Speaking of Purkinye fiber and Purkinye cells, I believe that many students who have studied physiology are not strangers, and even the Purkinye effect related to vision has also been heard by many people.
However, if you are asked how much you know about the Ben puken Savages, do you also feel lost? Let's take a look at this accomplished physiologist.
Rich research results
Purkinye full name Jan Evangelista Purkynë, born in December 1787, a pioneer in Czech experimental physiology, he has a considerable career in different fields of histology, embryology and pharmacology, and his research results have had a profound impact on future generations, and our modern understanding of the eyes and vision, brain and visceral function, mammalian reproduction and cell composition today is inseparable from Purkinye's research.
Image of Ura Aeno
In 1804, Purkinye, who had completed high school, joined the Piarists as a monk, but soon chose to leave and instead "went to explore science more freely."
In 1818, Purkinje received his medical degree from the University of Prague, and it was during this period of research that he discovered a phenomenon known as the Purkinje effect (when the intensity of light decreases, it is thought that red objects of the same brightness are darker than blue objects, that is, the sensitivity of the human eye to faint red light is much lower than that of faint blue light).
Purkinje once described the change of red in different light intensities in his own work, image source Wikipedia
To illustrate this finding clearly, Purkinje completed observations and Experiments Investigating the Physiology of Senses and New Subjective Reports about Vision.
His study of vision caught the attention of the German poet Goethe, who, with goethe's help, was offered the post of Professor of Science and Pathology at the University of Breslau in Prussia, where Purkinye established the world's first independent department of physiology and the first formal physiology laboratory, a discovery that led to the birth of experimental psychology. More widely known discoveries than the Purkinje cells and Purkinje fibres compared to the Purkinje effect.
Among them, Purkinje cells are the largest neurons present in the cerebellar cortex, with many branches, while Purkinye fibers are present in the heart, a special myocardial fiber that can conduct cardiac pacing signals along the wall of the ventricle to various parts of the heart, and are part of the cardiac conduction system. His findings laid the foundation for our understanding of the brain and heart signaling today.
Image of Purkinye cell cerebellum under a confocal microscope, image source wikipedia
In addition, Purkinye first used the term "protoplasm" when describing animal embryos, a term that later became an academic term for describing all living matter within cells. Purkinye also pioneered the preparation of tissue sections by microtomes (a mechanism used to make tissue slices), glacial acetic acid, potassium dichromate, and Canada balsam for microscopic observation. This practice is still a common research method in laboratories to this day.
The microscope that Purkinje has used, image source wikimedia Purkinye's research content is many more, such as the discovery of sweat glands of the skin and the growth of foam (that is, the nucleus of oocytes), trying to use fingerprint recognition as a means of identification, observing and recording the ability of pancreatic extract to digest proteins, recording the efficacy and safe dosage of a series of drugs, and so on.
Crazy drug experiments
In the many studies that Purkinye has been involved in, it is his research on how drugs affect the human body that is the most crazy, because he is experimenting with his own life.
Beginning in 1829, Purkinye successively described the physiological effects of a series of drugs such as camphor, opium, belladonna and turpentine on the human body, and in the process of research, he evaluated the efficacy and safety of drugs by sniffing and tasting. For example, Purkinye once took an excessive amount of digitalis (a drug often used as a cardiotonic drug, but it has a side effect that blurs the eyesight of the person taking the drug), and after taking the drug, his heartbeat became unstable, and his vision was affected for up to two weeks. Even so, Purkinye insisted on observing changes in the eye's vision and noticed the "Purkinye tree" (actually a blood vessel located on the retina). Purkinye has personally tested the safety of dozens of drugs, swallowing 3 nutmeg powders and thus "experiencing several days of headaches, nausea, excitement and hallucinations"; taking and externally using scopolamine (belladonna extract) to isolate atropine that can be used for mydriasis; experimenting with camphor so that he was dizzy for several days, and concluding that camphor is not suitable for children (at that time, camphor was one of the treatment drugs for children's cough). In doing these experiments, Purkinye was well aware of the risks he faced, and he himself said that he should "operate with caution so as not to push himself into danger" (although in our opinion these operations are not prudent... But in order to figure out what physiological reactions the drug causes in the human body, he is willing to risk thinking of himself as a "guinea pig." Purkinye's crazy experiments of risking lives helped people realize the importance of determining the safe dosage of drugs, and also laid the foundation for the standardized use of drugs.
Purkinje commemorative stamps, picture source colnect right, there is a crater named after Purkinye on the moon, asteroid 3701 is also named after Purkinye, the next time you encounter a variety of academic terms related to Purkinye, don't forget that behind these words there is a legendary scientist who is widely involved.
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Tadpole stave original work, reprinted to indicate the source
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