The Horsley-Clarke Stereotaxic Instrument

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The Horsley-Clarke Stereotaxic Instrument traced through its subsequent use and development to The Horsley-Clarke the time at which the Stereotaxic instrument began to Stereotaxic Instrument: receive more widespread use and acceptance. Copies of the previous Carrier may be obtained from The First Three Kopf'Instruments or from the Editor. Instruments Experimental Application of Horsely-Clarke Unit One Louise H. Marshall, Ph.D.and Horace W. Magoun, Ph.D. Although publication of the results of the experimental use of the Horsely-Clarke apparatus had Neuroscience History Program been twice-promised by its creators, the first purely Brain Research Institute experimental work was reported by a vis- University of California itingvAmerican, Ernest Sachs (1879-1958). Born into a Los Angeles, CA 90024-176118 gifted and cultured New York family, Sachs was educated at his father's private school and Harvard, and Dr. Marshall received her Ph.D. in 1935 from the graduated from Johns Hopkins Medical School. On the University of Chicago, where she also met and advice of his uncle, neurologist Bernard Sachs, and after married Wade H. Marshall, and developed her lifelong a residency at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, the interest in the Neurosciences. She was in the Aviation young surgeon spent the greater part of a two-year Medicine program at the NIH from 1943-46 and as a period of postdoctoral training with Victor Horsley, who research physiologist from 1946-65. From 1965-75, at that time had the only well established neuro-surgical she was a professional associate at the National practice in the world. Sometime during those years, Research Council with executive responsibility for the 1907 to 1909, Sachs used the instrument in a study Committee on Brain Sciences which spearheaded the suggested by Horsley of .the poorly known optic drive to found the Society for Neuroscience. She thalamus, a situation largely remedied after publication served as Acting Secretary-Treasurer for the Society of the results in 87 tightly written pages (1909). After in 1969-70. From 1975 to the present, she has been thanking Sir Victor for help and encouragement, Sachs associated with the Brain Research Institute stated "I am also much indebted to Dr. R. H. Clarke... for Neuroscience History Program in collaboration with the use of his Stereotaxic instrument. To Miss E. Clarke's Dr. Magoun. Dr. Magoun has in preparation a book on [presumably a sister] unflagging interest and careful the history of the anatomy of the brain and played an assistance the results obtained are in a great part due" active role in the revival of the Horsely-Clarke (p.96). Perhaps the most significant contribution of this Stereotaxic instrument in Ranson's Institute of early endeavor in a long and productive career may be Neurology at Northwestern University in 1928. Dr gleaned from three items in the 11-point summary: Marshall can be reached at 213-825-3191. The following article is copyrighted by L.H. Marshall. "From the results of excitatory experiments as well as...very localized lesions the inner and outer divisions Editor's Note: The first part of this article appeared in of the thalamus appear to be...relatively independent the previous issue of the Carrier. In that article, Drs. organizations.Jackson lecture of 1901. Marshall and Magoun gave a detailed account of the Cortical localization or mapping of function became initial development of the Horsley-Clarke Stereotaxic a major experimental interest "The thalami-cortical Instrument and its in-ital use around the turn of the fibers...are arranged dorso-ventrally, so that those for century. In this part of the history, the instrument is (Continued on page 2, Col. 2) Editor's the representation of the face are ventral to those for the limbs. Column " The general direction of the large majority of Spring has arrived in axones...is outwards and dorsalwards" (p.181). southeast Ohio; a The second study carried out with the original unit beautiful time here, with was that of S.A. Kinnier Wilson (1878-1937), American- the redbud and English neurologist at the National Hospital, London, dogwood trees providing published in 1914. Wilson's experiments on 25 a purple and white monkeys were "carried out in the laboratory of covering to the woodlands in a way not experimental neurology at University College, under seen in such splendor in 10 years. the aegis of Sir Victor Horsley, who performed my Unfortunately, we must report here the passing of operations for me...[I used] stimulation and electrolytic one of the giants of the Neuroscience community. Dr. meth-ods...