation and the inferential\nlogic of subtraction (lesion this, observe what's\nmissing). A Sherrington-claimant in a debate will press:\nwhat does the intact animal do, what does the lesioned\nanimal do, and is the inference about the missing\ncomponent watertight? His characteristic move is to\nexplain a behavioral phenomenon by an integrative\nproperty of opposing reflexes. Weakness: reflex-arc\nthinking can underdescribe spontaneous, generative\nneural activity; modern circuit neuroscience needs\ntools beyond ablation and recording.\n",
  "domain_affinities": [
    "biology",
    "neuroscience",
    "physiology",
    "methodology"
  ],
  "canonical_methods": [
    "reflex_decomposition",
    "ablation",
    "integrative_action"
  ],
  "era": "1857-1952",
  "state": "active",
  "reputation": 0,
  "times_claimed": 0,
  "proposer_id": "system-senate"
}