[and] the stereotaxic instrument of Clarke Horace W. Magoun passed away on March 6, 1991 in and Horsley...." (p. 439). In his discussion Wilson paid Santa Monica. He was 84 years old. His career tribute to Sherrington's "...illuminating conception of a spanned the early days of our discipline and he had a 'final common path1 [which] is not further applied by part in not only some of the most exciting discoveries Sherrington in a detailed manner, but by implication of the times, but also helped shape the environment may be applied to the problem before us" (ibid., p.484). for those of us who followed in the exciting field of brain To summarize his own experimental work with the function and structure. He and Giuseppe Moruzzi became famous for discovering that the reticular "Clarke-Horsley machine," Wilson offered a diagram of formation had vast influence on cortical arousal and a specific example of Sherrington's classic concept. activity, which led to his postulation of the vital roles of As Carpenter and Whittier (1952) later pointed out, the reticular activating system in sleep-waking control. Wilson had serious reservations about destruction of He was instrumental in the early use of the Horsely- brain tissue. Four points were emphasized by Wilson: Clarke stereotaxic instruments, and had coauthored 1the remaining tissue may be responsible for many the monograph of which this Carrier article is the phenomena credited to the lesion; 2-the lesion size second part, detailing the developmental history of the does not necessarily parallel the severity of the machine. He was a member of the first Central Council symptoms; 3the locus of the lesion is not always the of IBRO and of the NRC Committee on Brain locus of the function; and 4lesions in dissimilar Sciences, from which the Society for Neurosciences structures may produce the same symptoms. Those emerged. He was an avid historian, with interests in this area dating from his high school days. He was reservations influenced the young neurologists to instrumental in compiling a series of 42 posters on the launch a comparative study of the stereotaxic history of the human brain shown at the 1985 Society technique, as we shall see. for Neuroscience Convention in Dallas. He founded The third investigator known to have used the first the Brain Research Institute at UCLA, as a home for unit of Clarke's instrument was a urologist whose the distinguished group of investigators which he sudden death in 1956 almost resulted in its permanent nurtured. Surely, one of the truly great minds and loss. [There have been attempts to reverse the names figures of the field of brain research has passed from of the originators (see, e.g., O'Leary and Goldman, p. us. We dedicate this issue of the Carrier to his 197) and Horsley always referred to it as "Clarke's memory. I also thank Louise Marshall, Ph.D. for instrument."] The natural history of this near disaster providing so many details of Dr. Magoun's life. was pieced together by Magoun and Fisher (1980). At Michael M. Patterson, Ph.D. the centenary (1957) of Horsley's birth, programs were Science Editor held at meetings in London, Brussels, and Detroit, at College of Osteopathic Medicine which the British participants were gently chided for not Ohio University knowing the fate of the original model. Athens, OH 45701 Stimulated by the comments, inquiries were made Phone-(614) 593-2337 Fax-(614) 593-9180 which turned up a letter written by Clarke (Continued on page 3, col.1) 2 in 1925 to the instrument maker which furnished some neccessity for such an instrument provided the motive clues. Clarke wrote: "I have given my first instrument for its development: "What a lovely bit of mechanism which you made...to Mr. F.J.F. Barrington...of the [Clarke] designed - he never would have done of course surgical unit, University College Hospital Medical had it not been for Horsley" (letter Jefferson to H.W.M., School. [He] has done an excellent piece of work with 14 February 1957). The team of Horsley and Clarke fell apart with the it which he published in...the Quarterly Journal of publication of the instrument's description. No Physiology..." (quoted in Shurr and Merrington, 1978, precipitating event is recorded, but the disintegration of p.35). Barrington's paper reported his experiments on their friendly collaboration seems inevitable in view of the effect of brain lesions on micturition in cats and we their opposite personalities and the divergence in their quote from it: "I am indebted to Dr. R.H. Clarke, not careers. In an interesting letter to Clarke's biographer, only for the loan of his own instrument, but also for the Sir Francis Walshe, British neurologist, wrote: "I very large amount of valuable advice and help in the think...that Horsley's radical politics had more to do with earlier experiments. The instrument used was of the their falling-out than Horsley's ambition..." older pattern, in which the needle can only be inserted "But you can see that a rather bucolic Tory, a chaser horizontally or vertically...." (Barrington, 1925, p.6).
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